THE STTXDA" OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, MARCH 1. 1DOS.
fet'BbCBIPTIOX RATES.
INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE.
(By Mall.)
Dally, Sunday included, on year $9 00
Dally, fcunday Included, six month"....
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Iaily. without Sunday, one year 6-00
L-aily. without Sunday. lx month-..
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PORTLAND, Sl-NDAY, MARCH 1, 190S.
REMARKS ON "INCONSISTENCY."
Kvery person who speaks or writes
much, and whoso words are allowed
to have weight, must meet very often
the charge of "inconsistency." Web
ster said, this at one time; that at an
other: the statements are "Inconsis
tent." Burke made this statement In
his speech on American taxation, but
this totally opposite statement in his
speech on the Nabob of Arcot's debts.
Gladstone stood for this doctrine when
Prime Minister, but for this different
doctrine when a leader of the opposi
tion. Shakespeare wrote the most op-,
posite things, and texts in the Bible
are contradictory arxl irreconcilable.
Lincoln declared that he would not in
terfere with slavery and denied that he
was an abolitionist, yet within a year
Issued the Emancipation Proclama
tion, and was rated by all his political
opponents not only for inconsistency,
hut for violation of his word or pledge.
Little minds revel in. these things.
Usually you can gauge, by this charge
of "Inconsistency," the intellectual,
status of such as employ it against
those whom they oppose, or rather,
whom they carp at: for the opposition
of such is negligible, or of little con
sequence. Often The Oregonian is told that its
statements, discussions or arguments
pass unheeded: yet at times it thinks
there may be something in them, af
ter all. since it has long observed that
the most earnest employment that
many persons have is their search
through its columns from day to day,
and through its files for years past, to
find "inconsistencies." To get togeth
er from its columns passages written
at various times and under different
circumstances, and declare them "In
consistent," Is to such persons appar
ently the chief delight of their lives.
Put what boots it? All subjects are
discussed in the light of the day or
hour of the discussion. Upon every
new presentation there is some new
modifying Influence or consideration
that affects the discussion of every
question. Moreover, no subject under
discussion Is in precisely the same re
lation or position towards other things
that it was last year, or even last
week. The human element in every
thing of the kind is in constant flux
and change. Again, the same subject,
approached from different sides, de
mands different treatment: and the
different methods of treatment, though
apparently "Inconsistent" to minas of
carpers looking out for such things
and going into raptures over their ap
parent or pretended discovery, may
not really be inconsistent, after all.
probably are not. But If they can be
made to appear so the critic cackles
with delight, boasts of his achievement
and claims his reward. Letters come
every week to The Oregonian in which
the writers base their argument against
what it has recently said on statements
of what it said or is alleged to have
said at some former time, perhaps
years ago. Such study of its columns
of today and its files of the past would
seem to show that some interest, and.
indeed, some importance, may Jbe
thought to attach to its utterances;
for even Indignation sometimes char
acterises these charges of "inconsist
ency" awakening wonder that there
should be such anger in celestial
minds.
The writer or speaker of today al
ways is In the position or mood of to
day; and his argument varies, there
fore. In its method, illustration, pur
pose or end. Some of the conditions
and considerations that were present
at a former time are not present now;
others are present now which were
not present then. Besides, no one
man ever writes a great newspaper,
and to the minds of the many various
writers who must be employed, sub
j.ts that must be treated present
themselves in various anil varying as
pects. The most careful editorial su
pervision cannot possibly avoid dis
crepancies of statement and of argu
ment. Every great newspaper is con
stantly under 'this limitation and lia
bility. It is particularly so. in treat
ment of abstruse, complicated or dis
puted questions. In the field of opin
ion there is little or nothing that is ab
solutely certain; for, as soon as opin
ion passes into certainty it ceases to be
opinion. But opinion always remains,
to supply the chief material for the
work of the human spirit. Nobody
now attempts to reconcile the discrep
ancies even of the scriptures. Criti
cism long since passed that stage. Tire
universal canon of criticism and guide
to interpretation, is that every writing
bears the stamp of the times and of
the circumstances in which it was pro
duced. . They who do tiot know this
have no key to the literature of the
world.
No writer whose contemporaries re
gard his work as worth reading
troubles himself about charges of "in
consistency" that may be brought
against him. Carlyle and Herbert
Spencer pooh-poohed all such critics.
"Inconsistency," said Emerson, "Is the
hobgoblin of little minds." To those
who made the accusation against
Webster he answered: "Inconsist
encies of opinion and of statement,
arising from change of circumstances,
are often Justifiable." But you never
hear it charged that a writer or speak
er is "inconsistent," when what the
one writes or the other speaks. Is rec
ognised as having no weight or value.
The opinions of critics of this class, on
any subject, are never taxed with in
consistency, for they are worth no at
tention. Nobody cares what they said
yesterday; nobody cares what they say
today. Nobody cares whether they
are "consistent" or not.
NEW CURRENCY BILLS.
The Fowler currency bill ought to
pass. Not because it is Just what the
country ought to have, but because it
Is the best the country can get at the
present time. It is in every way bet
ter than the Aldrlch or Senate bill,
which indeed is worse than nothing at
all. .'
The. essential feature of the Fowler
bill is that it proposes issue, through
the National banks, under direction of
the Controller of the Currency, of
bank notes based on general assets, in
lieu of the present bond-secured notes
which are to be retired; the new
notes to be secured on gold reserve,
deposits and the general resources of
the banks, to be approved by the Con
troller, the whole to be under care
ful inspection and regulation. This
will make a flexible and movable cur
rency; and for additional security
there is td be a guarantee to which all
the banks aft to contribute in. propor
tion to their circulation. The bill is
too long and too technical to be ex
plained here in detail; but these are its
leading features.
The Aldrich, or Senate bill, on the
other hand, proposes continuance of
the present system and addition of a
further amount of bond-secured cur
rency, admitting railroad and other
bonds as the basis of security. But
bonds of this character are most unfit
for such a purpose. The New York
World well says that to issue currency
on Mr. Harriman's hand-made Alton
bonds (for instance) would be a pror
ceeding too simple even for trustful
Uncle Sam.
But Senator La Follette proposes to
strengthen the proposition by provid
ing for ascertainment of the value of
railroad bonds used as security by in
quiry as to the cost of reproduction of
the railroad whose bonds may be of
fered. This again is impracticable. It
is the earning power of a railroad, not
its cost, that' makes the criterion of
value.
There ought to be a central bank
with branches, after the fashion of
the French or the German system.
But we are not wise enough for that.
The Fowler bill is the best available
expedient for the present time.
MIST GIVE AND TAKE.
Mr. Samuel Gompers,' representing
organized labor, and the steel trust,
representing organized capital, have
said that there will be no reduction in
the marketable commodities which
they have for sale. If either or both
of these gentlemen, who declined to
admit that the economic situation has
undergone any change since last Sunj
mer, can maintain the position they
have assumed, the return of good
times will be long deferred. The steel
trust is maintaining prices at cost of
loss of buiness. Organized labor In
the Eastern States is maintaining
wages at cost of loss of employment.
There will be no Increase in the con
sumption of the commodities which
capital and labor have to sell until
there has been a reduction in their
cost. The situation offers no room for
argument as to the worthiness of the
laborer for his hire. This is not de
nied. It Is the old case of half a loaf
being preferable to no loaf, and resist
ance to this movement toward a lower
level of wages in particular lines, as
well as of other commodities, will be
useless, for In the end the old inex
orable law of supply and demand will
settle the matter.
One year ago lumber freights be
tween Portland and San Francisco
were nearly 19 per thousand feet.
Today it is impossible to find business
for one-half the tonnage available, at
one-half the rates in effect a year ago.
The supply of tonnage overtook the
demand, with the inevitable result.
The steam schooner men could., no
longer get $9 per thousand feet for
carrying lumber. The mills which cut
the lumber could not get the old prices
for it. The mills made a cut In prices
and the steam schooner owners cut
the freight. This helped somewhat.
It attracted lumber consumers who
would not pay the old prices for lum
ber, nor the J 9 freight rate. But, in
spite of these reductions, the lumper
business and the freighting business
drifted from bad to worse, and in a
final effort to keep it moving a slight
cut was made in wages of engineers
and Bremen.
This has been so successfully resist
ed that nearly 100 vessels are out ol
commission. This resistance to reduc
tion in wages has. of course, increased
the number of unemployed on the Pa
cilia Coast by many thousands, and has
aided In delaying the recovery in in
dustrial activity, for, while organized
labor can withdraw from theCraarket
the commodity it has for sale, it is
powerless to force production or in
crease consumption to a degree where
Us services will again be in demand.
The present widespread depression
will not last long. The country is too
rich and has too many resources avail
able to be tied up for an indefinite pe
riod; but the return of good times will
be retarded unless both capital and la
bor accept the changed conditions and
"give and take" during the interval
pending readjustment that must take
place, before we can again enjoy the
remarkable prosperity which so sud
denly ceased last October. And this
policy of "give and take" must be in
evidence throughout the long line of
industries and, occupations between
capital and labor.
SUBSIDY QUACKERY.
Those statesmen who are so eager
to bolster up-our .languishing South
American trade with a ship subsidy
fall Into two principal classes. Some
of them are parasites of the trusts
which -would absorb the subsidy; oth
ers are too lazy to investigate the real
causes why the trade does not flourish.
An inkling of the nature of these
causes may be gathered from the
Daily Consular Keport for February
19- .
The report is from Special Agent
Charles M. Pepper, at Lima, Peru.
Mr. Pepper says that of forty-seven
customers of American firms whom
he talked with . at Lima, forty-three
complained that the goods sent them
were not suitably packed. ' One man
ager of a machinery firm said that it
had taken him two years to teach a
house In Troy how to pack machinery
for the Peruvian trade. When the
American company finally mastered
'.he secret . of packing its goods
properly they acquired a foothold in
Peru and their business has flourished
ever since. Why not try the effect of
a few elementary lessons in packing
goods upon trade before granting a
subsidy to the shipping trust?
Such sordid devices as packing, hon
est labeling and genuineness of Qual
ity are less pleasant remedies than a
few millions plundered from the tax
payers, but the chances are that they
would prove more effectual if the pur
pose is actually to build up trade with
our Latin neighbors. If the purpose
is not trade, but robbery of the home
taxpayer, of course a sumptuous sub
sidy would be more effectual.
For all commercial ills our states
men have but one remedy, like the old
school of quack doctors who used the
same drug for all diseases. When com
merce is to be improved or trade ex
tended, the first thing they think of is
to compel the taxpayer - at home to
hand over a substantial bonus. The
idea of making those who want trade
pay for it themselves may be heretical,
but it sounds reasonable. Why not
try it for once?
AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY.
During recent years enormous work
has been done on the sources of Amer
ican history. A work that formerly
was the occupation of a few is now the
profession of a vast number of writ
ers, lecturers and instructors. The
elaborate and continuous work of such
writers as Bancroft and Hildreth is
succeeded by that of a multitude of
writers who produce monographs on
special topics. We thus get distinctive
pictures, in detail. It is only within a
few years that we have been obtain
ing full .and satisfactory accounts of
the various phases of the American
Revolution. Scholars have been ex
ploring every possible source of ma
terial, both in America and Europe.
Two books of remarkable value, deal
ing with special features of our Revo
lution, have recently appeared; one
of them entitled "Our Struggle for the
Fourteenth Colony" that is, our at
tempt to bring Canada into the effort
with us to obtain independence; the
other, an account of "The Loyalists of
the American Revolution." This last
named book contains material that
will bring surprise to the reader 'Who
has made no special research into this
topic, but whose reading of our rev
olutionary history has been limited to
general outlines. The author is C. H.
Van Tyne, of the University of Penn
sylvania. It is made clear thaf the loyalist
party in the Revolution was-numerous
and powerful; so much so that in fact
it was the main hope, if not the main
stay, of the effort to reduce the col
onies to submission. It was especiaily
powerful in New Tork, New Jersey
and Connecticut, and, moreover, was
numerous in the Carolinas; less so in
New England and Virginia. Altogeth
er, it is believed that it "Included
nearly one-third of the people of the
colonies"; among them were many of
the most wealthy and influential fam
ilies. Much of the wealth of the coun
try, as may be supposed, was for the
King, for wealth is habitually conserv
ative; and the women of theso fam
ilies sent into the British ranks as
many of their young men as they
could, just as the secession wo
men of Baltimore and other border
cities drove into the Confederate, serv
ice, through threat of social ostracism,
every young man whom they could
reach. The loyalists were always the
main reliance of the British army for
Information and supplies; and their
loyalty was steadily nourished by pay
ment of gold or horses, forage, pro
visions, transportation, and all else
that might be wanted, while the Con
tinentals had only paper, greatly de
preciated, ,to pay with. The central
position of the City of New York, held
by the British almost from the begin
ning of the war till two years after its
close, gave ample opportunity both to
protect the loyalists and to make the
most of their assistance, and finally
to give those who had most to dread'
from the vengeance of the final victors
opportunity to escape. Not less than
SO, 000 loyalists served in the British
armies during the various stages of
the ;war a number much greater
than all the foreign soldiers sent over
for the British service. Tory soldiers
in great numbers were with Burgoyne,
and even when they did not actually
enter his army, they held back the
Whig militia from Joining, the Ameri
can forces. Nearly two-thirds of the
British troops by whom Lincoln was
repulsed at Savannah, in 1779, were
Tories; when the battle of Camden
was fought, which brought ruin for
the time to the American cause in the
South, it was Tarleton's cavalry that
had been recruited, almost wholly in
New York, and Rawdon's volunteers
of Ireland, raised in Pennsylvania,
that carried the day. The warfare of
such leaders as Marion, Sumter and
Pickens, which forms the brightest
pages of the struggle in the South,
was waged almost wholly with Tories,
supplied with arms and clothing by the
British in Charleston and other ports.
It Is amazing, on reading the rec
ord in detail, to realize how terrible
this internecine strife actually was.
and how powerful was the aid given
by the loyalists to the British from
the beginning to the end of the war.
, The supreme greatness of Washing
ton stands out in this struggle to an
extent that almost convinces that with
arsy other man than Washington at
the head of affairs the effort must
have been a failure. Besides the mil
itary difficulties, he was beset by ca
bals and badgered by Congress. His
patience, resolution,- judgment and
constancy are now even more objects
of admiration than at the close of the
war which he so successfully conduct
ed. Not another man In America
wo'uld have been equal to the require
ments of that most difficult position.
There were many occasions when
everything depended on him. Our in
dependence was achieved only be
cause nothing could subdue the soul
nor shake the firmness of Washing
ton. - "Ah! gentlemen," said Bonaparte
It was just as he was about to embark
for Egypt, and some' young Americans
happening at Toulon, anxious to see
the mighty Corsican had obtained the
honor .of an introduction to him.
Scarcely were passed the customary
salutations when he . eagerly asked,
"How fares , youi countryman, the
great Washington?" "He wa very
well. General," answered the youths,
"when we left America." """Ah, gentle
men," said Bonaparte, "Washington
can never be otherwise than well. His
name will live as the founder of a
great empire, when mine will he lost
in the vortex of revolutions!" If the
story isn't strictly historical old Par
son Weems openB his famous "Life of
Washington" with it it is more true
than history, and worth preservation
forever.
FROM ONE JUDGE ALL.
. To most readers, we dare say, the
theories upon which the Government's
policy of forest' preservation is based
are theories and nothing more. They
seem to be remote from daily life,
speculative, Impractical. To many
persons the efforts of the President
and Congress to prevent the destruction
of the forests look like tyrannous-interference
with private enterprise.
What are the trees for except to be
cut down and made into lumber? That
thej- have other and more important
uses Is a truth which has yet to dawn
upon many minds. Considerations like
these lend singular importance to any
piece of writing which brings home
the actual results of forest destruction
to the merchant, the farmer, the
dweller in the country town, and shows
them what may be expected to hap
pen to their property if the process
goes on unchecked. The Oregonian
thinks it worth while, therefore, to
call attention to an article by Mrs.
Huldah Klager which recently ap
peared in the Woodland News, a paper
published in Cowlitz County, Wash
ington, giving a sketch of the history
of the Lewis River for the last thirty
or forty years.
This river rises at the base of Mount
St. Helens and follows an irregular
course, for the most part through nar
row gorges with mountains once heav
ily timbered on either side, and dis
charges into the Columbia about
twenty miles below Vancouver. In
the lower reaches the bed is now from
a quarter to a half mile wide. It is
strewn with sandbars which are pretty
stable during low water, but when the
stream is in flood they shift from
place to place. Along the upper
course the banks are fearfully eroded
by every freshet. In the historic Win-
' ter of 1896, when havoc was wrought
by floods all along the Lewis River,
one farm of 160 acres was swept away
entirely a few miles above the village
of Woodland, while at a point some
two miles below the village the current
cut into fertile land along the bank
more than ninety feet. More recently
the river made an entirely new chan
nel in one of the flats along its middle
course.
The erosion, of the banks fills the
upper course of the river with trees,
stumps and "soil which are deposited in
the channel farther down. The chan
nel thus grows wider, shallower and
more obstructed every year. The Gov
ernment sometimes sends a dredge
boat to clear out the snags, but even if
its work were thoroughly done the re
sults could only be transient, since the
deposition of soil and debris goes on
continually. At a point a couple of
miles, above Woodland the river has
repeatedly cut away the public road.'
Spring after Spring for several years
the County Commissioners have pur
chased land for a new road, and Win
ter after Winter the river has washed
it away. During the process the stream
has gradually invaded the front yard
of a farmhouse which stands near this
perilous place, eating away the gar
den, the flower beds and the fruit
trees. '
At several points along the lower
reaches also the river Is gnawing away
the road. Everywhere it is nibbling
at the farms. Some years three or
four rods of fertile land will go at one
swoop. In others the erosion will be
but a few feet, but it goes on continu
ally. The soil which is thus being car
ried into the channel to obstruct navi
gation is worth from J50 to $200 6r
300 an acre. Mrs. Klager mentions
one small tract at Woodland which it
cost $50 an acre merely to c,lear.
Within her recollection three acrfe3 of
this piece have slipped into the
stream and the rest of it. is going. So
much for the Lewis River as it is to
day, a wide, almost useless stream,
shallow except in time of flood, hardy
navigable at any time, and a contin
ual menace to the farms along its
banks.
Mrs. Klager remembers how it
looked in her childhood. It was then
a narrow, deep stream, navigable at all
seasons. The Winter freshets were
moderate and they did no harm, since
the banks were everywhere protected
by a rank growth of willows. She has
watched the work of destruction pro
gress from year to year until, very nat
urally, she has begun to wonder where
it will end. In another fifty years or
so, she asks, what will have become of
the fertile dairy farms and orchards
in the "Lewis River bottom"? What
will have become of the village of
Woodland, with its dwellings and
stores? To her there is but one pos
sible answer. They will all have been
swept a'way unless something effectual
is done to stay the havoc of the river.
Mrs. Klager has a theory that the
steamboats are responsible for the evil
ways of the Lewis River in recent
years; but she is probably only par
tially correct. The steamboats do
their part. Their swells undermine
the banks during the June freshet and
cause yard after yard to disappear;,
but the destructiveness of .the Winter
floods is to be attributed entirely to
the logging operations on the moun
tains of the upper course. The Win
ter rains now flow down through the
gorges with a rush instead of being re
tained by the spongy soil of the for
ests, as they were forty years ago. As
more timber Is destroyed the Winter
floods will become increasingly ruinous
to the farms and villages and the work
of protection will become more diffi
cult. In the story of the Lewis River we
can read what is going on everywhere
in America. The ruin wrought by this
one stream would be negligible; "but
hundreds and thousands of others are
doing the same thing or worse. Dan
gerous as the Lewis River has be
come. It is harmless compared with
many. It is this progressive ruin of
the country by erosion which the Gov
ernment seeks to stay by restoring the
forests. Is not the work "worth doing?
Is there anything speculative about
either the danger or its cause?
TEN HOURS A DAY. -The
Supreme Court of the land hav
ing decided the Oregon law is 'consti
tutional, henceforth no woman in Ore
gon shall be made to work more than
ten hours a day by an employer; 1 This
is a measure for the relief of the
women and girls in stores; shops and
factories, and is a good law. But what
of the thousands of young women who
would not take a job doing housework
for , anybody at any price, yet marry
and go into men's kitchens, where
there are no hours for labor or,
rather, no hours for re.st? . What of
the multitudes of women in Ore
gon, pant, present and future,
who begin the day while it is yet
night? They that is, .many of them,
at least arise while. their lord slum
bereth, build the fire, get breakfast
and have it ready ere the morning
chores are done; feed their chickens
after straining the milk and setting it
to rise'; get the children ready and off
to school; then begin, on' dinner, with
possibly a fruitless trip to the wood
shed and an enforce visit to the old
rail fence for something that will burn
quickly. Then dinner and all the af
ternoon housework, with it may be a
chance to sit in the rocker and darri
and mend until time to get supper and
feed the hens and gather the eggs to
be traded on the store bill. The. egg
money she earns, but 'tis not hers to
spend. After supper more mending
while sitting up for the hoys or girls
to get home when she should be in
bed, having first filled the kettle with
the parings that will boll in the morn
ing for the fowls' breakfast.
Ten hours, did the law say? Great
is the law. The monotony is broken,
perhaps, by a few hours in the rocker
of a Sunday afternoon while she
thinks of the easy time enjoyed by the
lucky of her sex who come under the
protecting hand of the . law. Ten
hours a day? Yes, and many more.
But some day she will take a vaca
tion, give out her accumulated over
time and enjoy a long rest. Only, God
bless her, she will be in heaven.
THE BUFFALO RANGE.
We have heard much in recent
years of the passing of the buffalo
from the North American continent,
but it is difficult to realize that this
passing, after ages of occupancy of
the great ranges, has been accom
plished in less than half a century.
The writer, recently coming casually
across an old number of Harper's
Magazine of January, 1869, found an
article on the "Buffalo Range," writ
ten by Theodore R. Davis and embel
lished with crude illustrations, done,
however, in the best style of wood en
graving of that time. The incidents
and facts related, though less than
forty years have passed since they
were chronicled, furnish a remarka
ble epitome of the changes that these
years have wrought on the great
ranges the denizens of the wild that
roamed over them, the nomadic
tribes that subsisted by the chase, and
the Army posts that sentineled the
border lands of civilization and made
homebuildlng in the great interior
possible. The record has a remi
niscent, almost a personal touch for
those who knew of the great plains
from having crossed them at an ox
team pace fifty or sixty years ago.
The "Buffalo Range," according to
this author, once extended from the
Atlantic seaboard in Virginia and
the Carolinas westward to the Rocky
Mountains, but there is no evidence
that it reached points east of the
Hudson River or north of Lake
Champlaln. As late as 1712, says Mr.
Davis; herds of buffalo were seen
within SO miles of Charleston, South
Carolina, but tie adds: "At present
(1869) one must, to find them. Jour
ney something like 2000 miles west
ward from the Atlantic seaboard, the
best hunting ground being between
the Republican and Arkansas Rivers,
a section of the plains over which I
have traveled ponyback for days,
when at any moment I could glance
in some direction and look upon vast
herds of buffalo."
Mr. Davis says' further that per
sons who have never seen the vast
herds of buffalo moving can have but
little conception of the, almost irre
sistible power of such a moving
mass. The "countless thousands"
press forward, able to overwhelm any
but the strongest barriers. "Count
less thouands," but a little while ago
hardly a specimen now, in all the
vast region over which those crea
tures roamed at will and fed abun
dantly. The Indians even then fore
saw that the buffalo would soon be
gone through the wastefulness of
white hunters, the narrowing of the
range by the occupation of white
settlers, and the introduction of
"spotted buffalo" (domestic cattle)
upon the range. "If," said this chron
icler, "as the Indian fears ground
lessly, however, at present the buf
falo will pass away, I am at a loss to
know what he would do, for the buf
falo feeds, clothes and warms the no
mads." The buffalo has passed away
and the Indian policy of the Govern
ment, then unknown, has answered
the question as to what would become
of the nomads without the buffalo.
Looking at the crude pictures il
lustrating some of the more frequent
scenes and sights on the "buffalo
range" less than forty years ago In
every one of which, even then, the
bleached skulls of buffaloes were in
evidence In the foreground one can
well see" that even then the buffalo
was in process of "passing." Still,
long and seemingly interminable lines
of huge black beasts traveling single
file from their feeding grounds to
water; great black masses feeding
quietly; the sentinels of the herd on
the alert; the great bulk with heads
down so low that the long, matted
beard dragged the ground. Indicated
numbers practically endless and a
confidence in their own power to- pro
tect themselves that seemed to defy
extinction.
The fact remains, however, that the
"buffalo range" Jcnows the buffalo no
more; that the species known as the
"North American bison" Is now, in
the wild . state, practically extinct,
though, less than forty years have
passed since a sagacious plainsman,
riding the rangev saw no danger ihat
the Indians' fear - that the buffalo
would be exterminated would be re
alized. The story of the extinction of the
buffalo is one of a vigorous onslaught
upon the wild and its denizens by
the vanguard of civilization that is
without parallel in the world's history
outside of the American continent; a
story all too familiar of Nature's lav
ish abundance and man's reckless
prodigality; a chapter in the conquest
of the great WTest which in a few
years will be regarded merely as a
traveler's tale.
'The able seaman who writes marine
news for the Tacoma Ledger, in com
menting on the large flumber of sail
ing vessels en route for Portland, says
that "the reason for this is that there
Is not sufficient water in the Columbia
River for large steamers." The foreign-bound
grain fleet this season, for
the-seven months ending February 1
(January figures not yet compiled)
shows seventeen steamers loading at
Portland and twenty-two at Tacoma.
The Portland steamers averaged 208.
835' bushels per cargo, those from Ta
coma, Seattle and Everett 211, 622
bushels per cargo." Th.s striking dif
ference of sixty-five short tons per
cargo in favor of Puget Sound shows
the great handicap under which Port
land labors, or would show It if it were
not for the fact that in past seasons
the, average steam cargo out of Port
land has exceeded in size that out of
Tacoma. ' Of the forty-one grain sail
ing ships clearing from Portland this
season to February- 1, the average
cargo w-as 118,840 bushels, compared
with an average of 113,500 for the
thirty-one sailers clearing from Puget
Sound. Following out the Tacoma
system of Jumping at conclusions. It
is safe to say that this increase of 150
tons in the size of the Portland car
goes is due to the insufficiency of water
on Puget Sound.
Wu Ting Fang, the Chinese Chaun
cey Dp"ew. is back from the Flowery
Kingdom with his head still on his
shoulders. He has not only escaped
the wrath of old Tsl An, who was re
ported as seriously opposed to his- de
sires for a modern civilization, hut he
returns apparently with more power
than ever. "I am going to see that
my countrymen and their interests are
properly protected," said Wu in an in
terview in San Francisco, and he pro
ceeded to enlarge on the increasing ef
ficiency of the Chinese army and
China's great desire for peace with
all the world. He asserts that the
white population of Honolulu is unani
mous for modification of the Chinese
exclusion laws, and intimates that
some of the same" policy would be ad
vantageous for the United States. Mr.
Fang will be cordially welcomed back
to this country, but if he has any in
tention of making the way easier for
admission of his yellow countrymen he
might as well abandon the effort for
the present, at least. So long as there
is a surplus of white labor In this
country there will be no disposition to
make it easier for yellow men to enter.
Now we understand it. Last year
Assessor Sigler, finding that the O. R.
& N. Co. had on hand? 16,180,000 in
moneys due and surplus, promptly
caused It to be assessed. Of course
the O. R. & N. Co. fought the assess
ment, taking it into the courts, where
the company hopes either to defeat this
just tax or to force a compromise. The
first day of March, at 1 o'clock A. M.
all assessments in Oregon being made
as of that date is again approaching,
but Mr. Harriman with great sagacity
anticipated the action of the Assessor
and took $8,260,000 out of Oregon. He
would have taken it sooner or later
anyway, but by hurrying the money
away and escaping the Assessor's
clutches by two days, he saves about
$126,000 in taxes he doesn't pay, and
makes the Oregon taxpayer pay just
that much more to make up the differ
ence. Counsel Cotton got back East
Just in time to advise the Harriman
management of the imminent peril to
its surplus.
Had members of the Legislature of
Oregon years and years ago possessed
virtue enough to beat Mitchell, as
Beckham now has. been beaten in Ken
tucky, the political situation in Oregon
and the moral situation also would be
very different. Republicans enough
did stand out against Mitchell, but
Democrats twice came to his support
and elected him. Consequences of
these infamies are seen in the present
situation. The evil men do lives after
them.
To be commended are the members
of the San Francisco Women's Clubs
who have undertaken to provide enter
tainment for Admiral Evans' 15,000
enlisted men. What a vast amount of
labor to prepare and how the marines
and jackies will enjoy the hot choco
late and lettuce sandwiches with
mayonnaise.
If Salem saloonkeepers could read
the spirit of the hour, they would drop
their fight against high license. It is
either that or selling whisky in "blind
pigs" or going to work in some other
vocation. Of three evils, choose the
least.
The Beckham forces in Kentucky
tried to shift to "Ollle James" for
Senator; but It wouldn't go. No won
der. A man named Oliver, who calls
elected to anything. "Ollie" Crom
well! Lawgiver ITRen discharged his obli
gation to the Widow McGrath by pay
ing "his Bhare" of a Joint note. The
widow lost the balance. That'aa bril
liant and convincing plea for a law
giver. Minister Wu says the Flowery King
dom is on the eve of a big boom, and
he proceeds to work the Associated
Press for a column of publicity. Wu
is the Tom Richardson of China.
Mr. Cake publishes his "platform."
He is for Statement No. 1. All- who
are for Statement No. 1 should sup
port Mr. ITRen, original proprietor
and patentee of the idea.
According to the latest bulletin, all
competitors in the contest for United
States District Attorney must get their
papers in before next Tuesday evening.
Paderewski, Then and Now
BY LILIAN TINGLE.
THE first time anyone asked "How
did you enjtvy the Paderewski con
cert?" you - probably gave a reason-
able answer with some special expla
nation as to how and why It appealed
to you: but by the time the question
has been repeated by not less than 37.
persons you will have reduced the
thing to a simple formula and reply
mechanically, without interrupting any
other train of thought with which you
happen to be occupied: "Oh, yes, a very
remarkable performance, wasn't it?
Wonderful technique. Yes.'fndeed. his
power 1b extraordinary. Where were
you? No, I didn't see you. Yes. a tre
mendous crowd. Did you get your car
all right? Yes, we had to wait, too."
This serves the purpose quite nicely,
though It is not either criticism or
appreciation. The best time to find out
what you or anyone else really thinks
is immediately after the performance,
while your -musical soul is still aglow
or chilled, as the case may be, and be
fore you have read the account In the
morning papers. I knew a young girl
once who confided to me that -though
she loved music, she simply hated be
ing asked to go to concerts with cer
tain of her aunts and cousins, because
all through the performance they were
continually expressing opinions and
asking for hers, and she liked to be
left in peace until all was over, and,
with a long breath, she came back to
earth again.
Some people come back to earth with
a thump. Said a voice In the crowd
close behind me, as we came out, "Just1
heavenly, that last thing he played!
Say, Hattie, you didn't forget to order
that lobster for tonight, did you?"
Here are more "voces popull" heard
during or after the perfoanance: "You
know my daughter plays that same
thing he's playing now, but she doesn't
take it nearly so fast and then there1
seems more tune to It, somehow."
"It's perfectly grand; how much da
you suppose he earns a minute while
he's playing?"
Lordly youth of (apparently) 1 or,
17 to mature but attractive young lady
on whom he is endeavoring to make an
impression: "Well, I have sometimes
thought I'd go in for music profes
sionally, you Know, les, i iook ies-i
sons for a while Oh, about three;
months, I guess No, it was quite aj
while ago, eight or nine years, in facta
but I think I shall take It up again!
some day. Some of these fellows makaj
quite a lot of money." I
"You may call It music If you like.
but for my part I can only call It
noise. And there was so much of id
that, try as I would, I couldn't even
I
itty asl
n't hlW
drop off to sleep.
"His hair wasn't nearly as pretty
T feA.,cr,t Ifr wnillll tA Rut SfMl'l
hand lovely? I watched them through
the glasses the whole time." I
. . '
Very many people in last Monday'
audience went to be astonished and to .see
marvelous fcata of strength and dexterity
for their money; and such were not dis-J
appointed. But I, for one, recalled for-j
mer performances both of this plano
wlzard and of others, and wonderedj
rather drearily, whether my present lack
of .enthusiasm arose from the chilling
advance of old age or whether the dif-j
ference was in the master himself. Last
time I heard him there were fewer "fire
works" on the programme, and the totai
volume of sound was probably much leas.'
But on the former occasion he had played
on the heart-strings of his listeners
taken their emotions and tied them iri
knots as he listed, and now it seemed t
be only the plano-strlnga that were af-
lecied. iou wonaerea, you were Biaruca,
you admired, you .applauded, but you
missed the inner thrill.
'
It was nearly 10 years ago In the old
Music Hall in Union street, Aberdeen.
(Aberdeen, where? Scotland, of course.
There is only one.) I have not kept the
programme, but I can still recall some of
the numbers, the most splendid of all
being Bach's Chromatic Fantasia and
Fugue. "I never thought a fugue could
be like that," said a non-musical mem
ber of the party. "You can not only fol
low the parts without getting all Jumbled
up in your mind, but you can even tell
what the different singers look like." And
truly the coloring he gave to each part
was marvelous. He gave six or seven
Chopin numbers some on the programme;
some as encores. Including the well-known!
Berceuse, In which he used the most sil
very of pianissimo effects, and the "Fu
neral March," which blanched the faces
of his audience and left half of them'
surreptitiously mopping their eyes and an
Aberdeen audience, while an exceedingly
musical one, is usually exceedingly unJ
demonstrative. The Beethoven Sonata he
played then was the one in E flat, con
taining the minuet that little nubby'
schoolgirls used to play and tall folks
that they were "studying Beethoven!
now." Perhaps they still do so. But
there was one that night who vowed to!
me that she would never, never touch id
again until she had "begun to be a rea
musician." She is a "real mualclan" now J
by the' way. The Hungarian Rhapaodyj
No. 2 and the Wagner-Liszt "Spinning!
Song." both given the other evening ad
encores, were part of this former pro-j
gramme. Perhaps distance lends enchant-
ment to these as to other things. "Moral
stunning, but less Interesting" wan In my
mind as I applauded them last Monday.,
In the long ago, too, he smiled and
seemed pleased to be recalled gave us
five encores at the very end. If I remem-J
ber rightly, and appeared to be thor
oughly happy in doing so. But the other
night I heard a young girl say as she
reached for her hat: "I'd love to hear,
him again, but don't clap any more; he
might not like it."
America.
Katharine Lee Bates.
O beautiful tor spacious skies.
For amber waves of grain.
For purpls mountain majesties
Abov the fruited Dlaln!
America! America!
God ahed hla grace on thee.
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet.
Whose stern. Impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America 1
God mend thine ev'ry flaw.
Confirm thy soul In self-control.
Thy liberty In law.
O beautiful for glorious tale
Of llberatlnz strife.
When valiantly, for man's avail.
Men lavished precious life!
America! America!
May God thy sold reins
Till all sucoess be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine!
O beautiful for patriot's dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cltiea gleam
Undimmert by human tears!
America! America!
Ood shed his grace on thee.
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From aea to shining sea!