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TIIE SUNDAY OUEGOXIAX, PORTLAND, JANUARY 19, 1903.
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rORTI-ANI. SIMIAV, JANI AKY 19,' 190S.
OUR MEDIOCRE LITERATURE.
In a speech at Harvard the other
flay Owen Wister dwelt upon the mel
ancholy truth that America has failed
to produce either scholars or scientists
of the; first rank. Wandering through
the fields of physics, chemistry, bibli
cal criticism and what not, he failed
to find rrrore than one or two of 'our
countrymen anywhere near the fore
most files: in the vanguard- not a
single man. Asaph Hall, who discov
ered the satellites of Mars, Is dead.
Simon Ngwcomb, our greatest living
astronomer, labors industriously in his
old age., but his contributions to sci
ence bear no marks of genius. Our
mathematicians are but echoes twice
or thrice removed of the great Poin
care and his European collaborators.
We have Burbank in botany, but ho
Is, like Edison In electricity, a mere
artisan. He does not stand on the
mountain tops among the pioneers of
thought. With reflections like these
Mr. Wister pursued his sad way
through the kingdoms of the mind,
llnding Americans everywhere play
ing the part of followers and imitators,
but never- leaders. With all the mil
lions our captains of Industry have
thrown to the mendicant sciences, they
are still beggars and still lean.
In literature our achievements have
been more pitiful yet. Norwegian,
French, Russian and German writers
In the last half century have revolu
tionized the literature of Europe.
Aims, methods and Ideals have been
transformed. The spirit of the cru
cified Galilean has swept in tidal
waves' upon creative thought, produc
ing the iconoclasts like Ibsen and
Nietsche, the humanitarian realists like
Zola and Tolstoi, and literary pros
ecutors like Hauptmann and Suder
mann, who summon human institu
tions to the bar of justice and compel
them to vindicate their existence or
vanish from the world. The modern
revolutionary movement in European
literature is nothing but Christianity
throning off ecclesiastical formalism
and returning to the vital truth of
Jesus. . But our Christianity remains
arldly formal through it all and our
literature escapes the tumult of ge
nius. Why have we no Hauptmann,
no Ibsen, no Tolstoi?
No matter why, some reader may
answer, let us be'thankful that Amer
ica is free from such wicked char
acters. Our literature may be medi
ocre and dull, but It is thoroughly re
spectable; it is pure and- it has the
tone of good society. With these
'transcendent merits, what difference
does It make if we have no geniuses?
None whatever, perhaps; but for all
that, why have we no geniuses? As
an intellectual diversion it is pleasing
to inquire why these singular plants do
not flourish in bur soil. It might help
us to the answer to remember that
neither Tyre nor Carthage left a liter
ature when they were destroyed. Like
America, these cities, very great and
powerful in their day. had formally a
republican government. As with us,
all social dictinctions among their
people arose either from politics or
wealth. And again, as with us, the
main Interest of life was commerce,"
th principal motive for activity was
what Dr. Day calls "incentive" and
other people call greed, the leading
purpose was the amassment of riches.
Th8 Carthaginians were, as regardless
of human life as are our courts and
railroads. Everything and everybody
were subordinated to the race for
gold: and therefore when Carthage
fell and Its gold went to a stronger
and better people, there was nothing
left of it in the world but a name. It
is worth while to remark in thit con
nection that no purely commercial na
tion has ever been able to hold its
own in the struggle for existence.
Business competition may do much for
a people, but It falls to supply the es
sential jelement of vitality.
Greed controls a great many things
In this country, but not everything. It
is a danger to our literature betuse it
causes every first faint sign of genius
to be capitalized and ruined by hasty
exploitation; but there is a more lethal
factor. That is our formalism. We
see this formalism in our theology,
which adheres to empty creeds long
after they have dropped out of sight
everywhere else in the . Protestant
world. We see it in the way pur
preachers teach the literal inspiration,
the historical inerrancy, the scientific
accuracy of the-Bible, although these
dogmas have been utterly discredited
by the scholarly religionists of Eu
rope. More disastrously, still this
deadly, formalism is apparent in our
courts which have ceased almost to
pay attention to living Justice and oc-.
cupy themselves wholly with arid
casuistry. Since the courts assume the
power to veto legislation on the one
hand and enact new laws on the oth
er, the result is that we are governed
by sterile scholastic formulas which
bear 110 relatioa to life. Judges have
ceased to be a terror to wrongdoers.
They spend their days in wrangles
over, the niceties of Arlstotleian logic
while murder runs' riot.
Whence arises this worship of dead
formulas and withered conventions in
America? Why is it that we stand
still while all the rest of the world
sweeps forward In literature, art, sci
ence and humanitarian legislation?
Why are we throttled by the ghost of
the past while Europe rises on tree
pinions to the new life of the Christian
future? It is because of our inflexible
written constitution which we worship
as the image of unchangeable perfec
tion. Before we can ever hope for
that accomplishment in art and litera
ture which comes only to the free we
must emancipate ourselves from
slavery to those formulas of the Con
stitution which are alien to the spirit
of the times we live in.
"WHAT YE GWINK TO IK)?"
Republicans of. Oregon, during the
last few years, having abandoned their
party, out of pique and enmity
towards each other, and having elect
ed Democrats to the principal offices,
for the sake of personal and factional
revenge, Oregon may now go Demo
cratic, all along the line. ' A further
provocative is the primary law. his
law has intensified factional divisions.
Men who fight each other for party
nominations under it never will unite
in support of the candidates who may
win the nominations. It is not in hu
man nature.
Again, after an active and eager
and violent congest in the primaries,
the members of a. party have no spirit
left for the following election. Their
spirit has been exhausted in the pri
mary. This will not apply, under
present conditions, to the Democratic
party of Oregon; because, since it has
been a minority party. Its m'embers
will not fight for nominations.' Demo
crats do not even care to appear at
the primaries. A self-named com
mittee, a machine, a ring, will make
their nominations, and all Democrats,
and a lot of Republicans who are try
ing to "make even," will vote-' this
"anti-ring" ticket.
Now, brethren, do you. think The
Oregonian Is going to burn its fingers
any more to pull chestnuts out of the
fire for the Republican party, when
its members behave in this way, leav
ing it tt hold the bag for the snipe?
It rests with you, not with The Orego
nian. to determine whether Oregon is
to. be a 'Democratic state. As the col
ored brother asked at the campmeet
lng, "What's ye gwine to do?"
THE REAL' YELLOW PERIL.
The following extract from Judge
Harlgn's recent address to the Navy
League has attracted a good deal of
attention In the East:
"We refer to the people of Asia an the yel
low race. There arc 400.000.fNl0 Chinese, as
strong physically - and mentally as we are.
There la over there another nation, ,whoe
people are progressive and ambitious. We
may some day see a skilled army in Japan
of B, 000.000 to 10.O0O.0OO. ..They .-will say:
"You claim Ehirope aa your country.- This is
ours. Get out!" I don't think they have
any such idea now. and we have no hostility
toward them. But there will be a conflict
between the yellow race and the white race
that will shake the earth. .
History "teaches us that Judge Har
lan's prediction is by no means
groundless. In tpast cohflict between
the white and yellow races the former
has managed to save itself from de
struction,, but generally with extreme
difficulty. We know of no - territory
where whites have permanently dis
placed Asiatics, while on . the other
hand there are large sections of Eu
rope which the latter have colonized
after dispossessing Caucasian inhabi
tants. But it is likely enough that
Judge -Harlan overlooks 8 danger to
white supremacy in the world which
Is far more serious than the possibil
ity of military conquest. Mr. M. J.
Dee has pointed out this danger in the
Pacific Era.
He shows that in a peaceful strug
gle for existence between Chinamen
and whites the former will necessarily
Burvive because they can flourish in
conditions vhere the others would
pecish. They relish food which the
white man loathes. They keep their
health in filthy lodgings, where- the
white man would rot. They have no
longing for expensive pleasures-which
the white man. cannot live without.
Briefly put, the Chinaman can live at
less cost than the -white man; there
fore in free competition he will sur
vive. This cannot be denied. It follows,
therefore, that if the white man thinks
his civilization wtrth preserving he
must manage to prevent an economic
struggle for existence between himself
and the yellow race. Let nobody
hastily assume that it means cowar
dice to shun such a competition. It
is not cowardice to avoid a struggle
with typhoid microbes, with wasps, or
with the white ants of Africa, which
form -an endless chain and devour the
traveler by reason of numbers, no
matter how many he may kill. It is
not cowardice to protect oneself from
a struggle where the higher qualities
of manhood must be sacrificed in or
der to fight on equal terms. There is
nothing essentially noble or even val
uable in the mere struggle for exist
ence. Every advance In civilization has
been an emancipation from some
phase of the struggle for existence.
The accumulation of capital retrieves
us from the hand-to-mouth fight for
breqd and -sets us free for other
achievements. TWe man who sends
his boy to college aims to raise him
above the struggle for existence and
equip him for a more generous rivalry.
Houses, banks, churches, schools, all
our treasures and institutions, have
been invented and established to free
us from he bare struggle for exist
ence. Hence the exclusion laws by
which the white man tries to protect
himself from ruinous competition
Iwith Asiatics are entirely in harmony
with those measures by which the race
I has advanced from savage poverty to
the civilized status.
It is gratuitous superstition to sup
pose that the struggle for existence is
elevating. In most cases it is degrad
ing. It produces "fitness" indeed, but
that fitness means merely adaptation
to surrounding conditions. If the con
ditions are vile, so is the fitness to
them. Since the Chinaman can live
in conditions viler,than the white, and
since unchecked competition between
the races will result in a victory for
the one that can live at the less cost,
or the more vilely, it is easy to see
where unlimited Asiatic immigration
would end. We should have, on this
coast a servile yellow population of
laborers dominated by a few aristo
cratic whites for a- while; but finally
the baser breed would complete their,
triumph and the Western United
States would become virtually a prov
ince of Asia.
CANDIDATES FOR THE PRESIDENCY.
The New York World doubts whether
the President shot wide of the mark
when he predicted the nomination of
Mr. Taft on the first ballot. Evidently
Taf t has a growing strength. The
Foraker opposition in Ohio has about
faded put. In New York the active Re
publican forces, inspired by the Ad
ministration, have been ablo thus far
to prevent any real demonstration for
Hughes. In Massachusetts the Presi
dent's lieutenants; Senators Lodge and
Crane, and their supporters," are push
ing Taft, and committing their follow
ers to his cause. Delegations from the
Southern States will be organized in
the same behalf. It is predicted that
Pennsylvania, Indiana and Illinois
will not be too thoroughly organized
for favorite sons to prevent them
from yielding to Taft, perhaps even in
advance of the balloting in the 'con
vention.. '
But the World holds that Taft, be
fore the people, will not necessarily
be a strong candidate, and that there
would be probability of defeating him,
could Bryan be pushed out of the
way. But Bryan can't be. He and
his following will "stay in." It is be
lieved there will he no difficulty in
forcing his nomination over such op
position as may appear; and yet If he
were set aside and another' Parker
nominated, . the Bryan voters, by tens
of thousands; would fall away from
the candidate.
Taft, however, is handicapped in va
rious ways, thus summarized by the.
World: He would enter the campaign
with the opposition of a large element
of Republicans who are fired of
Roosevelt, of Roosevelt's policies and
of a Rooseveltian government. The
Brownsville affair has turned the ne
gro vote against him, and there are
half a dozen states where, under nor
mal political conditions, the negro
vote all but holds the balance of pow
er. There will be a strong labor op
position to Taft, despite 'the skill ho
shows in discussing the question of
injunctions. He will have against him
the business interests that are afraid
of Roosevelt's policies, while a very
Influential high-protection element
would prefer a Democratic President,
handicapped by a hostile Senate, to a
Republican tariff revisionist who could
force a reform of the Dfngley's sched
ules. The Protective Tariff League is
frankly against the Secretary of War.
Bpth .the beet-sugar and tobacco in
terests are beginning to work in the
open against him.
These are formidable groups of op
position; . but the World holds that
Bryan, in the great states where the
election will be decided, cannot obtain
for himself the benefits from them
that would accrue to a "conservative"
candidate, say Johnson of Minnesota.
But the Louisville Courier-Journal an
swers that while Johnson would get
more votes than Bryan in certain de
batable states, yet no one could be
elected without Bryan; whose support
ers will vote for nq one except Bryan,
or, in default of Bryan, for some one
heartily approved by him.
THEOLOGICAL BOYCOTTS.
According' to reports from Italy,
the Pope has . excommunicated a cer
tain monthly review published in that
country. Unless the account is exag
gerated, the ban is thorough-going.
The subscribers of the review are for
bidden to-read it, the printers to print
It, the contributors to write for It, and
the news-stands to sell it. The offense
of the unlucky publication Is a taint of
modernism. It holds advanced views
upon science and the higher criticism.
Of course the result of the excommu
nication, were It obeyed by everybody,
would be to ruin the business of the
revi cw.
With the religious aspect of this af
fair We are not concerned. What In
terests the lay mind is the legal ques
tion whether or not such a bold and
sweeping boycott is lawful In Italy, or
in America either, for that matter.
How far may the. Pope or any other
religious personage go In boycotting
publications which he does not like
and compelling others to join him in
the act? The reasons which are ad
vanced for the boycott in (his case are
Irrelevant so far as our point is con
cerned. Every boycott, either by a la
bor union or an Italian society, is sup
ported by excellent reasons, excellent
in the' Judgment of those who offer
them.. The question is. Does Italian
law permit the Pope to destroy the
business of one v" v, differs from him
In opinion by declaring a boycott
against his goods?
That an excommunication is noth
ing less than a boycott under solemn
forms and an ecclesiastical name .must
be admitted by every fair student of
the subject. In former times it was
exceedingly effective. An excommu
nicated person was then shunned by
all his fellow-men, was deprived of
food and shelter and might be slain
by any one who wished. Now the
sentence cannot be enforced quite so
harshly, but that it may affect a per
son's business disastrously is not to be
denied. Does the law permit it? Of
course the Pope himself is not sub
ject to the laws of Italy, but his
agents who have published and who
will try to enforce the boycott are
amenable to prosecution in that coun
try. If the legal difficulties of the
matter puzzle Italian jurists, they
might borrow light from English his
tory. The British Parliament never
sought to punish the Pope himself for
offenses against English polity, but it
was made a felony to import or pub
lish certain forbidden bulls.
The spirit of the modern world will
not permit theological quarrels to
proceed to the extreme of outlawing
men 'or ruining their business. So
long as these differences are exploited
by words merely, the state should not
interfere, but when they fame out
into breaches of the peace and lead
to. boycotts it is time for the law to
step in and cry halt.
THE INSURRECTION OF WILLIE.
Willie Hopkins, of Echo, lias been
found guilty, by a jury of his country
men, of the crime of thrashing his
teacher. Whether the laws of Oregon
make it a more heinous offense to
thrash a teacher than a common citi
zen we are not informed,- but we
gather that It savors of sacrilege, high
treason, or some such enormity, espe
cially if the teacher happens to be a
woman. We are left in the dark
about this point also, but, judging
from his . name. Willie is a boy of
Anglo-Saxon lineage and it Is Incon
ceivable that he would thrash a
shooima'am, however extreme the
provocation might be.
Willie's misdemeanor Is not so com
mon now as it was once. Time was
when' everj' Winter term of school in
the rural districts opened with a
set-to between the teacher and the
big boys, to see who was the best man.
Those were the good old days, before
the fairy-formed schoolma'am had
driven her sterner competitor out of
the business of education, when the
hickory gad played a leading part In
cultivating the intellect. Whoever
won the battle between teacher and
scholars nobody thought of going to
law about it. If the schoolmaster was
whipped he quietly retired and sought
another job, where his muscle was
better proportioned to his task. If
victory smiled on the teacher tho boys
settled down for the rest of the term'
Into obedience and docility. Upon the
whole, the business was not so badly
managed. Human nature dearly loves
a master and the boys were pardon
able, perhaps, for seeking to discover
by actual experiment whether ' their
teacher was a genuine man or a sham.
These were the charms of the coun
try school, but all those charms are
fled. Except in remote places like Echo
there are no big boys on the benches
during the Winter term. Much more
are they absent in Summer. School
has nothing to give them" which they
think worth while, so they find a job
in the city or hire out to work for a
neighbor. The district school parted
company with life long ago. By the
separation it has. gained In peaceful
ness. The brain and muscle of a man
are no longer needed to rule over It.
But it has lost in usefulness and
power. When the schools begin to
offer a ' substantial education instead
of shadows and chimeras the big boys
will come back again for the Winter
term ' and perhaps, for the Summer,
too. Then there will be more inci
dents like the. insurrection of Willie
Hoskins and we shall have to hire
men of muscle for teachers Instead
of golden-haired maidens with fairy
forms. The pitch of .the schoolroom
will be bass instead of treble and edu
cation will become a power in the
land, instead of a mild form of popu
lar dissipation.
THE RF.TTREMKNT. OF SIR. CORTEI.YOUT.
Although Mr. Cortelyou retires if
he does retire from the Secretary
ship of the United States Treasury un
der some semblance of compulsion, he
by no means bids a long farewell to
all his greatness. If the reports about
him are true; he may become greater
than ever. Instead of falling like an
exhalation, he seems likely to rise like
a skyrocket to the serene realms of
New York high finance. If he be
comes the president of the Knicker
bocker Trust Company, can we truth
fully say that he has suffered an
eclipse?" Ought we not rather to
write of him. "Gone to" his reward"?
The excellent stenographer who
seems to have been unceremoniously
dismissed by the President will not
become an object of compassion. The
kindly gentlemen of Wall street whose
necessities Mr. Cortelyou has unfail
ingly rememWred in' the plenitude of
his power will not forget him in the
day of his adversity. These gentlemen
resemble Satan in many particulars
perhaps; but not in all. The adver
sary of souls will lead a man Into the
Are, butnever show him the way out.
Mr. Cortelyou's friends In Wall street
have many mansions at their disposal,
and there is always a vacancy when
one of Mr. Roosevelt's official family
is moved to flit out into the world.
Whatever their sins may be, the mag
nates are not guilty of ingratitude. "
To sever the ties which united Mr.
Cortelyou to the President must have
required something of a shock. He
has been of the royal household for a
long time. As private secretary. Sec
retary of Commerce and Labor, Post
master-General and Secretary of the
Treasury, to say nothing of the chair
manship of the National Republican
Committee, he has had a long career
of official intimacy with Mr. Roosevelt.
His successive promotions indicate
that the intimacy was pleasing to both
men; nor has Mr. Cortelyou shown in
any emergency a conspicuous lack of
ability. Why, then, the rift In the
lute at this late day? The sweet
toned flute has kept in tune with the
big bassoon for these half dozen years
through good report -and ill; why does
a discord now suddenly make itself
heard?
Mr. Cortelyou is humble in origin,
gentle of demeanor and mediocre of
merit; but Theodore- says he is ambi
tious, and Theodore .is an honorable
man. As George Bruce was a skillful
typewriter, Theodore loved him; as he
was a supple suitor at the throne of
power, he promoted him; as he was
ambitious, he slew him. Not liter
ally slew him; hea,ven forfend that -we
should hint at such tin enormity; offi
cially slew Is what we mean. 'Twas
e'en at the foot of Mr. Taft's statue,
which, all the while ran blood, that
great Cortelyou fell.' "How like a
mounting devil in the heart rules the
unreined ambition." Though- but a
humble slave of the palace, he dared
aspire to the heirship of the throne.
The caliph discovered his "treachery,
the bowstring twanged and now he
lies there with none so poor to do him
reverence. Or he would lie there were
it not that he has laid up for himself
treasures of merit in Wall street to
whose celestial mansions legions of
mintsterrhg magnates now bear him
safely home.
What ever, betrayed Mr. Cortelyou
into the astonishing belief that he
could become President of the United
States one can only conjecture. Every
thing that a Presidential candidate is
supposed to need he lacks. He has no
popular constituency. He has accom
plished nothing of striking Import
ance. He is nt even known to the
public except half jocularly as a suc
cessful collector of campaign funds
from the syndicates. Certainly no as
pirant for the chief magistracy of the
Nation ever set out on his quest so
poorly equipped. To make a bad mat
ter worse, he could not push his hope-'
less campaign without practicing se
cret arts which came dangerously
near disloyalty to the chief who had
made him almost literally out - of
nothing.
There was a savor of meanness in
Mr. Cortelyou's clandestine campaign.
His quarrel with the President for
preferring Mr. Taft was pettish. Is
the retiring Secretary of fhe Treasury
the spoiled child of the Cabinet? Has
his facile career "made him believe
that he can have everything he wants
merely by asking for it? Unless the
signs are all deceptive. Mr. Cortelyou.
thinks he is a much greater man than
anybody else thinks he is. The illu
sion is not an unjpmmon one wttn
men of small capaEf.v Thej' advance
rapidly to a certain point and are
there astonished ' to find themselves
unaccountably checked.
Mr. Cortelyou' long residence In
Washington has destroyed his politi
cal Judgment. . He has lived for years
In an atmosphere of flunkeyism, offi
cial Insincerity, social hypocrisy, and
the consequence of it all is that he has
lost his sense of values. He has come
to believe that the plutocratic mag
nates are. everything in this country
and the people nothing- Acting on
that insane assumption, ho thought
he could become President by secur
ing the support of Wall street and
the phantom Southern delegations."
Now he sees the result of such calcu
lations. The. people whom he con-(
temns will have nothing to do with
him. They gladly relinquish him to
the grateful arms of his . Wall-street
friends. Nobody thinks enough of
him even to rail at him. An evanes
cent phenomenon of politics with no
substantial hold- on the life of the
people, he vanishes into nothingness
as from nothingness he came, and
there will be no mourning for his dis
appearance. . ITAI.Y WRESTLING WITH ITS OWN.
King Victor Emanuel of Italy has
a job of '"home rule" on his hands.
He is said by a London dispatch to
be forcing a grave crisis. A factor of
this disturbing situation Is found in
the return, since last Fall of an im
mense number of his subjects from
the United States, ripe for sedition.
He is confronted by the usual large
army of the unemployed, recruited
from the ranks of partially American
ized Italians men who have learned
just enough of liberty to misconstrue
its meaning, .and who are clamorous
in their unrest for they know not
what. Unlike" Japanese who return to
their native, land, they do not take an
equipment of loyalty and devotion to
sovereign and country back with
them. Italians from America do not
constitute the chief factor in the agi
tation that threatens the government,
but everywhere througkhout the king
dom, and particularly in the southern
part, the repatriated Italian Is prorar
inent in the socialistic and arujirchistio
movement.
The press of Rome declares that
some of the most dangerous of tho
anarchists who beset the kingdom and
cause Italian statesman the gravest
concern are men who have come back
from. New York and Chicago since
November 1. Be this as it may, there
is reason for the discontent that cov
ers Italy as with a dark mantle and
reaches even to the foot of the
throne. Over the whole earthquake
area a thickly populated region
poverty and famine prevail. In. .the
manufacturing towns adjacent to this
region the peasantry, Ignorant,
wretched, superstitious and homeless,
huddle together and listen eagerly to
the presentment of, their wrongs by
the fiery tongues of the enemies of
the government. Socialistic . and an
archistic doctrines have permeated
the army, and altogether Italy pre
sents the most serious economic prob
lem offered today by any European
state. - -
The people of the United States view
with satisfaction the fact that these,
hordes of discontent and- violence took
their grievances home to air them, in
stead of remaining, as the Japanese
do, to voice them on American .soil
and. mayhap, to brew from them in
ternational broils.
HOMEBUILDERS FEVER.
Real estate values in this city show
no sign of a general decline, "while
building activity, especially in the line
of moderate-priced, modern . homes,
bids fair to equal and may surpass
that of last year. The fact is, the
"homebuilders' fever," which became
epidemic a few years ago in this, city,
still prevails among the masses. Its
symptoms are well known. A desire
to own something is expressed in the
anxious scanning of real estate adver
tisements and the haunting,. by women
as well as- men. of real estate offices;
the development of an interest in
roses and shrubbery; the wistful in
spection of houses under construction,
and the growing dread of rent day,
are among the most noticeable and
the most unmistakable signs that an
attack of this fever is imminent.
Seeking And finding encouragement
of thrift; touching hands with emula
tion; moved by the spirit of competi
tion, a fever heat is soon engendered
which abates only when the home
the very best that- the subject can af
ford is evolved by desire and be
comes a reality.
It takes little argument to convince
the sober mechanic that rentpaying is
a wasteful and unnecessary drain
upon his earnings; less to convince his
thrifty, economical wife that the own
ership of her home Is the first step
toward a family competency and one
of the surest element's of defense
against the emergency of sickness, or
industrial depression. The desire to
own a home thus based soon develops
into a very fever of .determination and
home ownership passes quickly from
the realm of possibility to certainty.
Encouraged by every principle of
political, social and domestic economy,
it is not strange that the homebuilding
fever "becomes . epidemic in a pros
perous community. It literally ran
riot In this city in 1907, and, in the
opinion of many, well qualified to
judge, its progress will be unchecked
during the present year. Others
even more sanguine, and perhaps
with a broader outlook and keener
insight into financial and Industrial
cause and effect, confidently predict a
further spread of the homebuilders'
fever during the coming Spring
months.
. It. were to be wished the thought
might occur to Brother Thorburn
Ross that the public is little interested,
or. not at all. about the manner, the
time and the methods by which, or
when, or where, or how. District At
torney Manning collected the state
ments upon which he has presented
his information against Mr. Ross and
associates for their mismanagement
of the Title Bank. The matter in
which the public is concerned is the
inquiry as to the correctness and truth
of the information. But Mr. Ross is
unwilling this inquiry shall be prose
cuted. Who, he hotly demands, told
the District Attorney these things, and
when and how and where? Now. the
public judgment is. that these" objec
tions are mere subterfuges, and wholly
irrelevant. The facts are wanted, and
it will be useless to try to defend by
obstructing or concealing them. It
grieves Brother Ross, no doubt, to
find that he must encounter such sin
ners on his Journey from the City of I
Destruction to Mount .Zion; but he
himself, of his own choice. loitered
a long time In Vanity Fair, and han
no just right to complain.
The Brooklyn tunnel, which was
opened to traffic on the evening of
January 9, carried approximately
27.000 persons home from their work
between 5:09 and. 6:30 P. M.. the
"rush" period of afternoon traffic.
The public that has taxed Brooklyn '
bridge to Its' utmost capacity twice a
day for. years; the police who have
had to wrestle with the vast crowds,
nightly, and the transportation men,
who have striven Inlghtlly with the
problem of getting the homeward
bound thousands across the bridge In
safety, experienced long-needed relief.
There Is no other force so insistent,
none so relentless in purpose, as that
represented by a great mass of human
beings, each one of whom is pressing
toward a common goal and each seek
ing to be first in line.' The -distribution
of this force caused a -relief to
all concerned which was celebrated by
a great demonstration of joy In Brook
lyn, accompanied by the music of
brass bands, the explosion of bombs
and the hoarse shouts of the multi
tude. It signalized the delight of the
public over the beginning of the end
of the nighty bridge crush that for
years has been the wonder of all who
have seen It.
Evelyn Thaw's testimony this time
will be kept from the public. It
should have been so withheld in the
first instance. It is enough for the
jury to hear it. But It will very sure
ly prevent the conviction of Thaw. It
would be mighty hard to assemble
twelve- jurymen anywhere who would
agree on the penalty1 of murder
against any man who should kill a
lecherous scoundrel like White, if
any chance brought the one in contact
with the other. Insanity is but a
plea. Of course, murder is murder;
yet there are extremely few .persons,
and their suffrages not the most con
siderate, who do not agree that White
got what was due him, and long over
due. The worthlessuess of Thaw and
wife makes little difference.
Fire losses in December, 1007, in the
United States and Canada aggregated
$17,976,125. Contributing to this ag
gregate were a total of 2480 fires. Of
these, 341- caused individual losses of
$10,000 or more, these latter aggre
gating a loss of 1125,368,835. "- This
record closes that of a year of average
rather than excessive waste of prop
erty, and a minimum loss of life from
fire. The first half of theflrst month
of the new year beheld In the theater
fire at Boyertown, Pa., a loss of -life
that appalled the country and caused
lamentation and mourning throughout
a populous community. It may be
hoped that the casualty record in this
line will end as it began, with this
shocking entry in the year-book of
190&.
The members of thirteen women's
clubs of Chicago have compromised
j with the Audubon Society on the mat-
i.-i- ui canng Liie piumage 01 oiras
on their hats, by agreeing to confine
the feathered decorations of their
headgear to the quills and wings of
the crow. Abandoned even by the
society that stands for humanity to
birds, this predaceous, garrulous and
now utterly friendless bird faces for
the first time the danger of extermi
nation, since women must and will
wean feathers on their hats. Flyhigh.
old fellow, ' and be wary of snares!
The milliners' agents those ruthless
destroyers of bird life will be after
you in force, providing; Chicago club
women are able to set the fashion In
this matter.
Dun's report for 1907 schedules the
commercial failures of the year at 11,
725, and the amount of defaulted lia
bilities at $197,SS5,225. As compare!
with the record for 1906, there was an
increase of 1043 failures and of more
than S78.000.000 in the amount de
faulted. The comparison is not alto
gether fair, however, since 1906 was
an exceptionally prosperous year, and
failures and losses were below the
normal. Comparison . of last year
with other years of financial stress and
commercial disturbances 1878, 1884,
1893, black years of our financial and
industrial history reveals plainly the
fact that our trouble in the closing
months of 1907 was only a bad and
more or less unreasoning fright.
An interesting contribution to the
history of horticulture in Oregon was
the paper, read by Dr. J. R. Cardwell
before the State Hortleultural Society
In this city last Tuesday. The paper
Is of unusual value, since its data will
serve In later years to rescue from ob
livion many of the details of the subject-matter
which would otherwise be
lost in the mists of the years.
Ownership or no ownership, the
Oregon Electric will be a feeder to the
North Bank road; not directly, per
haps, but in the same way that every
Oregon transportaton line except 'the
O. R. & N. will furnish traffic. Even
the Southern Pacific cannot escape
helping to fee.d.
Candidates for local as well as dis
trict offices will save time by writing
to the various Oregon newspapers for
their schedule of advertising rates.
Sweet words don't go in payment of
publicity; no, not this year.
What an admirable exhibition of the
brotherhood of man we should see if
Bryan volunteered his services as
peacemaker between Taft and For
aker. But there's going to be no depres
sion' of business and of industry this
year however helpful such a condi
tion might.be to the Democratic party.
There's a good chance for some live
man to establish in Oregon a candi
dates' advertising agency. 1
ODDITIES OF VERSE
The Power of Short Words.
Think not that atTensth lies In tbe bis round
word.
Or that the brief and plain znuat need ba
weak.
To whom can this be true who once has heard
The cry for help, the- tongua thai all men
peak.
When want or woe or frar ia In the throat.
So that each ord gapped out ia like a.
hrl
Pressed from the sore heart, or a strange wild
note.
Sunt by pome fay or fiend? There - la ' a.
' strength
Which flits If stretched too far or spun too
Sue.
"Which has more bftlehr than breadth, more
depth than length.
Let but this force uf thought and speech be
mine.
And ha that .will may take the a:cck fat
phraso
"Which glows and burns not. though it gleam
and e-hine
Light, but no heat a ' flash, but nut a
blaze !
Nor is it mere atrength that the short wold
buatHs:
It -serves of more than flght or storm to tell.
The ruar of waves that clall on rock-bound
cijasts.
The crash of tall trees wcn the wild winds
swell.
The ror of guna, the groana of men that die
on b.ood-stained tlelus. It has a voice aa .
well
For them that Tar off on their sick-beds lie:
For thfm that wt-ep, for them that mourn
the ut-ad;
To Joy's quick strp, as well as brief's
slow tread.
The sweet, plain words we learnt al prst keep
time.
And though the theme be sad, or gay, or
grand.
With each, with all, these may be mads to
, chime.
In thought, or speech, or song, hi prose og
rhyme.
IJr. Alexander, Princeton Magazine.
Revolutionary Verses.
The author of the following Revolution'
ary double entendre, which originally ap
peared in a Philadelphia newspaper, U
unknown. It may be read in three dif
ferent ways. 1st. Let the whole be read
in the order in which it is written. 2d.
Then the lines downward on the left of
each comma in every line, and 3d. In the
same manner on the right of each comma.
By the first reading it will be observed
that the Revolutionary cause is con
demned, ar.d by the others, it is encour
aged'and lauded:
Hark! Hark, the trunpet sounds, the din of
war's alarms.
O'er seas and solid grounds, doth call us all
to arms;
Who for King George doth stand, their hon
ors soon shall shine;
Their ruin la at haad, who with the Congress
Join.
The acts of Parliament, in them 1 much de
light, I hate their cursed Intent, who for the Con
gress tight.
The Tories of the day. they are my dally toast.
They aoon will shcak away, who Jndepend-
' ence boast;
Who non-resistance hold, they have my hand
and heart.
May they for slaves be eold, who act a
Whiggish part;
On Manpheld, North and Bute, may dally
blessings pour,
Confusion and dispute, on Congress evermore;
To North and British lord, may honors atlU
be done,
1 wish & block or cord, to General Wash
ington. . Chain -Verse.
Long I looked Into the sky.
Sky aglow with gleaming stars.
Stars that stream their courses high.
High and grand, those golden cars.
Cars that ever keep their track.
Track untiaccd by human ray.
Hay that aonea the xodlae,
Zodiac with" milky-way.
Milky-way where worlds are sown.
Sown like santia along the eea.
Ec-a whose tide and tone e'er own.
Own a feeling to be free.
Free to itave Its lowly place.
Place to prove with yonder spiiei-es.
Spheres- that trace althrough all space.
Space and ycars-unsjok(n ycais.
Ingenious Cypher.
The following was written by Professor
Whewell at the request of a youns lady;
IT O a 0. but I 0 U.
O ' no 0. but O o me;
O let not my a u go.
But give 0 u I 0 U so.
Thus deciphered:
(You sigh for -a cypher, but I sigh for you;
O sigh for no cypher, but O sigh for me:
O let not my sigh for a cypher go,
But give sigh for sigh, for 1 sigh 'for you so.)
Knigmu "fc."
The beginning of eternity.
The end of time and space.
The beginning of every end.
The end of every place.
Hexameters in the Bible.
In the Psalms.
God came I up with a 1 shout: our Lord
with the I sound of a I trumpet.
There is a river the I flowing where J of
shall I gladden the city.
Halle- I lujah the city of God! Je- horah
hath I blest her.
In the New Testament.
Art thou he I that should ( come, or.j do
we i look for a- nother?
Husbands, love your I wives, and be not
bitter a-gainat them.
BleaB'd are the- poor in spirit, fof
theira is the kingdom of -heaven.
Wonftn.
When Eve brought woe to all mankind.
Old Adam called her wo-man;
But when she woo'd with love so kind.
He pronounced her woo-man. ,
But now wkb folly and with pride.
Their husbands' pocket trimming,
The ladles are so full of whim,
The people call them whim-.ro.cn.
Whiskers Versus Razor.
With whlskersVhick upon my face
I went my fair to see;
She told mc she could never love
A bear-faced chap like me.
I shaved then clean, and called again.
And thought my troublea o'er;
She laughed outright, and . aald I was
More bare-faced than before!
An AddUon Kclio.
Echo, te'.l me, while I wander
O'er thie fairy plain to prove Mm,
If my shepherd still grows fonder,
OUht I In return to love him?
Kcho Love him, love him.
If he toves, a Is the fashion.
Should I churlishly forsake him?
Or, in pity to hts passion.
fondly to my bosom take him?
Kchc Take him, take him.
Thy advice, then, I'll adhere to.
Since in Cupid's chains I've led him.
And withe Henry shall not fear to
Marry, 'if you answer, "Wed him."
Kcho Wed him. wed hint. .
The Limit in Polities.
Warsaw (Mo.) Times.
An aspirant for office wag talki. g
to an old farmer on one of the bank
corners the other day. The aspirant
is a chronic of ficeseeker, and was
heard to ay in a subdued tone:. "The
office should seek the man." The old
farmer seemed a little surprised at
first, but remembered that he nad
heard the remark before, and said,
with a wink: "Well, yes: but It
sholdn't run after hint more than thirty
or forty years."