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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 1908)
THE SUNDAY OREGOMAX, PORTLAND, FEBRUARY 2. 1908. SI BSl BIPTION KATES. IXVA1UAB1-T IN ADVANCE. (By Mall.) ' Dully. Stindsy ln.-luded. one year $S 00 rally. Sunday Included, nix months.... Dally, Sunday Included, three months.. -): Ially. Sunday Included, oue month.. "' I'sily, without Sunday, one year 6.0ft I-aily, without Sunday, six months 3.23 I'all. without Sunday, three months.. 1.75 3ally. without Sunday, one mouth U' Sunday, one year 'u Weekly, one year (Issued Thursday)... l.j0 tiunday and weekly, cne year 3.5U BY CARRIER. Dally. Sunday Included, one year 8 J)0 Dally. Sundav Included, one month o HOW TO REMIT Bend postofftce money order, express order or personal check on your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency are at the sender" risk. Olve postoffice ad dress In full. Including county and stale. POSTAGE RATES, Entered at Portland!, Oreson, Postolllce as Second-Class Matter. 10 to 14 Pajes.'. c'nt JO to 28 Paaes cents SO to 44 Pages 3 cent 46 to 60 I'atres .' 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 BUSINESS OFFICE. The S, V. Beckwtth Special Ageucy New Tork, rooms 45-50 Tribune building. Chl ' caso, rooms Stu-ol'J Tribune building. KEPT ON BALE. Chicago Auditorium Annex; FostofCloa News Co.. J 7 Dearborn street. St. Taiil, SI inn. N. St. M;uie. Commercial Station. Colorado Sprlnits. Colo. Bell. II. II. Denver Hamilton and KcndrliR. 000-012 Peventeenth street; Pratt Itouk Store. VJ14 Fifteenth street; H. P. Uansen. S. Bice. George Carbon. Kansas Clty Mo. Ttlrkyerker Cigar Co.. Ninth and Walnut; Yomn News Co. Minneapolis M. J. Cavanauuh. 60 South TuiiiL Cleveland, O. James Pushaw, 307 Su perior street. Washington, U. C. Ebbltt House. Penn sylvania avenue. 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Johnson, Fourteenth and Franklin street? N. Wheatley; Oakland News Stand; B. E. Amos, manager five wajron. . GoldHeld. Nev. I.oulo Follln: C. E. Hunter, Eureka, Cal. Call-Chronicle Agency; Eu reka News Co. PORTLAND, SUNDAY, l'EU. 1008. POLITICAL PARTIES. The leading article in The Atlantic Monthly for February is entitled "The Significance of Political Parties." It is a strong and fair statement of the necessary place and function of polit ical parties under our form of gov ernment. The first part of the article is an essay on the historical rise and progress of political parties in the United States, and their general sig nificance, together with their influ ence as a nationalizing agency; while the latter part deals with their ten dencies and springs of action. The historical, part need not now 'detain us. We simply take the politi cal parties as they are. and note their methods of action. Burke has de fined a political party as a body of men united for support of some prin ciple of action or upon a policy which they are all agreed. It is a philosophical generalization too high for present conditions in the United States, or for that matter in Great Britain. The Atlantic w riter, offers a definition or statement of a more practical kind, when he says that "a party is a body of men, somewhat fluctuating in personnel and in num bers, who have begun to work to at tain some political purpose or to. op pose other men to whom, for some reason, they have felt antagonistic." Not to put anybody against Burke, for philosophic statesmanship, this, nevertheless, is a practical definition for the conditions of tho present time. It is the work or method of parties that this writer deals with, mainly. The growth of the national idea and the national purpose he shows, has been the main influence in determin ing their course of action. Transfor mation of the. federal republic Into a national republic has determined everything. The unceasing pressure of the national idea has spread from the center of governmental activity to the remotest hamlet. "Today," says our writer, "the domination of the national idea is nearly complete. There are no state parties which look after state issues and which are dis tinct from the parties and politics that are of national dimensions. In every step taken in ward or township, in every nomination made for local office, there is deference to the Inter ests of the great national organisa tion." How true this is every observer knows. Both the great parties of the country act constantly on these lines; one of them usually having the lead, the other following with criticism or opposition. But the tendency all the time is towards assertion and enforce ment of the idea of a national repub lic, with concentration of power in the hands of its legislative and ex ecutive departments. The most pow erful impulse in this direction since the Civil War has been imparted by President Roosevelt. With approval of the people he delivers lectures even to Congress and to the Supreme Court. Both parties are forced to ap plaud, in deference to the growing idea of concentration of national pow er; yet, of course, in each party there is opposition, mostly, however, silunt and sullen. Within any party there are. nearly always, ii.tarests and ele ments of most divergent character" A good observation is that "the present task of democracy is. not to prevent the party management from getting possession of the Government, but to make tha-t management respon sive to the will 'of the people." On this great issue confusion is constant ly produced by the fight between the "outs" and the "Ins." One phase of this contention is between the oppos ing parties: another, the contention between individuals or factions of. the same party. Men who denounce the boss or the machine combine to set up another boss and another machine. For it is not possible to effect any thing in politics without combina tion and organization. , But honesty in dealing with the public interests is an indispensable requirement. Yet most men are honest even in office: and the practices that the reformer? ! "condemn are usually continued by them. It is alike the habit of party men, independents and reformers, to t make as much out of office a- liberal construction of the laws and regula tions win auuw, t nun. is fjiieen trated In this: "So long as- we have popular government we shall have parties: so long as we have parties we shall have party managers; so" long as we have managers we must expect them to look after their Interests and their party's nurture." There is, con sequently, "no chance of the disap pearance of party and of party ma chinery; for every movement to over-, come party management must itself be organized." In Oregon, however, during the last few years there l.as been a faddish tendency or effort that way, in one of the parties, aided by the other, the latter In this manner striving to build itself up and to put its own machine in the. place Jf the other a common phenomenon and contradiction. The pith of this article is the argu ment that the influence of nationalism in our country is the mainspring of party action, and must continue to e such; for. the tendency of all organi zation is towards uniformity, and all organization obeys necessarily- the laws forced upon it ty the conditions it must work In. In this national as pect, of parties and politics lies the reason why The Oregonian through out its whole lite has acted in politics with a view to efficiency in National Government. The best exponent of this principle has been the Republi can party; and Tho Oregonian can not but regret that so many in Oregon who have called themselves Republi cans have failed to see it, have as sisted In party disorganization, and have made further effort for the pres ent practically hopeless. There was party abdication, no party left. What was this journal to do? Nothing, till times change and men change with them, but to keep in memory the words of the great poet: "They also serve who. only stand and wait." THE THAW VERDICT. Thaw has been acquitted by jury men who probably cared more for their idea of rough, primitive justice than they did for their oaths. .The defense was insanity, but Thaw was not insane when he -shot White, and the Jury knew it. They must have used the plea of insanity as a mere pretext for setting him free. The true ground of their verdict was un questionably the conviction that Thaw rid 'the world of an intolerable nuis ance when he shot White. There is much to be said for their view, but not everything. The unwritten law often tempts one to admit its valid ity, but it is too dangerous for accept ance without protest. The charge of the trial judge seems to have- been sensible enough as such things go. His definition of insanity is clear beyond cavil, but evidently the jury disregarded it completely. A person is legally insane, according to Judge Dowling, "when he does not know the nature or quality of his act, or does not kilow that the act is wrong." Thaw knew the nature of his act very well, and he knew that it was wrong. But he ventured to com mit it relying on the mushy mentality of the average Jury to acquit him, and the outccme shows that his reli ance wag safe. One sentence in the judge's charge reads strangely: "tha burden of es tablishing sanity is on the prosecu tion." This was his language. It means that the defendant need not prove himself insane; the prosecution must show that he was sane when he fired the shot. In other wordr, the law presumes that everybody is in sane, and in order to convict a pris oner the prosecution must in every case first establish bJs sanity when he committed his crime. The old-fashioned presumption of the law was that everybody was sane, and a pris oner settling up the defense of insan ity had to prove It. All he has to do under this rule is to allege insan ity and the state must overthrow his allegation by evidence. To such queer issues does our criminal law verge under the manipulation of scholastic attorneys. But whether we like the Thaw, ver dict or not, it must be accepted. We must -believe that he is insane and reconcile ourselves to see him de tained for a while in some luxurious retreat and then turned out upon the world. He will be turned out as soon as the experts employed to attend to the business can decently release him. Of course that will happen as soon as the public interest in the matter subsides a little. What ought to be done is to confine Thaw for life in a hospital for the insane. On his own showing his disease is hereditary and therefore liable to break out again at any time. When it 1 reaks out again he will naturally shoot somebody else a3 he did White. A quarrel with the Ineffable Evelyn, a new intrfgue with some variety actress, any excess of vicious indulgence, is" liable to -unset-, tie his intellect) if one can speak of unsettling such a questionable entity, and he will commit another murder. Indeed, he will shoot more readily than before, because he has now learned by experience how safe it is. The Thaw verdict is one more les son In the series which the courts are teaching criminals,' whose purport Is that lawbreaking is the surest and safest road to great riches, and that homicide is the least dangerous and most expeditious way to satisfy a pri vate grudge. TROUBLES OF A KING. That ancient observation regarding the uneasiness of the, head which wears a crown first came into circu lation at a time when it was a mat ter of grave uncertainty as to wheth er the head which bore the crown to day would remain on the King's shoulders or roll aside from the ex ecutioner's block. The world has progressed since, those old days when popular disapproval of reigning mon archs was expressed b3" removing their heads, or burning them at the stake, but Kings still have their troubles," and, so far as King Edward is concerned, they seem to be accu mulating Instead of decreasing. The ruler of England opened Parliament Wednesday with the usual display of gold lace and ermine and his speech was sufficiently agreeable to meet the requirements of the most exacting, so agreeable that none of his con stituents threw bombs or even drew stilettos from their boot legs. But, in spite of Edward's talk, which vtilgar Americans of the under world would term a "hot-air jolly," interspersed with an occasional strain of "I am'the King, and unto priests and people be it known, there is no power can push me from my throne," there appeared In the throne speech a vague suspicion of uneasiness. It is generally believed that the Irish pol icy will not be sufficiently liberal to suit the Irish, and it will be too much so to suit the landlords. The matter of old-age pensions was left "up In the air," and women suffrage and suf fragists got the same treatment that they received in Hoyt's "Contented Woman." Everybody that wanted something was disappointed in what the King recommended, and even at that the opposition thought he went much too far with his promises. Mr. Balfour, in particular, in discussing the programme declared that "It could not be carried through without an unprecedentedly violent use of the guillotine, which would practically stifle free debate." King Edward congratulates him self that the immigration problem regarding japan has been settled on satisfactory terms, but his views on that matter may be subject to revis ion next Spring, when the Japanese fishermen crowd a few more white men out of, employment along the Fraser. Millions of starving English people at. home are developing a fine breed of Socialists, who are already flirting with anarchy, and out in In dia other millions who are starving are fast losing their reverence for the (stcp)mother country. In' the old days, when dissatisfaction with the King and his government became too pronounced, it was customary t cure the evils by killing the complainants who were too demonstrative in airing their grievances. This policy is no longer popular or possible, but the accumulating troubles which are con-, fronting Great Britain, are of a na ture well calculated to caus. appre hension as to the future of tho country. INVISIBLE MICROSCOPY. , The pre-eminence of the modern world over the ancient, both in sci ence and economic production, is due to the possession of better tools. The same advantage which. In the course of the ages has assured the suprem acy of man over tho lower animals las made the world of today richer and wiser than tfiat of Greek and Ro man times. We have no greater geniuses now than they had then; perhaps we- haVonone so great. But our scientists and captains of indus try have so much better. tools to work with that they can accomplish incom parably more. Hence it comes about that we possess so much wealth that there is sufficient for everybody, could it be properly distributed, with out fighting for it; while science con quers new emplreto almost every year. Just as each advance in productive industry depends upon the invention of a new machine, so each forward step in science depends upon some improved instrument of' investigation. Working scientific instruments are of two classes, those which analyze and those which measure. Whether one kind is more useful than the other it would be difficult to say. The telescope and microscope analyze; the ehem'.cal balance measures weight. Which is the more useful? Deprived of either of the three, great fields of investigation would be closed. The telescope separates the thin star mist of the milky way into isolated worlds; it resolves stars which are apparently solitary into suns - with retinues of planets. The microscope analyzes the invisibly little. It works by sep arating points which seem to the naked eye to be Identical. Tho best old-fashioned microscopes could sep arate two points which lay the twenty-thousandth of a centimeter apart. The new quart microscope, which uses invisible rays of light, sep arates points which lie only the forty-thousandth of a centimeter apart. It is therefore twice as pow erful as its predecessor, and will be twice as useful to science. We may expect it to disclose a world as new and .wonderful as the microscope with glass lenses did, but it will be a world almost immeasurably more minute. Objects are made visible by the light which they throw back to the eye; and light moves in waves, some longer, some shorter, according to the color. Red light has the longest wave, violet the shortest, so far as visible light goes. Now an object smaller than a wave length of violet light could not by any possibility e seen either in an ordinary microscope or by the naked eye, because It would not reflect any light. On the other hand a microscope using violet light would show smaller objects than one using red light, because the violet waves are shorter. And if waves still shorter than the violet could be made available they would reveal ob jects smaller yet. It is these shorter waves which the new quartz micro scope employs. They are found at the violet end of the spectrum, or rainbow, but they lie beyond the vio let and the eye ' cannot see them. They are detected by their action on photographic plates. A microscope magnifies by virtue of the refraction of- light. Passing through the lenses the light is re fracted, or bent from a straight course, so that when it reaches the eye the object it comes from appears expanded, or spread out. This ap parent spreading is what scientists mean by magnification. Of course the more widely the lens spreads the light the more the microscope will magnify. It Is-a beautiful provision of Providence, made undoubtedly for the benefit of evolutionary science, that 'light of shortest wave length is the most refracted in passing through a lens. Hence , the invisible rays which the new microscope uses have two advantages, both dependent oh the fact that they employ light of very short wave length. They can analyze objects so minute that they would destroy ordinary light instead of reflecting it; and the light which they employ is more widely spread by the lenses, so that the object is more highly magnified. But .Why use quartz? Why would not glass do as well? Unhappily the invisible rays beyond the violet in the spectrum will riot pass through glass, while quartz is transparent to them. After all, though, it seems rather futile to magnify ,an object with in visible light. How is a person to see it? He cannot see it. and yet the process is not futile by any means. Although the object cannot be seen it can be photographed,- for these rays of short wave length act vigorously upon photographic plates. The only difficulty is to get tho plate in the right place. When the photographer takes a picture he is careful to place the face to be immortalized in the focus of his instrument; otherwise he gets a blur, and not the Hying image. The microscopist must be still more particular to focalize his instrument, since he deals with things infinitesi mally small. This trick of focalizing with nothing to look at is one that the scientists still puzzle over. The best they can do at present is to take a dozen pictures by guess, on the chance that there will be one among them which Is perfect. The chance seems rather long. By and by they will discover' some, kind of glass which shines by invisible light, and then the problem of the new fnicro scopy will be completely solved. OUIDA. The novel-reading world or that portion thereof that reads fiction of the type that fascinates the reader while shocking his sense of morality was awakened to a languid interest by the announcement last Sunday of the death, in Florence, of Ouida Louise de la Ramee. When later came the details of the last illness, death and burial of thLs woman, the tender pity of the pitiful was aroused for the friendless woman, once pos sessed of great wealth, whose last years were spent in abject poverty, with one old woman and a number of dogs as hec only companions. The climax of the neglect into which this" woman had fallen was depicted in the statement that her body was fol lowed to the grave only by her serv ing woman and a dozen or more dogs that she had starved herself to feed. A woman of affectionate nature but sadly perverted moral sense; of more than ordinary intelligence and of un tiring industry; .of conspicuous per sonal beauty in her youth and middle age; of some culture and of subtle insight into the ruling forces of hu man nature, Ouida lived sixty-eight years on earth to so little purpose that she passed hence unlamented and unmissed except by dogs! Her industry and abounding mental activity are witnessed in the number of novels which she wrote between 1863, the date of the appearance of her first book, "Held in "Bondage," to 1895, when she gave "Views and Opinions" to her .sated ' readers. In each of the years intervening be tween these dates she published at least one novel; several years two or three were conceived in her abnor mally fertile brain, and fell from her busy pen .while in one year (1890) she published no less than six. That many of Ouida's books were mischievous and even pernicious in their tendencies is unquestioned; that they enjoyed a wide popularity is shown by the large revenues that they brought their author, but that, after all, the interest that they awak ened was evanescent was sadly (for her) attested in the squalor in which the closing years of her life wore spent, in her lonely death, and by her unhonored funeral. The lesson of such a life is as plain as it is pitiful. It is said that an af fection for tJogs indicates a nature deeply sensible to the virtues of faith fulness, endurance and gratitude. This may be true, but it is sad never theless, when one so lives, as did Ouida, that unreasoning faithfulness alone waits 'at his or her deathbed and dumbly, riot knowing why, grieves the loss of a familiar pres ence. Sad indeed was the experience and pitiful the record of a woman's life, the events of which caused her to prefer the companionship of dogs to that of human beings upon the hypothesis that "the more she knew of the latter the more respect and affection she felt for the former." Baffled by the contradictions of a na ture affectionate yet perverse; gifted yet unlettered in the finest sense of true womanliness, we can only say In our perplexity: . The outward, wayward life we see, - Its hidden spring's we may not know. ARGENTINE'S RISING PRESTIGE. The long-held prestige of the Unit ed States as the dominant factor in the world's wheat' markets seems to be threatened seriously by the rising influence of the Argentine. The sen sational decline of more than 5 cents per bushel in the American wheat markets in the past three days was, of course, a reflection of similar de clirie in Europe, but the' weakness In Europe was due almost exclusively, to the remarkably heavy shipments from the Argentine. That country is now pouring -wheat into the foreign markets in greater quantities than ever so early in the season, and, from this date on, the .weekly ship ments will undoubtedly be greater than from t" i United States. The in fluence of this comparatively new source of supply as a regulator of world's markets, is vastly greater than it would have been a few years ear lier. This, is due to changed condi tions in marketing t' e world's crop. The advent of steam on all great trade routes throughout the world has brought the great producing re gions of the earth into such close touch ,with the consuming centers that the wheat production of the en tire world may be said to be in easy reach of Europe, the chief market for the world's surplus. ' A dozen years ago, when the wheat crop of the Pa cific Northwest was but little more than half as large as at the present time, and shipment to Europe by steam had not been tried, November cargoes from Portland seldom ar rived out before Anril or May. This year, steamer, cargoes, clearing from both Portland and Puget Sound in November, have already arrived at European ports, and January ship ments, which in the old days did not reach Europe until new-season wheat was arriving from the Atlantic ports, will this year be on the European market in March-April, while the Argentine wheat can be delivered in Europe a month after it is loaded aboard ship. These radical changes in the man ner of marketing the crop have had a tendency to cause a greater feeling of independence on the part of the foreign buyer, and with them have come more serio-us price vibrations than were noticeable in former sesfc sons. And yet it' is questionable whether any such" radical declines as have taken place in the past three days are warranted by . actual condi tions. The fact that the Argentine is shipping 4,000,000 bushels per week, or 10,000,000 bushels per week, will not affect the size of the surplus w-hich can now be accurately gauged by the trade. It will, of course, come on the market more rapidly in weekly shipments of 1.0,000,000 bushels than when the shipments are half that amount, but the available supply will be no greater.. For similar reasons the foreigners may be making a mis take regarding the United States. Our exports to January 15 were more than 30.000.000 bushels greater than they were for the preceding season, but it is known the world over that the crop from which these big ship ments have been made is, or was, nearly 100,000,000 bushels smaller than that of the preceding season. High prices and scarcity of money have combined to move the American crop more rapidly than ever before when the yield was correspondingly small, but European buyers would do well not to deceive themselves with the belief that this movement can be kept up. The time is approaching when American bins will be scraped clean, and then it is a question whether a single week of abnormal shipments from the Argentine will force prices down 5 cei.ts per bushel In two days. The wheat market has a sickly appearance now, but there are many long weeks intervening be fore the 1908 crop in this country can come to the rescue of the vanish ing reserves. The proposal of the Chicago Asso ciation of. Commerce for a non-par- tizan commission of experts to inves- ! tigato alleged .inequitable tariff rates, and report upon them to Congress, has merit. The mere matter of in vestigation and report will be easy, but, unfortunately for the American, people who suffer by our absurd tariff system, the prospects for action are not so favorable as they might be. The tariff barons are pretty firmly entrenched at Washington, and, when ever .the subject of tariff revision is called up. It immediately produces a howl against any interference with the sacred idol of the trusts. The Chi cago Association does not propose to get busy with the matter until after the next Presidential election. This would seem to be in line with the recommendations in the President's message; but, reasoning from past ex perience, there are small grounds for hope that anything' will be done until the party which must stand the odium of the present system receives a forc ible reminder that it is not fully in dorsed by the people. The tendency in the past has been to urge tariff revision with more or less, energy until the Presidential election was passed, and then drift into a state of coma until another election drew near. There was another news item in yesterday's Oregonian which presented some interesting features of the tariff. This second item came under a New York date line, and it told of the net earnings of the steel trust, the largest of our tariff-fed "Infant industries." For the last three months of 1907, when values In nearly all other branches of property, were melting like a- snowball in a July sun, the steel trust showed , net earnings of $32,553,995. nearly $11,000,000 .per month, and the net earnings for the year 1907 were $160,984,477. This gigantic trust has been paying enor mous dividends on a capitalization so vast that Its immensity can with dif ficulty be comprehended, but, in spite of these big dividends, there still remains an undivided surplus of 1113,173,274. All of this vast tribute is wrung from the American people, for the workings of the tariff system are such that the sales made at low prices and small profits are all to foreigners. It Is even stated that, at times when business is duller than usual, steel products are sold abroad at less than cost, in order to keep the plants work ing on other products for which the American ' consumers are forced to pay exorbitant prices. Steel rails which cost the Americans $28 per ton, have been laid down in far-away Egypt, with freight paid, at less than $23 per ton. We not only suffer the monstrous injustice of having to pay more for. the steel products than for eigners, but the Immense profits are all poured into the coffers of a few men -whose prodigal expenditures in the purchase of chorus girls and for eign noblemen, and in political de bauchery, have a' debasing effect throughout the entire social struc ture. Tariff reform is needed with out delay. It will be brought about in the 'near future, probably by its friends, if not by others. GAMBLING AND THE YOCNG. In a speech before the Women's Republican Association in New York the5 other night Gove tor Hughes mnrl AOrrtA n n I n t p nhcori'jlinna ,,m-,n racetrack gambling in his state. The constitution of New York forbids racutrack gambling, I ut it exists all the same under the protecting sane tion of the Legislature. How? Sim ply because the Legislature has pro vided a humbug penalty for it. This is one among the numerous -current ways of evading inconvenient articles In a constitution. It is only against legislation which Is humane and beneficial, that constitutions are effec tive, apparently. Governor Hughes' efforts to abolish racetrack gambling are commendable, though, as the World well remarks, this is not by any means the worst species' of the vice. The harm done by betting and poolselling at races is extensive, but, after all, it seems slight in comparison with the con stant flood of vicious influence that flows over the whole country from the gambling-houses of Wall street. It would be incorrect to say that no legitimate transactions occur in this famous sink of iniquity, but those which are vicious outnumber the oth ers many times over. To an impartial observer. the cru sades which take place every little while against gambling must seem in effective and even insincere so long as nothing is done to suppress the enor mous evil of Wall street. To every business man in the country the ex ample of Wall street is a constant temptation to desert the slow ways of conservative trade and launch out into wild speculation. But its worst influence is upon young men. In al most every city there are branch gambling-houses connected with Wall street where youths are inducted Into the vice early and taught its destruc tive fascinations. The law will never have done its duty until these off shoots and their parent houses are suppressed. It is only partially true that the law cannot make men moral. Legis lation is a powerful educator of the conscience, and it, can also modify the environment in which we live, mak ing it favorable to virtue Instead of vice. The law cannot change our vicious inclinations, but it can make it difficult for us to grs-tify them. It cannot change the will to do evil di rectly, but it can enforce right con- duct until it becomes habitual and thus modify the will indirectly. While the law cannot make us moral, never theless -we can be moral under good laws a great deal more easily than under bad ones. Legislation against gambling will appear somewhat eva sive and trivial until it seriously at tacks stock gambling dealing in fu tures, and all the insidious forms of Wall-street vieiousness. Herman A.- Metz, comptroller of the city of New York, rose high In i public estimation the other day by ruthlessly lopping off some of the items from an insanity "expert's" bill against the District Attorney's office. Mr. Jerome had arranged with this particular alienist to testify at the first Thaw trial for $100 a day when ever he was on the witness stand and $15 an hour for all the other time that he might giye to the case. The, bill amounted to $5,315, the "wit ness having included in the time given to the state that purporting to be consumed in going to and from his home to the criminal courts building. This charge included three-quarters of an hour twice daily, which' he figured at $22.50 a day. The comptroller determined to resist' this demand as an extortion when, after due experiment, he found that the time actually consumed in making the round trip was but forty minutes, against one hour and a half for which the charge was rendered.- So he lopped $292 off the bill. The alienist protests and threatens to sue tho city. In Portland the charge for time spent in going to and from work is made only by plumbers and some washerwomen. Laborers of all other classes are expected to appear on time for their day's w-ork wherever that happens to be their wage be ginning when they go to work. They are also expected to get home, go to bed. rise In the morning, eat their meals, etc., "in their own iime." All laborers, except those preferred classes, are forced to yield to this rule. The New York courts may have to pass on the question whether a physi cian should collect pay both for the time of his visit and for that of his ride to and from the place of his visit. "In politics the good players do not show their hands. They are content ed with the spoils." Thus says a magazine of pofitics. The saying was true 'at one time, but is not today. In politics Roosevelt is a good player and he does show his hand. Frankness is his most conspicuous characteristic. He takes all the people into his con fidence all the time. So far from be ing contented with the spoils, he seeks nothing of the kind, nor is he contented if any one ejse is enjoying spoils of government. If -spoliation has not terminated in this country, his is not the responsibility. He has had no political secrets and no one has had reason to doubt where he stood upon any important issue. He has struck at wrong wherever he has seen it. and no man or set of men has been big enough or powerful enough or wealthy enough to stay his hand. By playing this kind of politics he has attained the position occupied by no other American except Washington, "first in war, first in peaces first in the hearts of his countrymen." Though famous as an aOvocate of the big stick, he has won laurels in the promotion of peace, and he holds the love and admiration and. confidence of the people. In the grt-t game -of politics the good players do show their hands and they are not content ed with the spoils.. - The report of Dr. Esther Pohl to the City Board of Health; of. the death of a young woman of reputable fam ily in this city several months ago, as the result of a criminal operation, reveals a circumstance the woe of which is by no means-confined to the death which occurred. It is In the interest of justice that the criminal In such a case the man who, as. a physician, was Immediately responsi ble for the death of the young woman, should receive punishment. Beyond this it is a matter of regret that the' name of a young woman heretofore stainless, and that of her bereaved family, should suffer through publia- ity that can only add to the distress of the living. Whew! exclaims the Oregon ten derfoot, as, muffled to the eyes, he turns a corner and meets the compli ments of a sharp east wind. Yet the mercury was 26 degrees above zero yesterday, the coldest day ef the Win ter thus far by two or three degrees. Just across the Rockies and from there to the Atlantic seaboard zero weather has prevailed for a week and deep snowdrifts obstruct traffic In many places. Is it not about time for Oregonlans to become cognizant of their blessings? Farmers and other progressive citi zens of Clackamas County want a fair of their own one thaf will be a year ly recurring delight to them and an advertisement of their abounding re sources. Needless to say, they will have one, beginning next Fall and be coming a feature of Clackamas Coun ty progress and enterprise for years to come. Preliminary steps for the organization of an association in this interest have already been taken. The rest will follow-. Let us hope that Harry Thaw when he is released from the asylum, which is only a matter of time, will so conduct himself as to keep his name out of the newspapers .Notice has been served that Presi dent Roosevelt will continue busir ness at the old stand for. the next thirteen months. Isn't It worth while for Portland to arrange for something to signalize the completion of the North Bank Road? Whether Hughes becomes the can didate or not,, the plain people will O. K. his views on all important is sues. - Like their distinguished father, the Armour children don't often get on the wrong side of the wheat market. It may be expected that New York sports will be making books on the length of Thaw's new imprisonment. Bryan is certain to indorse Hughes attitude toward corporations. That makes it unanimous. Statement No. 1 is preparing to start on its biennial' tour of Oregon. SILHOUETTES BY ARTHUR A. GnEENli There can be no real happiness with out sacritice. Those who In-Hove patent medie!n testimonials will be delighted to know that Lincoln StefTens ia contributing a. new serios of 10-cent hysterics to con temporaneous magazine literature. They tell ve that Hope springs eternal in the human breast; but in most rases II6pe Is not in trim to win standing high jump records. e A sroat many people both think and sin? through their noses. This cold weather is responsible for a brilliant display of Winter underwear in the show windows. Curd of 'I hunka. . The Amalgamated Band of Plumbers and Fuel Dealers desire to take this op portunity to express their heartfelt thanks and gratitude to Colonel Weatherman Eeals for ttis bountiful goodness and loving kindness to us during these recent days of our exaltation. May he continue in the -pood work and may his arm b strengthened for even greater worka Is our prayer, world without end. Amen. Would luf How'd you like to be the milkman ) And get up at 2 A. M., When tho pump is frozen solid And the cold Is humping them Pesky cows that have a grouch on And refuse to liquidate? Then to drive nlnfe miles to peddle Out the juice that you call milk And to have tho Health Board meddl When you try housewives to bilk; And such fearsome sights to witness As you make the morning rounds Women in their mother-hubbards. Husbands reellna; home and zounds.. Cold wind . whistling through your whiskers How'd you like to be the milkman Honest now? Gus Lowit and Thorburn Ross are con vinced that it is a cruel coda which makos failure a crime. ' ' : Consistency may be a jewel but it is frequently paste. The one regret the, American people have in connection with the Thaw ver dict is that the Jury did not award the young Pittsburger a gold medal for kill ing Stanford White. 1 With the fleet safely through the straits there is little to fear for Admiral Bob until he falls into the hands of the San Francisco reception committee. No, Angel Visage, the ortler known as "The Patrons of Husbandry:1 is not a matrimonial agency. Several fellows In this town Tjreak into the society columns as "well-known cluh men" whoto sole claim is membership- in $I-a-week "pantatoHuins." You can always tell which wy the wind blows by watching the women's skirts. There shoul be some protection against cub reporters who make peopla "depart'' when they leave town and live In "residences" when they are at home. Reports from the East and Midil! West indicate that our old bugaboo man wl.b feds on the blood of o'.C women and little children and calls 'himself Coal Famine wlU soon stalk through the land. Helpful ilenr.vV Mint to the Heinle. To Aileene My dettr girl, yours is certainly an unhappy lot, jind I feel a deep sympathy for yon In your time of trouble. However. I would ndvisa that' Instead of resorting to Bertha M. Clay and George Burr MeCutcheon for consolation, vou try Marie Corclli. You say you are 19 and the eldest of six children; that your noso is pug atid your eyes do not track: but that you yearn to be a beautiful and accom plished heiress and marry a hero who uses nothing btjt a quill toothpick on the street. Since you add that your father works in the street-cleaning department at $15 per, I don't see how your case can be properly handled through the newspapers. At that, however, the action of your mother 'In compelling you to arise at 9:S Ii the morning and wash the breakfast dishes is simply intolerable. If, as you say, you possess such exceptional musieal ab'ility that you can play "Narcissus" without looking at your hands, you might run away from home and Join a church choir. That is a job where you don't have to do mucli in the looks line. To Angeline You say In your letter of inquiry that Harold took advantage of the darkness in the hall to hold both your hands and kiss you. A young girl cannot be too careful under such circumstances. Of course, you could not have prevented him from kissing you, but you should have re taliated by kicking him on the shins real hard. There is nothing so effec tive for bringing a young man out of a trance of that kind as a well-administered kick on the yhin. Edward W. Bok. In his Cosy Corner Chats With Girls, advocates sticking with a hat pin, but such a procedure is unneces sarily cruel, and besides it might awaken father. The best authorities now agree upon the shin-kiekintr method or a good stiff punch in the slats, as being more ladylike and bet ter form. i . It is fortunate for most of our public speakers that they are allowed to dis play their oratory only after the viands have been eaten. Also fortunate for the diners. t I am glad to extend congratulations to Richard Holder, one of the few rail way magnates who has not been threatened with criniloal prosecution. If the resort hotels were as attrac tive as their advertisements, very few people would want to go to Heaven. The man who Is habitually "pickled," evidently believes that self-preservation is the first law of nature. A celebrity is a person you hear a lot about but never met. After you know him he ceases to be a celebrity. 1
