Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (July 7, 1907)
TIIE SUNDAY UKEUOMAX, PORTLAND, JTjLY 7, 1907. SUBSCRIPTION RATES. INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. (By Mall.) Dally, Sunday Included, on year $8.00 Dally. Sunday Included, six months.... 425 Bally, Sunday Included, three months. . 2.23 Dally. Sunday Included, one month.... .75 Dally, -without Sunday, one year 6.00 Dally, without Sunday, six months.... 3.115 Dally, without Sunday, three months.. 1.73 Dally, -without Sunday, ons month 60 Sunday, one year z. Weekly, one year (Issued Thursday).... 1-60 Sunday and Weekly, one year &.&0 BV CARRIER. Dally, Sunday Included, one year 9.00 Dally, Sunday included, one month TS HOW TO REMIT Send postoffice money order, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the sender's risk. Give postoffice. ad dress in full. Including county and state. POSTAGE RATES. Entered at Portland, Oregon. Postotflcs as Second-Class Matter. 10 to U Pag.ts ' 1 cent 16 to 23 Pages -.a cents 80 to 44 Pages 3 cents iS to 60 Pages cents Foreign postage, double rates. IMPORTANT The postal laws are strict. Newspapers on which postage Is not fully prepaid are not forwarded to destination. EASTERN BCSITESS OFFICE. The S. C. BecKwIth, Special Agency New York, rooms 48-60 Tribune building. Chi cago, rooms B10-S12 Tribune building. KEPT ON BALE Chicago Auditorium Annex, Postoffice News Co., 178 Dearborn st. St. raul, Minn. N. St. Marie, Commercial Station. Denver Hamilton HendricR. 906-813 Seventeenth street; Pratt Book Store. 1-1 Fifteenth street; H. P. Hansen. & Rice, Kansas City, Mo. Rlcksecker Cigar Co.. Ninth and Walnut; Sosland News Co. Minneapolis M. J. Cavanaugh. BO South Third; Kagle News Co.. corner Tenth, and Eleventh; Yoma News Co. Cleveland, O. James Pushnw. SOT Su perior streett. Washington, D. C. Ebbltt House. Penn sylvania avenue. Philadelphia, Pa. Ryan's Theater Ticket office: Penn News Co. New York City L. Jones A Co.. Astor House; Broadway Theater News Stand; Ar thur Hntallug Wagons. Atlantic City, N. Y Ell Taylor. Oakland, Cal. W. H. Johnson. Fourteenth and Franklin streets; N. Wheatley; Oak land News Stand; Hale News Co. Ogden D. 1 Boyle, W. O. Kind. 114 Twenty-fifth street. Omaha Barkalow Bros., Union Station; Mageath Stationery So. ' Des Molnee, la- Mose Jacob. Sacramento, Cal. Sacramento News Co., 430 K street; Amos News Co. Salt Lake Moon Book Stationery Co. I Rosenfleld & Hansen. Lot Angeles B. E, Amos, manager aevsn trest wagons. San Diego B. K. Amos. Long Beach, Cal. B. B. Amos. Santa Barbara, Cal. John P recti eL San Jose, Cal St. James Hotel News Stand. Fort Worth, Tex. F. Robinson. , San Francisco Foster ft Cyrear: Ferry News Stand; Hotel St. Francis News Stand: L. Parent: N. Wheatley, Falrmount Hotel News Stand; Amos News Co. Goldfleld, Ner. Louie Pollin. Eureka, Cal. Call-Chronicle Agency. Norfolk, Ya. Potts & Roeder,. Pine Beach, Vs. W. A. Coagrove. PORTLAND, SUNDAY. JULY 7. 1907. INDIVIDUALS AND THE RACE. As a defender of free thought and an emancipated thinker, Mr. C. E. S. "Wood merits applause. The spirit of his commencement address at Se attle one can admire, even though some of Its conclusions may appear faulty. The outcry of the preachers that Mr. Wood's remarks were danger ous, particularly for the young, are stuff and nonsense. Nothing. Is too good for the young to hear. No speech is dangerous to young or old but that which perverts or suppresses the truth. Error Is less baneful than the tyranny of tradition over thought. Mistakes are harmless compared -with intellec tual slavery. If there is one lesson thoroughly taught by the experience of the hu man race It is this, that truth can take care of itself. It needs no de fense from ecclesiastics. It flourishes best when church and government let it severely alone. Concerning Mr. Wood's address, U Is fatuous to in quire whether it was dangerous or radical or heretical. The only possible question that a sensible .person would think of asking about it would be "Was It true?" In a thoughtful letter to The Ore gonian, Dr. T. B. Ford has called at tention to one sentence from Mr. Wood's address where an old question Is asked and answered, asked impli citly and answered with a posltive ness that appears somewhat bold to an unprejudiced reader. The sentence is. this: In the realization that the Individual is nothing and the race is everything, we place ourselves in harmony with nature, .who cares nothing for the Individual, howevar great he may be, but ceaseless Is the perpetuation and betterment of the race. Dr. Ford objects to this on the ground that it contradicts the teach ings of religion. Jesus and his fol lowers attribute to the individual an importance which is infinite and eter nal. For the race, as a race, they care nothing. At any rate they have little or nothing to say about it. Of course the mere fact that a conclusion contradicts the theologians is of no consequence. Most truths which now dominate civilization have been under the ban of theology at one time or another and are none the worse for it. But in this case there is some ground for the belief that the theo logians are right. A. candid investi gator sooner or later is driven to the opinion that the all-important object in the world Is the individual and not the race. The simple truth, is that Mr. Wood has allowed the facts of the matter to escape him. Nature cares no more for races than for individuals. The common remark ithat she is continually sacrificing Individuals in order to pro duce a perfect race is nonsense. Nature sacrifices a whole raoe Just as readily as a single man and she produces im perfection quite as frequently as per fection. . Nature has no purpose.- She is unintelligent. In her realm the best we can say is that things hap pen. When we go a step farther and say that they happen with an end in view, we trespass beyond the war rant of fact. What does Mr. Wood mean by Na ture? Is Nature to his mind a being who has formed some plan or other and is operating the forces of the world to carry it out? Or does he mean by the word Nature merely the totality of natural processes? If he means the former, then his remarks amount to nothing more than the vague moonings of the theologians, Bince they admit ' of no proof. Of course, he ' means the latter, for all any man can truthfully say of the course of the world, is that it goes on. Why it goes on as it does nobody can tell. Thus far all attempts to tell have resulted in self-stultification. Nature is not working to produce cither a perfect individual or a per fect race. She is working for no ob ject whatever so far as we can per ceive. Purpose belongs to intelligence and there is no Intelligence in natural processes. They display no choice whatever among results, producing pain with the same facility as pleas ure and destroying as eagerly as they build.. The fight for perfection as a conscious end has always been waged against Nature and does violence everywhere to her laws. What Nature produces is "adaptation," which is a totally different thing from perfec tion. The best adapted thing is fre quently the tr.ost evil thing. The tiger and the rattlesnake with all their cruelty or venom are exquisitely adapted. The blind mole. Is adapted, and so is the intestinal parasite which can do nothing but suck. The Bowery tough is adapted, but he is far from being (perfected. Adapta tion sometimes coincides with perfec tion and sometimes not. Often it de grades. It is produced by the method of indiscriminate slaughter, which spares races no more than individuals and cares nothing for either. Per fection is what we reach by progress ,and all progress' has been an inces sant struggle against adaptation. What is a race? Plato taught that it is a mystical something existing apart from individuals. According to his notion there would still be a human race even If all men and women were dead. He called this curious figment of fancy an. "idea.". It seems some times almost as If Mr. Wood still cher ished the same superstition. He speaks of a race as If It were something In dependent of the Individuals who compose it. But, in all candor, Is there any . such thing as a race, in that sense? Is it any more than a com mon noun designating a collection of individuals? (How, then, can a perfect race be produced except by producing perfect individuals? The proposition that Nature cares nothing for the individual and every thing for the race Is a contradiction in terms. It is one of those patches of hazy moonshine which soothe the imaginations of people who will not face the facts of the world. The word "race" is an empty concept when we take it to mean anything else than "many individuals." Individuals are the only tangible facts in the -universe. It is In them alone that reali ty manifests itself. Nothlns can be done which is not done to individuals. No perfection cat) exist except In in dividuals. No sin or crime can be com mitted except toy individuals. And all talk about the perfection of races amounts simply to an attempt to shirk our responsibility and duty to Individuals. It Is lovely to gloom about perfecting the human race, while to relieve the needs of a brother at one's side Is not only difficult, but oftentimes exceedingly disagreeable to a refined taste. For Virtue abounds in flatterers and foes; 'Tlx pride to praise her. penance to per form. MR. EDGAR G. JONES. After many years of service in the business office of The Oregonian, as director of its department of adver tising, Mr. E. G. Jones has withdrawn, with the Intention presently of enter ing other business. Needless to say. The Oregonian parts with regret from one who has served It so long, so faithfully and so well. It Is nearly twenty years since - Mr. Jones entered upon the duties of ad vertising manager of this paper. Con trast of the paper of that day -with the -paper of the present time 'will give some Idea of the progress of the Northwest and of the growth of The Oregonian. witA It.- The adver tising of a newspaper Is not only a large part of- Its life, but more than lhat, it is the chief means through which it derives its power to push its work and to serve the public with the news. Through the management of Its advertising by Mr. Jones. The Oregonian has at all times had Intelli gent assistance and co-operation. His fidelity has been seconded by an effi ciency and industry that have been as steady as manifest to his fellow workers. Management of advertising for the modern newspaper has become a profession and an art, which few have so completely mastered as Mr. Jones. Upon severance of the business re lations which the Oregonian has so long held with Mr. Jones, the mana ger and the editor desire to express their personal regrets; and to bear this testimony to his worth as a man and to the value of the services he has rendered during so long a per iod. SOME . STRIKING CONTRASTS. The Kansas City Journal tells us that farmers, . who were seduced by land agents, and their glittering promises into leaving Missouri and Kansas sev eral years ago, to settle In Northwest Canada, have grown sick of their hard lot in that bleak country and are sell ing out as fast as they can and coming back to the "Italian azure-tinted skies of the Southwest," as Ambassador Bryce enthusiastically termed them on the occasion of his recent visit to Okla homa and Indian Territory. We hear thhe same thing' from per sons who left Oregon and Washing ton some years ago. on the same ven ture, for "the splendid and fertile prairies of Alberta and Assinlbola and Saskatchewan." Wheat could be grown there, till everybody was rich'. Doubtless money has (been made and can be made, 'by thane situated favor ably; but It Is not the rule. The Sum mers are short and hot; the Winters long and intensely cold; domestic an imals require constant care for their preservation against frost. Insects and necessity of ,large provision for feeding them; and' fuel, raiment and houses and barns, ade quately prepared for defense against cold, require not only a good deal of capital, but Incessant care-taking and labor. We certainly have in our own states as favorable conditions for crops, and for more kinds of crops, than can be grown in those boreal regions, and we have climatic conditions of the best. Wheat can be grown in Oregon and Washington as successfully as in Can ada, and lands still are cheap. And we have as good prospects of the necessary railway extensions here Into the new wheat country at least, as they have there. And think of that climate! From a farmer in the Canadian Northwest, -writing to a friend In Oklahoma, a letter comes, which the Kansas City Journal Is permitted to publish. It contains statements like these: The frosts begin in August, and from November the thermometer stands at from 35 to 50 degrees below zero, with snow over three feet deep on a level, while around the houses it drifts -until it covers house, barn and even haystacks. The snow drift ed seven feet deep around' his house last Winter and remained frozen hard until May. Ha had to cut steps to his barn, and was a prisoner in his house all Winter. Worst of all, he re ports that they had on an average one blizzard a week from November 16 to April 6, while in Summer they suffered from hot winds. For weeks in Winter the trains were stopped and there were no mails or news of any kind from the outside world. Many people were without coal during the worst weather, and some were even without wood and were compelled to burn straw and ferceposts. But the writer adds: "This Is a great big un developed .country, and the finest wheat-producing country I ever saw, but when you think of coming here you must be prepared to shovel snow, chop ice and buck up against the real thing, for this is Canada." And insects during the hot season are so numerous and fierce that cattle are teased and tortured to the limit of endurance by them, and horses are so reduced by 'their attacks as often to be too weak for effective work, Wouldn't it seem from these recitals that our own states, and especially our Pacific States, had merits enough to hold our people, and that the mot to: "Seek no further," were about the thing to be placarded all about us? SUCCESS TO THE EFFORT. The labor unions of this city, it is said, are going to fight the fuel trust. This trust has tightened its grip upon the public, causing the rich consumers to wince, the consumer of moderate means to writhe painfully and the poor to cry out In alarm and misery. Its exactions have become unbearable, and, If labor unions succeed in break ing its t hold, they will have given legitimate reason for their existence, even If this were the only count to their credit. There is no legitimate reason, as everybody knows as everybody has known from the first that fir wood at this time should be held at $6 and $7 a cord, and slabwood dirty, ill assorted and short of measure should have been advanced to $3.75 a load. The wood barons have combined to force the price up to these figures without other excuse than that by which trusts engage to rob the people. Car shortage and trouble In the coal mines explained, with some show Qf reason, the high price of coal dur ing the past Winter, but it Is an insult to common intelligence to urge a sim ilar excuse for the exorbitant prices asked for cordwood and slabwood in Midsummer, with a threat of still further advance in the price In the Fall. Allowing a fair margin for the alleged Increase In choppers' wages and the wages of the wood-handlers on scows, in woodyards and elsewhere, the sale of four-foot firwood for more than $4.50 or $5 a cord delivered at homes in this city. Is sheer extortion, made possible by the combination known as the "wood trust." If the labor unions can break into this camp of plotters and mercenaries and bring fuel down to a reasonable price, they will deserve, and will no doubt receive, the plaudits of an erst while shivering and still boldly-fleeced community. Success to the effort. SOME MAN HEADS THE PLUNDER. Upon the whole, probably, the an nual harvest of Fourth of July ora tions yields as much wisdom as folly. Some speeches are wholly fatuous, a few are pure gold. To the latter Dr. Wood row Wilson's speech at James town seems to belong. One of Mr. Roosevelt's rare abbera tlons from Just discernment occurred In the Paul Morton episode, when he admitted that corporation managers might shield themselves behind ,the ghostly personality of the corporate entity. . . . , Mr. Woodrow Wilson t made short work of this fallacious concession, which Tenders crime safe for the pre datory magnate. So long as the law deals with the corporation and does not reach after the man behind It, he smiles with satisfaction and se renely continues to grab his plunder. '"Every corporation," said President Wilson, "is personally directed, either by some one dominant person, or some group of persons. Somebody In - par ticular is responsible for, or doing, or sanctioning every Illegal ' act com mitted by Its agents or officers:" and therefore, when such an act is com mitted somebody ought to go to pris on for it. The clean common-sense of Mr. Wil son's remarks is refreshing. It con trasts pleasantly with the fine-spun sophistries of the lawyers and shows that we still have educationists, who seek to instruct rather than to mis lead us. Did Colonel Harvey know that Mr.' Wood-row Wilson held these opinions when he nominated him to succeed Mr. Roosevelt? AN INTERESTING REPORT. ' The annual report of Colonel Roess ler. United States Engineer in charge of this district, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1907, is of Interest to the entire district covered, and espe cially, perhaps, to that portion of which Portland Is the active center and the Columbia river, the great highway leading to the sea. It con firms. In every detail, the reports Is sued from time to time by the com mercial and trade bodies of this "city In regard to the large increase In busi ness of the port and of the substan tial growth of the Industries of the great Interior, whlcia create this busi ness. The detailed statement of Colonel Roessler, of the expenditure of the Government appropriations - upon . the waterways of this State, will be of special interest to the farmers and shippers of the Interior, both of the Columbia and Willamette Valleys. Residents of Western Oregon have ever been loyal to their river and re sentful of its neglect. While they appreciate railway facilities (or would, if they had facilities more in keeping, with their needs), they turn with con fidence to the Tlver as a surety against the exactions of railroad- managers in handling the staple products of their farms. . There has been expended upon the Willamette river, according to the re port recently made public, something less than $24,000 In the past year not a great sum, considering the impor-. tance of the waterway as an auxiliary! to the commerce of the Valley, but a sum that has Insured a considerable freight movement by water, at a time when It was greatly needed. Tha work done upon the smaller rivers and more important ports of South western Oregon will facilitate greatly the commerce of those sections, since they depend wholly upon shipping as a means of reaching the markets of the world. Coos Bay, Siuslaw, Ta quina and Tillamook Bay have each received such aid as the appropria tions available for that purpose would permit The ' report shows what 'has been done by the Government to meet the growing demands of a development that has been too long retarded. That the work has been inadequate to the needs and to the vast resources of this region is true, but that the appropriations have been applied with skill and goad Judgment is manifest. Piece-meal work is never satisfac tory and always, in the end, waste ful. 'Hence, if the money provided for the improvement of our Northwestern waterways has not given the relief asked, and expected, the reason there fore is not far to seek. The half loaf has been better than no bread, but it -does not meet the full need, though its distribution may be carefully supervised. AN OLD-FASiaONED CELEBRATION. ' The people of Oregon have never been found wanting in the expression of patriotism on the Fourth of July. Not a pioneer of the storied Oregon Country but wiU remember the old time "celebration," with its free-for-all banquet spread in the grove, its procession with flaunting banners, crude music and gay Liberty car; its patriotic addresses and the sonorous reading of the Declaration of Indepen dence. The country swains, In the days when all was "country" and cities were not, was a picturesque fig ure on these occasions, as with clank ing spurs at his heels, his middle be girt by a red sash with flowing, fringed ends and his hat-band adorned with hollyhocks, he rode proudly In the van of the procession. Not less picturesque, and in their way, quite as noticeable, were the country lassies, in holiday attire, who also came on horseback, their fresh young faces shaded by white sunbonnets, and with long cotton- riding skirts decorously falling a yard below their feet. They rode side-saddles, in those days the girls who came from far and near, on Indian ponies and passed with avert ed eyes the "squaws," who with Jing ling trinkets bestrode their ponies, all unconscious of the affront thus given to our early civilization. Then there were the farm wagons, their capacious boxes lined with hay in which nestled children, as many as they could hold, with two chairs In front occupied 'by the father and- the mother the former the careful driver of the team, the latter holding the baby, wearing a pretty pink sunbon net, close to her bosom; at their feet a box well filled with viands for the public table. The hospitality and good cheer of the occasion was only equaled at the old-fashioned campmeetlng. but one could never, even if forgetful of the calendar, mistake the one gathering for the other, since at the celebration of ;the , Fourth of July, enthusiasm ran riot, even though the firecracker was not their to voice It; while such enthusiasm as the campmeetlng gen erated was expressed in the fervid shouts of the faithful at the evening sessions and in loud noonday prayers for the conversion and salvation of the sinner unconverted. Literally, everybody was made wel come to the tables spread In the grove. The patriotic speeches of Amory Holbrook and David Logan, and El wood Evans and George L. Woods, and John R. MaBride and James Nesmith and Delavan Smith all popular ora tors in those days were cheered to the echo, and even the drowsy, monotone In which the Declaration of . Indepen dence was read by the village lawyer, or perhaps the preacher who rode the circuit at the time, escaped criticism. What a day,- indeed, the. Fourth of July was then. How eagerely antici pated, how thoroughly enjoyed. What if the stiff, new shoes, bought for the occasion, did pinch and blister the feet? What if the new calico dress was torn or the new trousers begrimed with dust? What If the tired baby took his first lesEon 1b patriotism, with screams that testified to his discom fort and disloyalty, and the restless small boy managed to come in too close contact with wild ivy and was cruelly poisoned? What though the busy housewife came through the festival literally worn out with the extra cook ing and sewing and washing and iron ing incident to the patriotic outing, and the head of the family got be hind with his hay harvest because of taking the "day off"? Fourth of July came but 'once a year, as each and everybody assured himself and each other; and its proper observance was no more to be disregarded or de cried than , was the sheriff's annual call for taxes or the road supervisor's peremptory notice to report at a cer tain day and place for work on the primitive highways. Its discomforts were ignored. Its pleasures were eagerly anticipated and enjoyed. While in her heart, no doubt, the pioneer mother was glad when the festival . was over for another year, she forebore to say so, lest the lesson in patriotism that the "celebration " Inculcated, 'or was supposed to inculcate, would be lost upon the family. And who, after all, would exchange the pleasures of that day in the woodsi a day dedi cated to patriotism, wearing one's best clothes, listening and clapping while the American eagle screamed, eating one's fill from public tables spread by the hand of neighborly hospitality, meeting old friends and making new ones, for a quiet restful day at home? Or who, looking backward over the years, counts the time spent at an old fashioned celebration of the Fourth of July as time misspent? It was an event or occasion, the fatigue of which was a thing of a day and the memory of which is as far as memory goes everlasting. Very appropriate is the suggestion that one of the statues of the State of Washington in the Statuary Hall at the National Capitol, should 1)9 that of Dr. Marcus Whitman; the other that of the first Governor of the Territory of Washington, Isaac I. Stevens. Whit man deserves the recognition as a pio neer, whose energy was a force in the first period of the settlement of the Oregon country. Stevens deserves It as the most conspicuous and, we think, the ablest man who has ap peared thus far In the history of this Northwest State. Both men sacrificed their lives to patriotic purposes. The Oregonian thinks that James W. Nesmlth's should be one of the names selected for Oregon; it might be a mat ter of debate who should be the other. There are Joseph Lane, Matthew . P. Deady, George CH. Williams and sev eral more. As to Edward D. Baker, the only question Is whether he was identified with Oregon sufficiently for such a purpose, or not. Though he was a Senator from Oregon for a few months, his name and fame belong more distinctively to the whole coun try than to Oregon, and his family showed indifference to Oregon by hav ing his body borne from one of the bloody fields of the Civil War for in terment at San Francisco. By order of Congress, 'a marble statue of Baker already occupies a place in the Hall of National Worthies, in the Capitol in Washington. The organ of the plutocratic first families of Portland says Mr. H. L. Pittock has a fine site for a great hotel and ought to undertake the building of one, himself. But he never has had the money with which to build and furnish 'such a struc ture, and very likely doesn't want to borrow from the first families, and then be closed out by them, after their usual fashion. There seems to be no good reason why any one who has a moderate property should hanker to have it gobbled up by our local Shy locks. There has 'been somewhat too much of this business already, either for the good of Portland or of individual citizens of Portland, who have fallen into the hands or gullets of our swal lowers of . estates. Ask about the Marquam estate, the Barrell estate, the Stephens' estate, the Qulnn estate, the Johnson estate, and many more all gone into one insatiable maw. Mr. Pittock hasn't been consulted about this paragraph, but we think he would prefer to be excused from the attentions of those who are eager to advance money and He In wait for the outcome. The American public is warned against acts or utterances that have a tendency "to inflame the Japanese mind." The Jap mind seems to be already in a highly-inflamed condi tion. Like the stomach, when pam pered by over-indulgence, the Jap mind is easily irritated. It is, in fact, in a state of chronic inflammation, and is ready to blaze up at even the suggestion of a provocation. Prudent persons, desiring to avoid trouble with an Irritable individual, are ready to make such reasonable concessions as are required to allay his Irritation. The result is familiar to all, since all have had experience in this line. The more a man of easily-inflamed mind is catered to in his ill humors, the more ready he is to take affront. Al strong hand on the collar of a per son looking for trouble, does more In five minutes to subdue his irritation than a month of coaxing could ac complish. John D. Rockefeller, according to his daughter, is a much-persecuted man. Too bad, since according to the same impartial authority he is gentle, child-like and bland a friend to every body and without an enemy in the whole world. Of course, a man so guileless could not be expected to know anything about the transactions of the wicked Standard Oil Company. If there Is anything shady in the man agement of this corporation, be sure the manipulators and tricksters kept it from him. Is he not a member, in good and regular standing, of the larg est Baptist Church in America? And does he not give royally to the sup port of its pulpit? No doubt he is persecuted for righteousness' sake. Three eminent alienists have been appointed to examine into the mental condition of Mrs. Mary Baker G. Eddy and determine whether she is compe tent to transact business and care for her large property Interests. This question might have been . settled weeks , ago, simply by putting Mrs. Eddy on the stand In her own behalf. The American people do not take much stock In the divinity by which Mrs. Eddy's followers have sought to hedge her round about. . She may be and probably is a remarkable woman, considering her age. Why should this fact. If it is a fact, be disputed when she could settle, in an hour, all con troversy about It? How utterly humble, sweet and harmless that angelic old man, John D. Rockefeller, is! He has made his hundreds of millions - by employment of every kind of oppression and extor tion, yet tells the Court at Chicago that he knows nothing about the busi ness, and to confirm It, puts up the blandest smile in the world. Several auto dealers, by resolution, have "exonerated" Barney Oldfield from blame for the fake auto races last Wednesday. The many other per sons, who paid $1 each for admission to the bunco races, have not adopted any such resolution. The auto deal ers must have had free passes. Mr. Oldfield admits that he got drunk, "became destructive," woke up the hotel with his noise and smashed a -window, but denies that he attempted suicide. 'He spoils a fit sequel to a very sorry career In Port land. While the weather la so favorable for social functions, Chicago should not neglect the opportunity this week to give Mr. Rockefeller a reception at its Justly celebrated stockyards. There is good ground for suspecting that the $5000 "Bill" Squires received for his share in the last alleged cham pionship fight Is the biggest money he ever "won" in the ring. We congratulate President Roose velt over the fact that he doesn't have to go to the terrific expense of buy ing slabwood for the fleet to be sent to the Paclfio Coast. Japan Is too much like the red headed boy whom you must not roil because he Is quick-tempered. Smash ing him in the head with a brick is the only "first aid." Now If the (Hotel Portland shall dou ble Its capacity, the town next year will be able for the first time many years to take care of the ordinary Summer travel. All hands will hail with delight an automobile road to Tillamook, but who's going to keep it sprinkled after the first of October? Will tome expert please reconcile the conflicting reports of Oregon hatcher ies and the fishing industry of the Lower Columbia? With a little effort, the movement of the Federated Trades Council to curb the fuel trust can. be made unani mous. Those 376 big guns In the Pacific meet, not counting "Fighting Bob," ought to be able to open any closed door. Still Jet lt be remembered that all our foreign relations are of the most peaceful character. COMMENT ON CURRENT STATE TOPICS Unpopularity of Spying; Out Lawbreakers Need of Drinking; Troughs on Country Honda Problem of Hop Prices Commonplnre Speeches on Inde pendence Day Ownership of Irrigation Systems Frauds Perpetrated by Transient A (tents for Vehicles. sf. M PLO YMENT of "spotters" to aid in ff enforcing laws' has always been un-- popular, particularly with the peo ple against whom lt is used. The spotter Is generally looked down upon with con tempt, even by those who are in sym pathy with the movement in which he is engaged. The Anti-Saloon League was censured two years ago for employing a minor to purchase liquors in order to get evidence against saloon-lkeepers. Simi lar criticisms are voiced against city au thorities in Eugene, who. so It is alleged, employed a. "spotter" to secure evidence of violations of the local option law. The saloon men were so Incensed at the meas ures taken that they talked of tar and feathers as a suitable decoration for the "spotter." Somehow or other, the feeling has be come established that though the man who violates the law may resort to any sort of trick to conceal his Illegal act. It is dishonorable for the officer of the law to resort to a trick to uncover the misdeed. Juries quite frequently acquit a man who has been detected by a "spot ter," though they would have convicted him If the had been caught without decep tion. A spotter, who invites a violation of a law, Is looked upon as a sort of ac cessory, and If the prosecuting officer has employed the "spotter." the jury Is in clined to take the view that the state consented to this particular violation with which the defendant is charged. This method of detection is, therefore, not as satisfactory in practice as lt is In theory. Woodburn Is likely to be in a position to enforce one of the liquor laws without employing spotters, and with as effective results as though direct evidence were se cured by men employed for that purpose. That city has passed an ordinance making It an offense for a minor to purchase liquor, and a fine or imprisonment Is pro vided as punishment. If, now, a Wood burn youth should be found In the pos session of liquor or under its influence, he can be haled before the prosecuting officer and be given his choice of telling where he got the liquor or of going to Jail himself. A prosecuting officer who Is sincere In his desire to enforce the law upon this subject will find the new or dinance a great aid to him. Perhaps a similar regulation might be effective in the enforcement of a Sunday closing law. It is already unlawful to sell liquor on Sunday. If, now, lt should be made unlawful, under penalty of a Jail sentence, to buy liquors on Sunday, the officers would be In a position to line up persons who buy and compel them to tell where they bought and when. Of course, the officers could not absolutely compel a man to give evidence against himself, but the plan would work out that way in practice, for a young man would not go to Jail himself If he could get out of It by divulging Information as to where he got the liquor. More than that, after a few arrests of buyers of liquors, they would come to the conclusion that they could get along without it on Sunday and would control their appetites rather than chance the notoriety of a Police Court. Heney, In Oregon and In California, had no power to compel men to tell what they knew about land frauds and other forms of graft, but he found a way to Induce them to tell. HOMER DAVENPORT'S plea in behalf of dumb brutes, particularly horses, undoubtedly strikes a responsive chord In the hearts of some of the farmers round Roseburg, for one of them has voiced a complaint because no public watering troughs are provided In that city. He thinks there should be convenient places where teams could be watered after a drive over dusty roads, from the farm to market. His complaint is one that Is ap plicable to many towns in Oregon and to rural communities as well. There is many a road in Western Oregon where a team may be driven nearly all day, without finding any opportunity to water the horses, though springs are frequent on the hillsides. As a consequence, horses are driven too long without water and when a careless driver at last turns thera loose to drink they are likely to drink too much. The Southern Paclfio Company has been subjected to severe criticism of late be cause cattle are compelled, to stand In cars for 24 hours or more In hot weather and without water. It Is doubtful, how ever, whether these cattle suffer more than many a farmer's horses which haul loads on hot, dusty highways, without opportunities to drink at frequent inter vals. While the Railroad Commission is busying Itself in an effort to secure bet ter service In the transportation of stock, road supervisors might render just as valuable a service by devising some means of erecting public watering troughs along the highways wherever water may be available. To let the water of a spring flow Into a stagnant pool by the roadside adds to the torture of the horse that can see the water but cannot reach it. Where a supply of water exists, the cost of put ting up a trough and piping the water to it would be but slight, and certainly in considerable compared with the relief it would afford to thirsty horses, cattle and 4ogs. TO find a way of utilizing a hopyard in an "off-year" so that the owner shall make some profit or at least come out even, is a problem which confronts the growers of Oregon, and which has occupied the attention of many of them. It Is recognized by all that the hop In dustry, more than any other, Is subject to alternate seasons of prosperity and adversity. Two or three years of high prices and big profits are followed by as many years of low prices and heavy losses. Some growers refuse to regard the lessons of the past and greatly In crease their acreage after a year or two of prosperity, only to find, when their yards come into bearing, that prices are down. Others are careful In the opera tions, but, having their hopyards to care for, they must take the poor years with the good and pay the losses If they can, out of the profits of the years of good fortune. Growers sometimes foresee a year of low prices, or probable low prices, but' are unable to avoid the -consequences. The man who can devise a successful method of meeting this diffi culty will win recognition as. a benefac tor of the hopgrowlng Industry A few years ago the Oregon Hopgrow ers' Association proposed the plan of having the growers agree to leave a cer tain proportion of their yards unpicked. The trouble with this plan was that not all the growers would agree to it, and even if they did the decreased yield here would help the price In California, where growers would not leave hops unpicked, and the sacrifice of part of a crop here would encourage increased production the following year In a rival hop-producing state. It seems scarcely probable that an organfzation could be formed ex tensive enough and strong enough, to limit the production of hops in the same way and with the same effect that loggers- and shingle manufacturers, for ex ample, limit the output of their product. This year, there was reason to believe early In the Spring that hop prices In 1307 would be low. What, under such cir cumstances, can an Oregon horgrower do? It has been suggested by some that he might sow field peas In his yard, and pasture hogs or sheep on the crop. An other has proposed that potatoes be planted between the rows of hops, or that the hops be plowed up and potatoes be planted as though the hops had not been there, and after a few crops of po tatoes or other products had been raised, new hop roots could be planted if the outlook for hop prices had Improved. To all the suggestions there are some objections. To plow up a yard and re plant it after two or three years is an expensive process, and the first yearns crop of hops would scarcely pay for harvesting. It Is doubtful, too. whether a crop of potatoes In between rows of neglected hop vines would yield much of a crop, for the vines would draw moisture from the soil. The vines would spread in a tangle all through tho rows, making cultivation difficult, unless the vines should be cut oft. The pasturing idea seems to bo tha least objectionable, though it may be impracticable for the reason that few hopgrowers have hogs or sheep to turn into a field of peas or vetch. This plan has one slroftg argument In Its favor, however, for a crop of the kind men tioned would In a measure serve as a fer tilizer. Hopgrowers In England long ngo found lt necessary to use commer cial fertilizers and a few In Oregon have resorted to that expedient. But commer cial fertilizers are expensive. Though the scheme has not been tried, perhaps lt would be found practicable. In years of depressed hop prices, to sow vetches In a yard, pasture the vetch with what stock could be had. and then plow under the vetch straw and refuse, thus lighten ing and rejuvenating the soil. The hop roots would still be in place and, by cultivating and suckcring in the usual manner, the yard could be relived without tho expense of replanting. Views upon this subject are necessarily theo retical, for there has been little. If any, experimenting in this direction. In the past, growers who were discouraged with the outlook either neglected their yards and let them grow up to weeds and grass or plowed them up and aban doned hopgrowlng entirely. This year, when the outlook for prices, in the opin ion of many growers, is poor, there has been a desire to find some way to make good use of tho land, without harvesting a crop at a possible loss. IT IS a frequent remark, not peculiarly applicable to the year 1907. that Fourth of July orations contain little that Is new, either in thought or expression. They contain little that is Instructive, either. The addresses are, . iu general, pretty much what have been heard in years past, a mixture of ancient, medi eval and modern history, self-laudation and pleasant prophecy. Greece and Rome. Magna Charta, the Declaration of Independence. -the Emancipation Procla mation, are topics which lead up to the assertion that we are the greatest Nation on earth and always will be. Here and there a speaker touches upon a live Issue, but avoids saying anything that will dls- ' close a positive opinion where men may differ. Perhaps this is the most that can be expected, for there has always been an unwritten law that Fourth of July orators must not take advantage of the occasion to talk politics. In their ex treme care not to bring partisan politics into discussion, the speakers avoid also the larger questions of Interest to the people upon which party lines are not clearly drawn. The ordinary Fourth of July orator impresses his audience much the same as did the minister of the gos pel of whom it was said: I went to church the other day. I heard the preacher preach and prajr; He said just what he ought to say: And then back home I came away. The average Independence Day oration starts no new line of thought; gives rise to no new movement for better govern ment. The orator, ensaged several weeks In advance to deliver tho address, spends Ills time formulating a 60-niInute talk, which embodies opinions his auditors have entertained for years. Perhaps this is best, for it Is conducive to peace and contentment. The fellow-citizens feel that he said what he ought to have said, and what they would have said if they had been in his place. IN A suit pending In Crook Count-, one of tho reclamation companies operat ing under the provisions of the Carey act has taken a position which is In ac cordance with the opinions of the settlers upon the question of ultimate ownership of the irrigation system. The Assessor listed tho canal system and assessed it to the company which constructed It. The company brought suit to prevent col lection of the tax, for the reason that the canals do not belong to It, but to the settlers, the company having merely a possessory right until such time as iu Hen for the cost of construction shall be paid. There has always been some doubt as to the right of a reclamation company to retain possession and collect water rates after the cost of reclamation has been paid, but this position, upon the part of the company, leaves no further room for fear that It will assert a per petual right to collect toll. Tho new contracts particularly provide, for ulti mate ownership of the system by a set tlers' association. Since the reclamation company renounces ownership of the system, the question will arise whether its acknowledged possessory right la taxable property. JVf ORROW COUNTY papers relate 1 I that traveling agents for buggies have been taking orders in that part of tho state for some lime, and have done considerable business. The agents are said to be very smooth talkers, who have no great difficulty in convincing the farmers that they can buy a vehicle through an agent at less cost than through a local dealer. And the prices quoted bear out the representations of the agents. But some of the farmers, who bought In that manner, came to the conclusion after their carriages arrived that they could have secured a better vehicle for the same money at home from a resident agent, whose permanent business Interests require that prices and quality correspond.