9
uKKEdVi . f
BY OTO
GOVERNMENT JOINT OWNERSHIP OF RAILROAD LINES
Plan Submitted for Correcting All the Transporta
tion Evils Now Afflicting the Country.
THE SUXDAY OKEGOMAX, PORTLAND, MARCH 31, 1907.
.x.wtT rafiis
BY ALFRED DBLPERS.
BY RJiADING the latest topics relate
ing to railroads, the thought came to
my mind that the Government could
buy a. majority of the stock of every rail
road in the country, and so control them
all. I have tried .to develop this principle,
and subjoined please find the results. I
wish, however, to state right here that I
am not very well acquainted with the sub
ject, nor am I, at this time, in a con
dition to be able to familiarize myself
more with it.
Tfts very probable, though I do not
know of any instance, that competent men
have- thought before of this principle,
found it wanting, and rejected it. More
over, it must be admitted as probable, as
th latest developments of the situation
would prove, that with a man at the helm
of the Nation of the energetic temper of
President Roosevelt, present legislation,
supplemented by laws not involving
changes so radical as the purchase by
the Government of part of the stock, is
sufficient to Rive the Government an ef
ficient control, over the railroads.
Nevertheless to me it seems that there
Is solid merit in what T would call "Gov
ernment Joint-Ownership of Railroads"
merit still enhanced by the peculiar phase
of industrial and social development in
which we find ourselves, when the neces
sity of enterprises on a grand scale as
sorts itself, the multiform dangers and
evils of leaving the task in the hands of
private Initiative become daily more ap
parent, and the notion of giving them
to the social body as a whole is as yet
opposed by a great number of timorous
conservatives.
The ndoption of a joint-ownership plan,
besides tlie intrinsic merits it may have.
BUILDING
By J. I JONES.
CERTAIN strata of society, including
possibly 50 per cent of the whole
population, live in an atmosphere in
which the sound of profanity seldom
ceases. To these the word hell has no
terrors. It is a familiar term. But the
word sounds harsh and evil to unac
customed ears and it is not considered
'nlcp" to use it in speech.
in the Apostles' Creed, which is always
read over in the. services of the Episcopal
Church, the statement occurs that Christ
descended into hell. But above the creed.
In very fine type, like a stage whisper,
we are informed that this part may be
omitted or a milder form of words may
be substituted.
The fathers of the church could not
aprree on what was meant by hell. The
modern church does not know where hell
Is. It is ignorant of its own location and
tills ignorance is an important factor in
the peculiar combination of conditions
that constitute hell. When a college
student forgets his oration and stands
in dumb discomfiture before the audi
ence, that is hell for him. And hell is
really a lapse of memory, a fall and a
forgetting. In the fall of man the mem
ory of his origin is lost and with it the
knowledge of his destiny. He has drunk
th. loil,ri(i lliiiMa nnil in Congres
sional phraseology, lie does not "know
where he is at."
Hell is an old Scandinavian word for
the underworld, the subjective and ob
jective state of consciousness in which
we exist now In this world. Christ de-
The Revolutionary Possibilities of Socialism
Arbitrary Power of the Killing Class, Conforming to History, Must Meet Its Waterloo.
BY C. W. BARZEE.
I .ate Socialist Candidate for Governor.
THKRK arc none so blind as those
who will not sec; or a man con
vinced against his will is of the
B:imc opinion still. Is probably the best
answer that Is to be made to our con
temporary. J. 1,. Jones, of Corvallis.
Yet tiie. reading .public is entitled to
a fcrreotiou of misapplied statements.
Hie soul mind of any informed So
cialist runs too true to humanity to
deal In other than condescending pity
toward straw supporters of the last
stage of capitalism, for the complete
overthrow of the causes of our social
ills is foreign to their conception.
Everything to them 'is to be measured,
welglud nnil tested with this present
system, with every pore of its anatomy
bleeding; for a release from the galling
chnin of the profit curse. I note ob
jection No. 1,
"When a theory is demonstrated to
be wrong, we must not accept the right
or converge into the law." Shall nature
be denied her course of evolution? Can
the impossible be done, and virtue and
truth be destroyed? Objection No. 2
and 3.
Portray the arbitrary power of a
ruling class, which always has met and
always will meet its Waterloo in an
Selling Articles Short-Weight Is Downright Theft
Pertinent Comment- on One Sin of Omission by the Late legislature.
BY J. B. ZJEGIRR.
WISH to remark on a few features of
our recent Legislature from the view
point of general citizenship which.
I
liaving no special interest, is usually si
lent, and being isolated from the same of
politics until it conies to paying the bills.
i. as a rule, unwary, apathetic, suspi
cious and sullen. The features to which
J allude are important and remarkable
enough to excite much more interest than
hs vet been evident. .
The Orcgontan's cartoon of February
-7 on the general aspect of the session
and Illustrating the "Glee, of the Ghouls."
1s. perhaps, the most . adequate comment
that has appca red . But 1 wish to be
jnore specific.
I would especially refer to the cutting
out of the nonweight clause In the pure
food bill, at the behest of the wholesale
grocers lobby.
As far back as when I became a
citizen of this state, I was astonished at
the assertion of dealers that they had a
right to sell sliortweight butter. I was
unaware that the trick of shortweight
permeated the whole business of package
groceries. That was a little later reme
died by the State Dairy Commission. "Why
1b not the law of honesty as useful in
other lines as In the dairy trade?
I am acquainted with many of the
wholesale grocers of -Portland. They
have appeared to me to be fair and hon
orable men That they -should jend a
lobby to Salem for such business as the
would also undoubtedly be of benefit to
the public and to lawmakers, by showing
more effectually than possibly can
the example of foreign nations, or any
Idle theorizing, the advantages, as also
the dangers and evils, of government own
ership of railroad, and thus lead to the
most suitable ways for safely organizing
it at any future time or to reject it.
It is also probable, however, that in the
plan I am submitting there is some inher
ent defects which I cannot see, and which
will render it unsafe already. A discus
sion of it may reveal this. I must say,
however, that in evolving this principle
in its very first rudiments, I have made
every effort to find the weak sides, not
overlooking any criticism of which I could
think. 1 have answered as well as I
could all questions ethical, financial,
of practical expediency, against possible
corruption and otherwise which came to
my mind.
A Plan for Joint Ownership.
1. Financial Relations of Government to
Railroads The Federal Government will
buy a majority of the stock, cleared from
every fictitious value it presently may
contain, of every railroad in the coun
try. Railroads will no longer be permit
ted to issue "watered" stocks, and of
every subsequent Issue of stock of every
railroad, the Government will take a ma
jority. 2. Railroad Representatives of Govern
ment Stock The number of railroad di
rectors will be fixed unlgormty to, say, nine
for every railroad, and of which a ma
jority if nine. five, will "represent the
Htot-k kept by ithe Government. The five
directors representing the Government's
stock will be elected by the chief execu
tive and will be responsible for their do
ings to the executive himself, who may
remove them. Kach of these directors can
represent ithe Government with one or
more railroads, receiving salary in pro
portion, as long as this does not inter
OF THE TEMPLE OF THE IMMORTAL BODY
scended into hell when he was born into
tliis world. Everyone who is born of
mortal birth is born into hell, for mor
tality itself is death, and death is hell.
This is a physiological fact and a psych
ological fact. There is a correspondence
between physiology and psychology, and
this correspondence ' or analogy contains
the key to spiritual instruction. The head
corresponds to heaven, the body to hell.
This is the Interpretation of the riddle
of the Sphynx a human head on an ani
mal body.
The germs and sperms which unite in
mortal conception first descend from the
brain into the body. This descent con
stitutes the fall of man. It comes
through desire. The word desire indi
cates its own direction "de" means
down. The conception of. mortal man Is
in sensual or carnal desire, an affection
for the flesh. The word affection carries
the secondary meaning of disease or un
rest. Whoever sows to the flesh must
reap corruption. To sow to the flesh is
to sow wild oats to beget life on the
mortal plane to cast the seed down out
of the brain Into the lower parts of the
body the Infernal regions. Infernal
means lower. In adopting words from
Latin to English the sense has been
transposed from a material to a spiritual
one.
The opposite of desire is aspiration. At
least that is our nearest approach to a
suitable word. Aspiration implies an up
ward tendency or direction of the thought
Instead of a downward. This "upward
looking" is seen in the upturned eyes in
pictures of the Madonna. At least' the
oppressed common people, and will yet
so do in Russia.
We are not the ignorant sectional
class that was the black chattel of the
South, but we :ire the bone and sinew
of this Republic. disseminated over
every part and parcel of its territory,
now performing every several act, and
capable for all emergencies.
Objection No. 4. with its because.
Darius Green episode, etc., concluded
with experimental Socialist colonies,
under a capitalist government. Truly
an unthinkable thing Socialism under
a capitalist regime. I grieve with
pity for my contemporary's lack of
knowledge of Socialist principles, and
unevoluted ideas. And were he born
a twin with a modern thinking man, as
was Jacob with Esau, methinks his
mother, seeing his degeneracy of hairy
Ideas, would relegate him to ostracism
as did she Esau.
However, some of the distinctly plain
and evoluted social conditions, of con
centration, are pictured by our friend
in his honesty of expression, with tho
thing effecting the congestion "profit"
not uncovered or brought to view.
Briefly summing up the routine of
objections, would it not be as wise for
a chick to remain in the shell, saying.
I do not know where the water is, or
where to find my food, as for society to
bnlk at Its own evolution, and refuse
defeat of a fullwcight law. or that an
effective lobby could bo secured for so
degrading a purpose, is one of those par
adoxes of human nature which I must
leave to the expert moralists and alien
ists to explain. In my unsophisticated
view, any dealer who, when selling a
pound of merchandise, uses his scoop for
the purpose of withholding several ounces
short of the standard pound, or by manip
ulation of the scales, or who puts ur
short weight packages in any way. and
sells them to an unsuspecting customer
for pounds, is a thief and guilty of petit
larceny. It should be a technical as well
as actual violation of the law against
larceny.
- Some four years ago I was myself a
retail grocer in Portland, and all one
Winter bought coal oil from one of the
wagon dealers on the streets at a stated
price per gallon. I finally discovered that
he would put tiO gallons into my 60-gal Ion
tank, when t contained ten gallons to
begin with. I promptly measured his
five-gallon pail with my gallon measure,
and found its capacity to be just four and
one-half gallons. I refused to pay him
in full until I checked my measure by
some registered legal measure, which I
did at once at the City Hall and found
it correct. I always paid this dealer
cash and never looked at his receipted
bills. He then threatened me with all
kinds of retaliation, and showed me my
bill, which, as former bills, proved to be
made out by the "can" Instead of by the
gallon.' But the pries was hy: the gallon.
fere wltn the efficiency of their services
with any of the railroads. All these
bodies of five men will act as so many
Government commissions with respect to
the railroads to which each of them is
assigned.
3. Railroad Representatives of Pri
vate Stockholders Private Stock h old ers.
through the directors nominated by them,
will also have "a voice in the manage
ment of the roads, and in so far as their
demands contemplate the legitimate inter
ests of the roads. ' (the Government will
heed them. The number of the directors
representing private stockholders will be
four, which gives them a minority voice
in every important matter. "Whenever
these four directors wish to avert some
measure which it hey think wrong, tlwy
have the privilege of submitting their
claims and reasons to Congress, which
will give them their due weight while
considering the recommendations of the
five directors representing the Govern
ment stock. At the- end the railroads
must abide by the decision of the Govern
ment. 4. Duties of Commissioner-Directors-Commissioner-Directors
might be the
name of the directors representing the
stock of the Government. None of thi
five C.-Ds. are to have any personal
connection with the railroad assigned to
them and possibly with any other in the
country. On taking office they will swear
as to the truth of this; also that they will
always scrupulously observe, and look
that their railroad will observe, present
-laws or laws which may be enacted at
any future time: that In their recom
mendations to the Government and In
their use of their vote when they are al
lowed to act independently, of the Gov
ernment they will never be prompted by
their own interest, but only by the Inter
est of the public as they see it, or as
evinced by the public itself, and that they
will always do their best to protect the
interests of the railroad by harmonizing
greatest painters of the world have at
tempted to transfer this expression to
canvas and in a slight measure have
succeeded. This is how came the im
maculate conception. Christ came from
above not from below. Immaculate
means spotless absolutely pure. The or
dinary mortal Infant Is not spotless nor
pure. Tt is conceived in sin and shapen
in iniquity, no matter whether born in.
legal wedlock or out of it: no matter
whether loved or nndesircd by its par
ents, for all mortal propagation is sen
sual. Christ came not according to 'the lawa
of sensual propagation tne descending
desires of mortal flesh, but in answer to
celestial hope, the age-long aspiration
of the Jewish church for a Messiah. This
aspiration was concentrated and brought
to a climax in the "Virgin Mary, who
is properly held in veneration by the
Roman Catholic Church as the embodi
ment of pure motherhood. She was the
mother of God, for Christ was God, and
she is justly entitled to all the honor
and devotion she has received, for abso
lute purity, chastity in woman and celib
acy in man is the apex of aspiration and
the way to immortality.
Absolute purity is an attribute of
heaven. Impurity, including sensuality
and all degrees of mortal inperfection,
constitutes hell. We are in hell now,
literally and spiritually, all of us. The
church itself is in hell. ' That is why It
is called the church militant. Militant
means engaged in war. War is hell.
There is no war in heaven. W hen the
church gets into heaven It will be the
to clothe itself with a new garment,
while its hideous nakedness is exposed
through the filthy rags of Its worn
out covering?
Shall anyone be needed who is wise
enough to discover to us all the fu
ture? Is it not enough to know that any
principle is scientifically correct, to
be justified in the investigation there
of? We need no stereotyped, cut-and-dried
programme: we will have our
courso misguided by none such. It Is
enough to know our present relations
are wrong and unjust, to understand
ing readjust our conditions. We arc
not guided by a greedy desire for gain,
but a holy desire for justice.
It is well said, "It is impossible to
stop' the growth of Socialism." The
history of humanity, which pas passed
down to us from the dark ages, were
tenfold more blinded in their possibil
ities than Is the coming co-operative
commonwealth.
Our present system and regime has
climaxed itself, with no. new continent
to discover, or heathen wilderness to
civilize. We are at the door of the
new order and must enter in. Much
better able are we to reconstruct so
ciety than at any previous order or
epoch. Esaus do receive blessings.
The Dalles, Or.
and the count was five gallons to th
pail. I tried (to have this man prose
cuted, but J. M. Long, then City Attor
ney, told me that I could do nothing in
this line. This man is still in the busi
ness, presumably on the srae plan.1
It appears absurd to me that the public
will tolerate such practices as this, or
permit the wholesalers to make the argu
ment that they must use short weight
to meet competition from other states.
That the Oregon brand is known to be
a guarantee of full weight as well as
quality, I think would redound to the
benent of her trade in other articles as
well as butter, apples and salmon.
Another feature of the case is that
these short-weight packages are palmed
off . mostly upon careless women, do
mestics and children. And when these
become enlightened to ithe character of
trade as the grocer conducts It, instead of
going1 to the trouble of exacting honest
dealing, .they accept it as the normal
standard of commercial honor. There the
ideal of honor Is debased at the most
dangerous point 4he home. It Is making
this form of vice too familiar.
"When the innocents look at the deal
ings of Mr. Morgan, Mr. Harriman and
the other great mock jobbers and water
ers, they think that these great men, with
their great intellects, really made the
money with which they buy railroad sys
tems, and destroy competitive rates. But
when they buy a 12-ounce package of
coffee or raisins for a pound, or adulte
rated spices, the glamor is not there.
They Bee an Imp familiar and unattrac-
them with thoe of the public. Any slight
avidence of the breach of this oath will
warrant the chief executive in dismiss
ing them.
5. Power of the C.-Ds. and Their, Re
lation to Government and Railroad C.
Ds. represent principally the section of
territory depending for transportation on
the railroad with which they are identified.
They will always lend a favorable hear
ing to popular demands for better service
and cheap rates; at the same time they
will have also to look after the interests
of the road. '
The nomination of the officers of the
railroad Is wholly in the hands of the
board of directors. Five of the directors
may appoint or remove any officer at any
time. The officers will not transact any
business, be it a loan, Issue of stock,
improvements, etc., -without first consult
ing the nine directors. If fire of these
latter are with the officers, they can ex
ecute their project; it five are against,
they cannot. Any of the directors can pro
pose loans, issues of stock, improvements,
etc.,-and-if at least seven directors agree
on the proposition it must go through,
even if against the wishes of the officers.
The schedule of rates can be lowered
below the maximum permitted by law,
or, if lower, raised by a vote of five di
rectors If the change is proposed by the
railroad officers, and of seven directors
if proposed by .their board. Loans or
issue of new stock for improvements,
extension of tracks and all other legiti
mate business cannot be made without
the sanction of Congress. If the five di
rectors approve the loan or increase of
rtock, they will draft a recommendation
to . Congress, stating why this ought to
be done, and this will be discussed and
passed the same -as any Jaw. If the loan,
issue of new stock, or anything else con
tained in th recommendation of the
C.-Ds. does not pass in all branches of
the Government, it cannot be executed.
church triumphant, not militant. The
war will be over, the victory won and
peace proclaimed.
So long as we are in a state of war
and discord, we are imhell. Heaven and
hell are states of consciousness, 'but the
state of consciousness internally-determines
th character and conditions of
localities and environments externally.
Change the hearts and minds of the peo
ple and presently you change the external
aspect of tiie world. The hll that ob
tains externally In this world now can
only be changed by an internal transfor
mation in the consciousness of the peo
ple. This wlU be the creation of the
world to come.
In place of the words. "He descended
into hell," in the Apostles' creed, the note
above tt itt the prayer-book tells us we
may substitute the words, "He went Into
the place of departed spirits." It is
naively explained that this means just
the same thing. This world we live in is
the place of departed spirits. We could
not possibly get into' mortal existence
without having departed or being deport
ed from the abode of the gods the habi
tations of eternal life. As in a state of
war. the communications between hostile
countries are cut off so we are cut off
from communion with God. Prisoners in
a hostile country cannot communicate
with their friends at home. Their letters
fall into the hands of the enemy. The
prayers of the churches are Intercepted
at the next corner. The devil answers
them according to his humor and he is
very full of humor.
"We may remark the records of robber-
tlve, but all-prevalent, corroding and cor
rupting. THE NEW KIND OF A BOY
Viir-paiikcd, He Seems to Very Deli
cately Moulded.
Philadelphia Record. I
The new boy is a singularly delicate
piece of mechanism. He has grown up
in & period alleged to be strenuous. He
puts on trousers at' an age when his
father was wearing kilts. He plays foot
ball, which the President says is a sure
cure for mollycoddleness and poltroonery
And yet be is such a delicate creature
that it is hard to train him to anything.
He can't stand discipline, and everybody
and everything has got to be disciplined
or degenerate.
The present boy's father didn't have
football and he didn't have Roosevelt, and
he didn't have some other things that are
supposed to develop hardihood. But he
could he handled with Impunity and to his
own great advantage. His father could
take him out in the woodshed and apply
the shingle pr the strap, with no result
except the youngster's improvement.
When he cut tip at school the schoolmas
ter could flog him, and the only result
was that he took more pains not to be
caught. He ate everything he could get
hold of: he had a bully good time, except
for brief intervals of castlgatlon, and he
wasn't bothered with any philosophy of
life.
But his son Is a very different kind of a
boy. Jf the schoolmaster flogs him he
pulls out his 4,gun" and shoots him. If
his father sends him on an errand he de
clares that he has been humiliated, and
goes out in the barn and. hangs himself.
If his mother scolds him for coming into
the house without wiping his feet he
drinks carbolic acid.
Clifford Wilson, whose father is a pros
perous New Yorker, with a Summer resi
dence in Stamford, Conn., was upbraided
by . his mother because he spent all his
time reading and wouldn't take proper
care of his clothes and his personal ap
pearance. Of course, the boy never does
until he meets the gin, but it is equally a
matter of course that his mother will try
to make him profit by occasional confi
dential interviews with his looking-glass.
Undoubtedly Clifford's grandmother scold
ed Clifford's father for not washing his
face and keeping his clothes clean and
putting on his necktie, and no harm came
of It. But Clifford Is the new kind of boy,
and he couldn't stand that sort of thing,
so he pinned up a farewell note in his
room and went off. "I love you all truly,"
he wrote, but it seems we must part.
There was a burden: there is none now."
Where on earth did language of that
sort get into his head? What does the
modern boy read? Why can't he be scold
ed and spanked as his father was. with
out writing dessertations on life and seek
ing repose by means of the stove polish,
or the clothes line, or flight into the wide,
wide world?
While engaged in clearing out a deep bog
in Somersetshire, England, a workman un
earthed a canoe which probably belonged to
some ancient lake dweller. The boat, which
ia of oak. is in a fairly Kood state of pres
ervation and measures 20 feet 6 inches In
length and 2 feet 10 inches in width and in
Hppearanrf ts somewhat like a modern
Thames duqL
Pro'isions will be- made in Congress to
give precedence to the discussion of these
recommendations and to vote upon them
over all other matters.
When three or more of the C.-Ds. think
that the interest of the public require an
extension of tracks, improvements or any
thing ele, and that the railroad will not
likely be damaged to any extent therefor,
they will draft a recommendation and If
it is passed by the Government all of the
C.-Ds. will try to pass it at the board
of directors; if this is not possible they
will dismiss the responsible officers of
the road and elect some other who are in
accordance with their views.
6. Relations of States to the Rail
roads Although the states are not per
mitted to take any direct action on the
management of the railroads, they, how
ever, through their Congressmen can,
whenever the C.-Ds. do not act in accord
ance with the public demand, present
their views and recommendations to the
Federal - Government, which will pass
upon them as upon any law. Whenever
a recommendation to Congress comes
from any other source than the C.-Ds.
and all the branches of Government pass
favorably upon it, the five C.-Ds. in
volved have to abide by it or resign.
Laws touching the railroads framed by
the different states are valid, and officers
and directors must observe them if they
affect only the citizens of the particular
state concerned, and if there is not al
ready some National legislation covering
that matter.
7. Percentage of Profits Allowed As
the acceptance of this plan would secure
with it an exact knowledge of the capi
talization of every railroad, the greatest
obstacle to the fixing by law of fairly
remunerative rates on a constant scale
thus disappears.
8. Consolidation of Railroads When
rates may be secured by law, and persons
Interested to uphold any law, be it for
ies, riots, wrecks, embezzlements, scan
dals and murders set forth in every daily
paper. We may be touched with sorrow
for the struggles of the poor against in
dignity,, hunger, hardship and cold. We
may keenly sympathize with the suffer
ings of the rich under the grievous bur
dens and responsibilities of wealth that
the Lord has thrust upon them. We can
behold the spectacle of a hundred sects
of warring Christians expounding the
word of God In as many contradictory
ways and all being submerged in the ris
ing tide of godlessness and infidelity. All
these things are the delights of hell, not
the beatitudes of heaven.
But after all this hell Is' a pretty good
place to live. The country is exceedingly
prosperous and the people are all happy.
Indeed they are instructed with most pain
ful care that they ought to be happy and
thankful under all circumstances that
to fail in this 'duty Is to be guilty of
mortal sin of ingratitude to the author
of all their blessings.
So they exercise to the utmost stretch
their constitutional right to pursue happi
ness in every possible way, some In the
exercises of religion and some in the
service of sin, and there is keen rivalry
as to which can .boast of the greatest
amount of pleasure in their respective
pursuits. They all make the very best
appearance possible in the various circum
stances in which they find themselves. The
poor rejoice greatly on their poverty, the
sick thank God most devoutly for their
afflictions, the godless and wanton boast
of thfiir abandonment and glory In their
shame, while criminals, soldiers, police
Woman Who Asks for the Ballot and the Negro
Sirs. Duniway Tells of an Incident Dating Back to '76 and Points a Moral.
BT ABIGAIL. SCOTT DUNIWAY.
A dispatch in your columns under the
head of "Suffragists m Clash With Ne
groes In "Wisconsin," in which, as is usual
since the negro became a voter, the latter
came out ahead, recalls a matter of his
tory that ought to put to everlasting
shame our invisible foe, the genus "anti,"
who, herself in hiding, parades her sex
as a stumbling-block in the paths of the
liberty-loving women who are advocating
equal rights for the mothers of men. In
the Winter of 1876-7 I was lecturing in
Lincoln, III., sustained by a committee of
women, penniless wives of a few promi
nent men who had grown rich from the
'unearned increment" of the lands in
herited by the women from the estates of
their fathers. After holding a largely atr
tended series of meetings in the churches,
it was decided by the ladies to secure the
theater or City Hail for a closing "send
off" for me, there being no other avail
able structure large enough to accommo
date the multitude.. But the city fathers,
like Messrs. Palmer and Roycroft, of "Wis
consin, didn't want to be bothered with
so insignificant a matter as liberty for
the mothers of the Nation, and they re
fused to donate the City Hall, the rental
of which was $60 an evening. So we de
cided to take the largest church for my
The Easter Bells: Bring in the Flowers
- The Great Lesson to Hnmanlty Taught by the Event, Commemorated This Day.
BY B. J. HOADLEY.
O person can deny sucessfully that
there lived centuries ago a man
whose name was Jesus. The record
of his birth, life, death and resurrection
is full of dramatic Interest to us all. The
great stories reach the dramatic uplands
and live forever, while the merely theat
rical Is forgotten tomorrow.
There is no mistake about the death
of Jesus. A spear was plunged into his
side, and water and blood flowed out of
his heart. This would, have discovered a
swoon, and, if not already dead, it would
have caused him to expire. How careful
was Pilate to know that Jesus was dead,
and not until he was satisfied of this
fact did he give permission for the body
of Jesus to be taken down from the
cross. If not dead. Jesus would not have
survived the embalming of his body.
Jesus was not only dead, but his .body
was put Within a tomb, and there also
lay the hopes of the world. The depths
of darkness were brightened luridly into
triumph, and nature herself stood back
aghast at the spectacle of such a death.
Jesus had found us at death and left us
at death. But did he rise? 'The record
answers, Yes. and If he did rise from the
darkness and moisture of the grave death
became a crouching slave. They who see
the God in the man of Galilee have no
difficulty with the record of resurrection.
We have not failed to notice that the
bidding rebates .or anything else." are on
the inside, the consolidation of railroads,
so as to diminish the expenses of man
agement, might be encouraged.
Now I will offer the few suggestions I
thought of as to a way the Government
may confront the immediate financial side
of the Question. It is not at all improb
able that through these suggestions may
be found more than a technical fault, as I I
am as little versed on finance as I am
on railroading. This notwithstanding, to
my modest judgment they seem governed
by good common sense, and for this I am
bold enough to submit them with the rest.
(1) Valuation of the Railroads. Every
railroad president in the country will have
to submit to a commission named by the
Government a detailed statement of the
worth of hjs railroad, as learned by in
ventory. This Government commission
will be composed of experts who will have
to investigate on the statement submitted
by the railroad, and verify in the Interest
of the Government If the worth given cor
responds to the real worth of -the road.
(2) Provisions for Subtracting the Wa
tered Stock From Other Stock. As soon
as the Government and the railroad have
reached an understanding as to the value
of the road, the difference between the
real and the stock values of the road
could be deducted, not by leaving out all
the watered stock, but by subtracting an
equal number of dollars from every share,
so afl to make up for the difference. If
this Is adopted, shareholders retaining
part or all of their stock will give up their
shares and accept the reduced ones. Ex
ception to this provision will be any
share that appears to have been unpaid
for. Or it might follow the example set
by Japan, to leave out of count all wa
tered stock, but ethically I think that the
first is better.
(3) Forced Sales of Stock. In the event
that the Government cannot secure the
percentage of stock prescribed by law.
Real Happiness the Greatest Blessing of Heaven,
and Absolute Purity Its Attribute.
and Jailers delight in the punishments and
injuries they can inflict oa others.
When it is thus- fashionable and even
obligatory to appear to be happy it is
difficult for the observer impartially to
estimate how mucli real happiness there
is. Real happiness is undoubtedly the
greatest blessing of heaven and therefore
we might naturally Infer that the coun
terfeit, the falsa appearance of it would
be the deepest penalty of hell. It is sure
ly a harder task to assume the appear
ance of happiness when one is really mis
erable, than to appear to be miserable
when really happy. Thus it comes that
champagne is claimed by its admirers to
be a. more comforting cordial to the soul
than sham happiness.
But it must not be supposed that we
hold the pessimistic view that there is no
good In this mortal world and that all Is
evil. Good and evil are merely com par ac
tive terms when applied, to the conditions
of mortal existence. We are endeavoring
to call the attention of thinkers to a high
er good, a state that is beyond the com
parative, a. . life that is absolute and
superlative.
When we say that some are good or
virtuous, while others are sinful or
vicious, it only means that some are a
little bett-ir than others in reality or ap
pearance. But in the light of absolute
truth none are absolutely good, none per
fect, none righteous. All are under con
demnation. Therefore it follows that any reform,
religion, discipline, culture, course of cor
rection or scheme of morality that does
not aim as its goal at ultimate perfec
closing speech, and, "like honest Sancho,
bid God bless the giver." ,
But, while negotiations for this meet
ing were pending. Fred Douglas came
suddenly into town, and the city fathers
invited him to lecture, tendering him the
free use of the City Hall they had denied
to my committee of disenfranchised citi
zens. They also tendered the colored ora
tor free entertanment at the best hotel,
free rides about the city, and a banquet.
I knew my closing meeting would not
be the success we desired it to be before
starting to my Oregon home, if held on
Fred Douglass' night, so I changed Its
date, that we might all go to hear the
colored orator. At the close of his ad
dress, which was a very fine one, attend
ed by all the prominent men of the city,
who proudly occupied the platform, I
lingered to he introduced to Mr. Douglass,
Just as I should have lingered last night
for an .introduction to Mr. Sweeny if I
had been a guest of the liberty-loving
women of Madison. .
Mr. Douglass grasped my hand and said,
alluding to the fact that women had been
denied the free use of the City Hall,
"Never mind mad&me! During the war I
came here to Lincoln to. make a speech
and they wouldn't let me speak in any
hall or church in this city, and I had to
speak in the streets. They wouldn't al
risen Jesus appeared unrto his friends
to persons who had known him before his
death, and who were well able to recog
nize him. These folks could not have
made the story of Jesus risen out of
their expectancy, for they did not believe
he would rise. If Mary had expected
Jesus to rise from the dead she would
have seen a person other than the car
penter, whom she took Jesus to be. and
if Thomas had .anticipated all this, he
would not have demanded seeing the
print of the nails and putting his finger
into the print of the nails and thrusting
his hand into his side, before belief and
the shout. My Lord, my God!
Our message from pulpits Is not Jesus
dead, but Jesus alive evermore, and our
hopes rest not .upon a slain prince, but
the God risen. There is no doubt about
crucifixion, but many do not accept res
urrection, but if we do not accept res
urrection, we are no further than the
cross, viz.: death. It Is resurrection that
saves; crucifixion kills. The night gives
way to the morning. The storms of
March announce the coming sunshine.'for
In the struggle between gigantic forces
between cold and warmth, the victory
is with the sun.
Christianity, then, is not a poor,
crushed, limping, melancholy thing' on its
way to its own funeral, but a triumphant
column marching with banners and
cheers. Suppose Jesus not risen! Then
we may well eat, drink and be merry,
for tomorrow we die. Genius would not
care for a name all through time If there
be no immortality, hotbeds of vulgarity
would not.be broken up, nurseries of re
the stockholders maybe forced to sell
part of their stock. A "stockholder bavin
more than one-half of the whole stork
must give up preliminarily all of his hold
ings in excess of one-half; and besides
this, say, 50 per cent of the rest. Stock
holders holding between, say. one-third
and one-half, will have to sell, say, 40
per cent, and so forth. This will be per
fected as the conditions of the market
will suggest, the principle being, that the
greater the holding, the greater the stock
that wilj have to be given up.
4) How Government May Provide Nec
essary Funds. This Is undoubtedly among
the most delicate difficulties to overcome.
I humbly suggest the following way:
The transaction the Government will be
going to make is not one of empty sound,
but it Involves the purchase of valuable
property. Therefore bills guaranteed by
bonds whose security is such property,
will be. if provisions for them are wisely
made, as safe from depreciation as bills
guaranteed by actual bullion. The fol
lowing might be some of the Immediate
provisions:
The Government will Issue bonds bear
ing interest, whose principal security are
the railroad themselves, and collateral se
curity the slock purchased by the Govern
ment. Unless expressly stated by th
stockholder, the Government will give
him in change for his stock Government
bonds.
If, however, the Government cannot dis
pose promptly of all its bonds, a part of
them will be deposited In the treasury, an
amount of paper bills equal to their value
be issued, while the bonds themselves are
to be thrown on the market as fast as
they are in demand, and then the bills of
whkh they are security be put out of cir
culation. These bonds are to be redeemed with
revenue money set apart for them, as also
with the dividends which will come from
the railroads themselves.
tion, complete' emancipation and final ab
solutism, is fictitious and futile and must
end in failure because anything short of
the final absolution Is a failure. An inch
of a miss is a3 bad as a mile.
The world is unaccustomed to thinking
of anything absolute in the realm of re
ligion or morals. We are fed on specu
lationsv hypotheses and theories, all kinds
of empiricisms or quackeries. It is sup
posed that there is no. absolute truth that
the origin and destiny of man is a book
forever sealed. One man's opinion Is sup
posed to be as good as another's and
Burely Is as good if neither know any
thing about the matter. The different re
ligious sects all claim to be equally in
spired and so they are all inspired by the
spirit of fallacy the Ignorance of abso
lute truth.
The opposite of absolute is dissolute.
The mortal humanity is in a state of dis
solution, disorganization, disintegration
all broken up into discordant sects, fac
tions and fragments. This state of dis
solution is a necessary accompaniment of
mortality, for mortality implies disorgani
zation and dissolution. The remedy for
disorder, disease and death is not found
in the diseased condition, but in the de
liverance from it, in the transformation
to the state of immortality or absolute
life. This is the final absolution. Those
who reach this are saved, no others.
Those who attain to the absolute life are
the only free and accepted masons. This
is the supreme secret of masonry, the
building of the temple of the immortal
body.
G'orvallis, March 25.
low me to be entortained in any hotel,
and I'd have had to sleep out of doors or
In a barn if a colored brother hadn't
taken me to "the suburbs. Never mind."
he repeated," casting his eye over the
slowly retreating crowd, "after a while,
women will be voters, too, and you'll be '
treated just as well as If you was a nlg
gah." Last night it was my good fortune to
hear an important address at the Forum
from Judge Eraser on "The Defective
Child," in which his pathetic portrayal of
the condition of hapless mothers, with
deserting or drunken husbands, with lit
tle, starving. Ill-clad children clinging to
their gowns, drew tears from many an
eye. And I could not help exclaiming
to myself: "How long, O Lord, how
long, will it be before the majority of
men awake to their own humiliation in
sight of the fact that as serf-born sons
of servile mothers it is their solemn
duty and should be their patriotic pride
and pleasure to arise in their majority
and extend to women, even without
the asking, every opportunity they
claim for themselves for the full equip
ment In the struggle of life, liberty
and happiness which is the rightful
heritage of every man or woman un
der a republican form of government
who is amenable to its laws.
finement and purity would not be made,
men would be treacherous, grasping,
cruel, for today is all. There would be,
indeed, a heaven, but peopled with swine.
But immortality disarms men carrying
carnal weapons, dissuades them from
mischievous intent and whips them out
of dens of selfishness. It converts the
humblest man into a cargo of precious
worth, for there is a port to win. Cru
cifixion, darkness: resurrection, bright
ness. Bring on the Easter flowers, for
it Is morning.
Heppner, Or.
Assorted Literary Food.
Pilgrim.
For clearness read Macaulay. For logta
read Burke and Bacon. For action read
Homer and Scott. For conciseness read
Bacon and Pope.
For sublimity of conception read Milton,
For vivacity read Stevenson and Kipling.
For imagination read Shakespeare and
Job. For common sense read Benjamin
Franklin.
For elegance read Virgil, Milton ana
Arnold. For smoothness read Addison
and Hawthorne. For interest in common
thing read Jane Austen. For simplicity
read Burns, Whittier and Bunyan.
For humor read Chaucer. Cervantes and
Mark Twain. For the study of human
nature read Shakespeare and George
Eliot. For choice of Individual words
read Keats. Xennyson and Emerson. For
loving and patient observation of nature
read Thoreau and Walton.