THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, MARCH 8, 1908.
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PORTLAND. SUNDAY, MARCH S, IMS.
H'R DEPLORABLE CURRENCY SYSTEM.
There Is a fundamental error in our
monetary system. It is the parent of
all other errors that beset the system.
This error is the fiat notion of
money. It had its birth in the credit
notes of the Treasury, commonly
called greenbacks. But these notes are
not money. They are merely substi
tutes for money, whose value depends
on their redeemability in gold jor In
tawir prospect of it. During the Civil
War their value' fell to less than 40
cents on the dollar, because of the
'doubt whether the Government would
over be able to redeem them. After
the war, as prospect of redemption
grew, they slowly advanced in value,
and after several years they became
redeemable In gold. Then, of course,
nobody wanted gold. The notes were
good enough.
But this fiat notion of money lin
gers. A multitude still remains, which
insists that all currency required
should be Issued directly by the Gov
ernment. That Is to say, more and
more treasury notes, or greenbacks.
This, it is asserted, is cheap money,
for it costs nobody anything; while
bank currency is dear money. The
banks must make .a profit. But the
Government's flat money is dearest of
all forms of currency. It requires gold
to be banked up in enormous sums, for
its protection. Again, this flat cur
rency is permitted to be held as re
serves by the banks. The system
throws upon the Government the
whole burden of maintaining the gold
standard. The other day in the House
of Representatives Mr. Boutell, of Il
linois, congratulated the House and
the country on the fact that the gpld
held in the Treasury now exceeds one
thousand millions of dollars; and there
was exultation over the fact that it
was the largest aggregate mass of gold
in the, world. Yet it should not have
been applauded. It is no matter for ex
ultation or pride. On the contrary it
is an impeachment of the intelligence
that tolerates such a financial or mon
etary system.
The Government has so much paper
outstanding that it is obliged to main
tain this enormous' and wasteful re
serve. Instead, it ought to have a sys
tem which would throw upon the
banks of the country the burden of
maintaining, or of assisting to main
tain, the necessary gold reserve. It can
be done through change of the system
and enaotmtfnt of the Fowler bill.
The Treasury Is simply warehousing
gold, against its own obligations. It
is a stiff, rigid inflexible system.
Currency is hoarded, on every pinch.
because there is no force to make it
move. But If the currency of the
country, instead of being secured on
"bonds bearing interest, and on gold
hoarded in the Treasury, were baseM
In lurge part, as It should be, on secu
rities moving In the channels of com
merce, on bank resources and bills of
exchange representing commodities all
the time In active movement in trade
"and commerce, with legal gold reserve
moreover in every bank for protection
of the notes of issue, absolute security
and ease of movement would be se
cured, and business wouldn't "go off
its base" as It does so frequently now,
necessitating clearing-house certifi
cates and closing banks against which
suspicion would direct a Tun."
Jst look at contrasts. With this
enormous sum -of $1,000,000,000 in
gold held by the Treasury, under our
inelastic and immovable system, we
are unable to keep circulation afoot.
Kvery'now and then it congeals.
freezes up. simply stops. But the Bank
of Germany and the Bank of France
make their gold support a paper cur
rency twice in excess of the proportion
of our own. The Bank of France
makes 590 millions of gold support
910 millions of paper circulation, and
k Bank of Germany makes 111 mil
lions of gold carry 420 millions of
paper. But under our system we are
forced to warehouse gold equal in
amount to all the paper in circulation;
and then often the banks and the
Treasury are forced to unite, on the
one side by the issue . of clearing
house certificates, on the other by
loans from the Treasury to the banks,
to keep the system from total col
lapse. Commercial securities, always
n movement, are the best basis for
bank circulation. Fixed securities, as
Government bonds or other bonds, are
bad" Tor an emergency. They are
scarcely better security than land.
whfth notoriously is good for nothing
for obtainment of money in any real
stringency. The debtor is pushed to
the wall before ho can get money.
But it is strange how difficult it is to
make any part of thlB subject under
stood. Here is an Oregon paper say
ing: "It is gratifying to read in The
Oregonian something clear and un
prejudiced on the money question.
For years It has Indulged in a howl
for the maintenance of the gold stand
ard, and abused those who took excep
tions to it. Now . we have a change
from the absolute advocacy of the
gold standard to that of a currency
that would insure safety, expansion,
freedom from panics, and one com
mensurate with the demands for
growth, development, industry, busi
ness and progress." Here is miscon
ception of all that The Oregonian .has
said, and of all that every writer has
said who has urged the substitution of
a currency based on commercial as
sets, all the time in active movement,
for a currency based on fixed securi
ties, which has its fits and spasms and
paralytic strokes,, then lies in a condi
tion of suspended animation a long
time, till it slowly comes to life again.
Maintenance of the gold standard JH,
of course, the basis of the change re
quired for the new system. There
can be no stable currency which it
does not require and presuppose. Tet
the criticism of The Oregonian, given
above, is based on the notion that The
Oregonian proposes a change that
would do away with the gold standard
and with need of measures to main
tain it.
It is going to be very difficult to get
a campaign of education on this sub
ject; for people will keep talking
about it who refuse to think upon it.
But the campaign will come; because
one panic after another, forced by the
present clumsy and stupid system, will
compel it, soort or late.
ELEVEN DIVORCES.
'Eleven wives secured divorces in
Judge Bronaugh's department of the
Circuit Court yesterday." This item of
news appeared in The Oregonian Sat
urday morning. Ought we to be scan-
dalized at it or edified? Eleven homes
broken up in a single day look pretty
startling, but is that exactly the right
way to put it? Were the homes broken
up in the divorce court or somewhere
else?
The truth is that most or all of these.
divorces were simply the legal recog
nition of an accomplished fact. The
homes were gone beyond redemption
before the parties sought Judge Bro
naugh's intervention. AH that he did
or'could do was to release the parties
from the formality of a bond whose
reality had already disappeared. Re
fusal of a divorce to any of these cou
ples would have amounted in all prob
ability to the preference of shadow to
substance. It would have been a sort
of fetich worship where an empty
convention would have triumphed
over common sense.
The thoughtful and unprejudiced
student of current events discerns no
social danger whatever in the increas
ing freedom of divorce. Does any one
suppose for a moment that family life
was more permanent or happy when
divorces were difficult to obtain than
it is now? If they do they are very
badly mistaken. Before the law be
came liberal in this direction dissatis
fied husbands deserted their wives and
passed the rest of their days in vicious
cohabitation. Dissatisfied wives tol
lowed much the same rule when they
had the courage to do It. When they
had not, they lived in miserable sub
jection to a brute, and. brought chil
dren into the world for lives of pov
erty and disease. With liberal laws
most of this evil is avoided, while no
home worthy of the name is in the
least degree impaired.
Leaving purely theological consider
ations aside, what advantage would be
gained by making marriage legally ir
revocable? The argument that it would
strengthen family ties and provide
better nurture for children is non
sense. It would do nothing of the
kind. What it would really do would
be to help populate the world with
children who ought never to have been
born and involve thousands of adults
in hopeless misery. The philosophic
spectator can watch the operation of
the divorce courts, therefore, with
complacency. He will not be fright
ened at a daily, grist of eleven. He
will probably wonder at the innate
goodness and tolerance of human na
ture which keep it from being a hun
dred and eleven.
DISCIPLINB BT THE ROD.
The New York City Board of Edu
cation has refused, by a vote of
twenty-one to seventeen, to permit the
reintrbduction of corporal punishment
in the public schools. Sentiment In
favor of using the rod on unruly
pupils is, however, growing. A few
years ago this educational board of
New York was a unit against it. Now
it lacks but four of a majority on a
vote of thirty-eight.
The wisdom of Solomon, as ex
pressed upon this subject, has stood
the test of ages. Those who think
they can Improve upon its precepts
are dwindling in numbers year by
year. With our penitentiaries full of
youthful criminals, the Juvenile Court
busy with boys guilty of misdemean
ors, and an indefinite number of lads
in' training for the discipline of the
law, as shown by extraordinary ef
forts that the principals in our public
schools are forced to make, to keep
down the spirit of malicious mischief
and wanton insubordination In the
classroom, it is about time that the
tactics that were employed in main
taining discipline upon Her Majesty's
ship "Pinafore" were abandoned In
the government of public schools.
In nine cases out of ten the annoy
ances that teachers suffer and the time
they - waste in furtive police duty,
could be saved by giving the leader of
"de gang" that is constantly on the
alert to create a disturbance a good,
sound whipping not one with velvet
hands, but with a good, stout birch,
wielded by a sturdy arm. An epi
demic of snuff -scattering and red
pepper throwing, of petty thievery and
wholesale prevarication, could be
quickly stamped out by the old He
braic remedy intelligently and judi
ciously applied to the body of the
mischief breeder. All boys ' do not
need this remedy, but the few who do,
need it badly, and to withhold it is to
spread the contagion of malicious
mischief, distract the teacher's mind
from the legitimate work in hand,
and render much of the effort put
forth in the name of education futile.
MR. EDISON'S ILLNESS.
Thomas A. Edison's serious illness
has been a matter of concern to the
whole country. Born in 1817, Mr. Ed
ison is now past 60. Therefore, while
by no means in his old age, he has
come to a time of life when disease is
to be dreaded. His illness was one of
those singular ailments which the
progress of science brings Into the
world apparently to temper our grati
tude fop its many blessings. It seems
that Mr. Edison's long experiments
with violet light have affected both his
sight and hearing.
It is a familiar fact that violet fbid
ultra violet light possess the power of
producing chemical reactions. Pho
tography depends upon this principle.
The reader will recall also, though in
cidentally, the newly-Invented micro
scope, which employs only the ultra
violet rays. If light of this character
is liable to affect everybody as it did
Mr. Edison, some protection will have
to be devised against its deleterious in
fluence or else scientific men must pay
a heavy price in suffering for their dis
coveries. The violet rays almost blind
ed Mr. Edison by throwing his eyes
out of focus; then they seem to have
destroyed his hearing. Three years
ago a surgical operation gave him par
tial relief, but the trouble has recently
recurred with complications which re
quired heroic treatment.
Mr. Edison himself says ' that the
violet rays caused disturbance in his
body by destroying the white blood
corpuscles, the so-called phagocytes,
which are said to defend the system
against disease by devouring hostile
germs; and there is no reason why his
theory should not be true. The fact is
that modern science has ventured into
realms quite as mysterious and awe
inspiring as those of Oriental fable and
inhabited by powers whose potency we
can thus far neither understand nor
measure. We have set forces at work
which may turn out to be beneficent.
but it is just as probable that some
of them will be incurably destructive.
Who would venture to guess what final
consequences to human health and
happiness will flow from all these rays
and. vibrations and emissions which
recent discoveries have brought to
knowledge? '
In nature they were intermingled
with one another and thus for the
most part neutralized, but now we
have to deal with them in isolation
and we must expect to undergo their
unmitigated influence. Whatever it may
be. That it may prove to be baneful
Mr. Edison's case sufficiently warns
us. Still the investigations into these
occult spheres of knowledge are so
fascinating that they will 'never be
given up, no matter what the cost
may be. Plenty of men will be found
in every succeeding generation to sac
rifice life and health in the cause of
truth. The past has never lacked them
nor will the future. Science has al
ways been a dangerous pursuit. The
form of the danger changes from one
age to another, but not the reality. A
century or two ago the Scientist had
to encounter the terrors of the inquisi
tion, the laws against magic and
witchcraft, the frenzy of mobs who be
lieved that the progress of truth was
a peril ,to their God and his religion.
Bruno, Galileo. .Priestly, Averrhoes,
the line Is long "of the martyrs to sci
entific truth. Mr. Edison suffers In
heroic company and his name will not
be the least among those who have
given their lives that mankind might
live longer and better.
KILLING ORIENTAL TRADE.
The Oriental trade out of every
American port on the Pacific Coast has
been demoralized by enforcement of
two apparently innocent-appearing
provisions of the Hepburn bill. One
of these provisions compels the rail
road companies to give thirty days' no
tice of a change in rates. The other
makes it unlawful for any company
to make a lower through rate from
rail points In the United States to the
Orient than the regular rate to tide
water points on the Pacific Coast. Be
tween these two impossible provisions
the trade out of Pacific Coast ports
has dwindled to such insignificant pro
portions that the largest liners on the
Pacific have been departing from Se
attle and San Francisco without
enough freight to keep them in good
ballast trim, and the business out of
Portland has become so small that
practically nothing but local freight is
handled.
The Immense Oriental traffic which,
prior to passage of the Hepburn bill,
was carried across the continent by
the railroads, has been diverted to the
Suez route, which is beyond the reach
of the American laws. The freight so
licitor anywhere east of Chicago who
attempts to secure business for a
trans-Pacific line is powerless to meet
the competition of the Suez lines, for.
while under the Hepburn act he must
give thirty days' notice of a change in
rates, the solicitor for the Suez lines
can. If necessary to secure business,
change the rate half a dozen times a
day. This Insurmountable advantage
in favor of the Suez lines lies In the
fact that the great Oriental traffic-producing
territory lies adjacent to or
within a few hundred miles of the At
lantic seaboard, and the local freight
rate from the point of origin to tide
water on the Atlantic is so small that
It can easily be absorbed in full by
the tramp steamers which fight for the
business through the Suez.
From Atlantic ports to the Orient
the rail haul is the small end of the
trip. From the Pacific ports " the
3000-mile haul to tidewater is far and
away the most costly portion of the
route. Prior to passage of the Hep
burn bill the railroads found it advan
tageous to meet the competition of
the Suez, so that they might bring
loaded cars westward to load back
with California fruit and Oregon and
Washington lumber. The rates quoted
in order to meet the Suez competition
were necessarily lower than the regu
lar rail rate, but the right to make
these rates enabled Pacific Coast ship
pers to have a frequent steamship
service at low rates on flour and other
local products, brought more cars to
the Coast, and in many other direc
tions was advantageous to the Pacific
Coast ports.
With the diversion of Orient-bound
freltrht from the Pacific Coast ports
to the Suez route there has also nat
urally followed a change in the routing
of tea, matting, etc., the tramp freight
ers, unhampered by such restriction
as interfere with the routing of freight
by Pacific Coast ports, taking the
cargo at low rates, which cannot be
met by he trans-Pacific liners. The
Hepburn bill has undoubtedly accom
plished much good along certain lines,
but the- two features mentioned have
served to turn back to the Atlantic
ports the great stream of traffic which
had been diverted westward by the
transcontinental lines. The effect is
already seriously felt, "but it will be
still jnore felt when the Panama Ca
nal is completed. The matter is one
In which the entire Pacific Coast is
Interested and a concerted effort for
repeal of the objectionable features
of the law should be made by the com
mercial organizations of the Pacific
Coast.
ARE WE ALL, CRAZY?
The North American Review has
achieved the impossible. It has added
a new terror to politics. The common
belief has been that the tribulations
and martyrdoms of his life who would
serve the people by courting their un
stable affections and alluring their elu
sive votes were about as severe as
they could possibly be, but this Is an
error. Henceforth every man who
goes Into politics must expect to be
called a maniac as well as a thief and
murderer. The North American Re
view has Introduced the fashion by ap
plying the epithet to the President,
indirectly but unmistakably, and since
that periodical is eminently respecta
ble- and accurately Representative of
plutocratic opinion, its example is
sure to be widely followed. It is
through the instrumentality of Dr. Al
len McLane Hamilton that Mr. Har
vey's monthly attempts to affix the
title of maniac to Mr. Roosevelt.
Dr. Hamilton is an alienist of great
eminence. He is an expert of vast
expertness in the realm of mental
therapeutics, and, knowing the com
mon venality of this erudite tribe, the
unthinking public will be inclined at
first to class his opinion with those of
other insanity sharps employed for
special purposes, wonder how much he
was paid for it, and give it no further
thought. But this would be a mis
take. ' Dr. - Hamilton's opinion of the
President's sanity is worth reading,
not for its learning, which is enor
mous, nor for its gravity, which is
.equal to that of a drunken judge, but
because it is funny. His article will
be treasured as- a contribution to the
gaiety of the world in spite, of its por
tentous dullness. Your colossal alien
ist is necessarily dull, forv if he were
clever, he would not be dignified, and
If he were undignified he would not
be ranked with the experts. A doctor
of any sort without his dignity Is like
a washerwoman without her soap. He
cannot get results.
A fatal lack of dignity is perhaps
the most damning fact which Dr.
Hamilton adduces to prove that Mr.
Roosevelt Is insane. We glean from
his carefully guarded innuendoes that
in his opinion a perfeotly sane Presi
dent would be a marble image of im
perturbable serenity, wrapped In an
icy mantle of etiquette; with no opin
ions upon any subject under heaven
and no desire to have any like Mr.
Fairbanks, for example. His sole func
tion would be'to sit immovable on his
throne and be calm and beautiful. He
must not try to influence Congress, he
must make a certain number of sa
laams dally to the majesty of the Su
preme Court, he must above all things
avoid every effort to arouse public hos
tillty to plutocratic, thievery. If the
President does not obey these rules,
Dr. Hamilton says he . is insane. How
terrible to reflect that Mr. Roosevelt
has broken them all, not once only
but frequently. He must therefore be
Insane a dozen times over.
The strenuous passion for righteous
ness in public and private life which
the President displays shows that he
is a psychopath. So Dr. Hamilton
delicately hints. A psychopath is a
person whose mental machinery is out
of order. One whose mind is perfectly
sound and sane had as lief see the
world so wrong as right. Perhaps he
would rather prefer to see evil in con
trol, since evil as a rule is a little more
dignified than righetousness. It is es
pecially psychopathic to feel disposed
to meddle with other people's affairs.
Measured by such a standard, how
many sane people are there on earth?
Very likely we are all crazy except the
alienists, and the only unmistakable
sign of rationality which they display
is their zest for their fees. Accord
ing to Dr. Hamilton's rule, of course
the Hebrew prophets were insane, and
so were Socrates, Savonarola, Calvin,
Voltaire, Abraham Lincoln and Will
iam Lloyd Garrison, for all these wor
thies were animated by a consuming
zeal for righteousness, together with
an ' irresistible, passion for meddling
with other people's business. Indeed
the reformer is necessarily a meddlr.
Is not the rule an odd one which makes
all the heroes and prophets crazy
and all the insignificant scamps sane?
Dr. Hamilton's reasoning tempts one
to propound, a conundrum to the judi
cious reader: Which would you
rather be, insane with Mr. Roosevelt
or sane with the Standard Oil mag
nates, from whom Dr. Hamilton per
haps draws the pay for his expert
opinion?
There is not a vestige of originality
about Dr. ftamilton's article. He
cribs every particle of his thunder
from Max Nordau, who long ago
proved to his own satisfaction that al
most every distinguished man of the
nineteenth century was a degenerate
by the same rules which our eminent
alienist applies to the President. , In
fact it is the easiest thing in the world
to make out by these rules that the
Savior was a psychopathic degenerate.
That he was, undignified is shown well
enough by his assault upon the money
changers in the temple. That he was
a meddler we Infer from the hatred he
inspired in the Pharisees and other
privileged -classes among the Jews.
That he had an Insane passion for
righteousness needs no proof. His
whole career exhibits it. That he
lacked respect for the dominant plu
tocrats of his time and had small ven
eration for vested rights is demon
strated not only by the scene with the
money-changers, but also by the per
mission to the .disciples to pluck and
eat grain as they passed through the
fields, and by the irreverent remarks
which he was constantly making about
the rich and their slim chances of get
ting into heaven. Dr. Hamilton must
find many things to, deplore in the be
havior of the .Lord as well as many
evidences o'f insanity. No doubt the
scientific rules and principles which
show that every really valuable char-
acter In the world has been a psycho
path, not excluding our Lord himself,
are exceedingly precious In Dr. Ham
ilton's estimation, but what is fhat
sort of science and the results It leads
to worth to the rest of us?
MORE PRESS CENSORSHIP.
Among the radical and "advanced"
papers of the country more or less un
easiness has been excited lately by the
Penrose biH." Introduced by Sena
tor Penrose, of Pennsylvania, this bill
proposes to confer upon the Postmaster-General
authority to exclude from
second-class mall privileges "any issue
of any periodical which has been de
clared unmallable by the Postoffice
Department." There is nothing in
Senator Penrose's character or rec
ord to convince one that he introduced
this bill with a good purpose. He is
a boss of the old-fashioned predatory
type. Intimately allied with the
grafting corporations of Pennsylvania,
he uses his political power to further
their schemes of pillage, and doubtless
shares the spoils. The capitol grafters
who are now being tried, the abject
ring that rules and robs Philadelphia,
every putrescent politician in the Key
stone state, have all looked to Penrose I
tor countenance and aid ever since :
Quay went to his reward. !
Through his flaccid creature. Gov
ernor Pennypacker, Mr. Penrose had a
law enacted In Pennsylvania not many
years ago which set out to abridge the
freedom of tins press. It was a thor
oughgoing statute, fiercely vindictive
in its penalties. The immediate incen
tive for Its enactment was the carica
tures 'of the grafting Penrose ring.
which the papers printed. Had the
law been enforced, no Pennsylvania
publication would have dared to print
another political caricature, nor would
it have been safe to criticise a thiev
ing politician, no matter how much he
stole. Imagine (he delights of such a
law to men like Pennypacker and
Penrose. But alas, It remained merely
a- pious aspiration. They never dared
to enforce it. The papers openly de
fled the law and the baffled gang could
only grin with helpless rage.
The present bill is more Ingenious.
Its enforcement will require no ma
chinery of the criminal courts. There
will be no indictments, no trials by
jury, no publicity, none of those things
which your slippery politician holds
in agonizing dreadt It will ail be done
in the dark, quietly, smoothly, with
out alarming the public; but it will be
done effectually. " The- bill puts It In
the power of the Postoffice Depart
ment to exercise a despotic censorship
over the press. Exclusion from second-class
mailing privileges means
death to a newspaper, and this bill
confers upon the Postmaster-General
authority to exclude any paper whose
principles or policy he may happen to
dislike. The law as it stands confers
authority to exclude vicious and ob
scene publications; the Fenrose
amendment extendB the censorship to
all publications whatever.
Were the bill to pass, its first em
ployment would be, of course, to ruin
the labor and socialistic press. Were
the consequences to stop, with the sup
pression of papers like the Miners'
Magazine and the Appeal to Reason,
many persons would rejoice as if a
good work had been accomplished,
and perhaps they would be right; but
The Oregonian is inclined to the opin
ion that truth is abundantly able to
fight its own battles and that nothing
is ever gained in the realm of politics
by stifling free discussion. But, pass
ing by this consideration, the disagree
able fact is that the consequences of
the Penrose bill would not stop with
the destruction of the radical press.
Tyranny invariably grows with what
it feeds on. From the suppression of
papers which the majority of Ameri
can citizens disapprove to that of
papers which differed in any respect
from the policy of the administration
would be but a short step. When the
bill had worked out its legitimate ef
fects, no paper in the country would
be safe from the censorship except
those which were full of praise for the
Postmaster-General and the man who
gave him his office.
Is it the desire of the press of the
United States to pass under an irre
sponsible censorship such as no coun
try except Russia tolerates? Is it the
desire of the American people to see
free discussion abolished, criticism of
the party in power penalized, the
progress of thought made conditional
upon the approval of a politician in
Washington, and all ideas suppressed
which do not happen to be pleasing
to the censor?
There has been an evident purpose
to slip the bill quietly through Con
gress .without arousing the public to
its significance. Had it not been for
the vigilant North American, of Phila
delphia, perhaps few would have
heard of the Penrose amendment
until it had become law. Happily it
has been haled into the light while
there is still time to defeat it, and no
person who is capable of writing a let
ter to his representative at Washing
ton should fail to let them know tVhat
he thinks of this reactionary measure.
HARD TASK FOR A BOY KING.
Manuel II of Portugal, though a
King, is by no means to be envied.
The conditions to which he has suc
ceeded are those of a poverty-stricken
kingdom and a restless, dissatisfied
people, ready for revolt, but tempor
arily 'restrained by the atrocity of the
act that made him King. Even be
fore his father came to the throne
Portugal- was in desperate straits
financially. Its debt is now within
one hundred millions of that of the
United States, while its population is
less than 6,000,000 and its resources,
by comparison, pitifully small. The
situation grew steadily worse during
Don Carlos' reign. A dictatorship
charged with initiating reforms was
formed a year ago. The dictator. Pre
mier Franco, took an arbitrary
course in the hope of bringing about
official reforms that were hoary with
age and intrenched in the traditions of
corrupt officialism. Discontent grew
Into unreason and anarchism found
its opportunity. The world heard
with horror of the assassination of
lazy King Carlos and his imperious
heir, the dictator fled for his life, dis
content was mute for a time, and
Manuel LI, a boy of 19, became King.
He has promised to do his best to still
the warring elements of his kingdom
and bring order out of chaos, but his
best will scarcely suffice for the gigan
tic task.
An intelligent, affectionate boy,
wholly unprepared for his sudden ele
vation to the throne, Manuel's position
is one to excite pity rather than envy.
His success in his new role depends
wholly upon the wisdom and loyalty
of his advisers. His youth appeals to
f ia riilaM nt tVi a ' wsit-M for svmnsthv.
and in itself may tide his country
over its present crisis because or tna
loyalty that it invokes from his peo
ple.
The Custer massacre, though a,
third of a century old, Is yet of weird
Interest to those especially who knew
the Indian of the great plains as he
was when active warfare was being
waged against him by Howard and
Miles, Canby and Steptoe. Crook and
Keogh, and others whose names ap
pear and reappear in the annals of
'those heroic years. Hence when the
death of Thomas J. Cullan, whom Gen
eral Custer sent for reinforcements
when he found how sorely he needed
them, and who led a relief corps back
to the field of slaughter in the Little
Big Horn when all that could be done
was to collect the scattered bones of
the regiment and bury them, took
place a few days ago at Yonkers, N,
Y., the announcement of the event sent
memory scouting back to the June day
in 1876 when the "Chief of the Yellow-
Hair" led his regiment in its last
charge against the allied. forces of Sit
ting Bull in the mountains of Montana.
Brave Custer," said even those who
censured him for his rashness. And
'brave Custer" echo the readers of
history today, who shudder over such
meager details of the battle of the Lit
tie Big Horn as have been gleaned
from the Indians' accounts of the
bloody contest.
Six inches of snow in the Condon
country will make fine top dressing for
the greatest acreage of Winter wheat
ever sown in Gilliam County. . The
building of the Arlington branch of
the O. R. & N., like that of every
other feeder constructed by that com
pany, opened up for development an
Immense territory, and the stream of
traffic now coming out will show a
steady increase from year to year. But
the Condon country, in spite of its
richness and great possibilities, has an
area-small in comparison with that
which will.be opened up as soon as the
pressure of some rival company forces
Mr. Harrlman to build into Central
Oregon.
There is In Bellinger and Cotton's
code, section 1979, the following pro
vision: '
If any minor over the age of 16 year shall
for th purpose of Inducing any person to give
or sell to such minor any intoxicating liquor,
represent to auch person that auch minor Is
21 years of age or upwards, such minor upon
conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine
of not leas than 2S nor more than I1S0. It
is hereby made the duty of District Attorneys,
Sheriffs and Police Officer to see that this
law is enforced.
It would appear that here is abun
dant statutory authority for the pun
ishment of youhg Helliar, who repre
sented to Saloon-keeper Kline that he
was not a minor, and persuaded that
worthy to sell him liquor.
With an advance of 3 points in
Union Pacific and from 2 to 3 points
in other prominent railroad shares, the
New York stock market yesterday
bore resemblance to the old days be
fore the slump. Recovery Is quite
pronounced In nearly all branches of
business, but there will be no such ac
tivity as we have known in the past
until the railroads again have their
idle equipment working and are earn
ing dividends. For that reason any
advances in railroad stocks will be joy
fully noted even by those who have
none of them.
More than 30,000,000 bushels of
wheat have been shipped from the
Argentine in the past Ave weeks, the
average weekly shipments for that
period being 1,000,000 bushels larger
than the best previous record made by
our most active competitor in the
Southern Hemisphere. These big ship
ments seem to have had a bad effect
on the Chicago market, for it declined
with a rush yesterday, the loss being
more than 2 cents per bushel.
"Buy A. O. T.," said John W. Gates
when the stock market was booming
two years ago, and, on being asked for
an interpretation, said that he meat
"any old thing." The Gates family
seems to be playing the system, for
press dispatches announce that Charles
W. Gates has just paid $610,000 for a
farm in Texas. With Oregon farms
available, a man Tvho would buy in
Texas would certainly display content
ment with any old thing.
In the new indictments against the
bankwreckers great care has been ex
ercised to set forth that the crime al
leged was committed in Multnomah
County. It is needless to mention that
no such hair-splitting technicalities
were observed in the methods by
which Air. Ross and his friends re
lieved the depositors of their money.
Out at Montavilla an Inquisitive citi
zen tried the experiment of ringing the
school fire alarm to see If the chil
dren's fire drill was perfect. It was.
That man will eoon be seeing how the
Portland fire department works, be
tween fires.
.Dr. Allen McLane Hamilton, who
thinks Roosevelt crazy, is the expert
who testified that Thaw was crazy, or
wasn't crazy we forget which. We
could tell if we knew which side got
to his office first with a fat retainer.
Any little adverse influence on
Bryan's prospects that may have re
sulted from the action of the Minne
sota Democratic Committee is more
than offset by the publicly declared
loyalty of Milt Miller.
The genial giow of yesterday's warm
sunshine was enhanced by a perusal of
the news dispatches, which announced
that trains in Michigan were being
abandoned on account of a blizzard
and snow storm.
Possibly it will be as well if the Title
Guarantee officials get a change of
venue. We know of no county in Ore
gon where there is an overwhelming
prejudice in favor of bankwreckers.
Wynne, who killed Dupuis In a sa
loon row, pleads both self-defense and
temporary insanity. What's the mat
ter with proving an alibi, too? '
It seems a little premature for Mr.
Bryan and Mr. Johnson to quarrel
over Minnesota, Some one else has a
string on that state.
Dr. Day regards his accuser as a
joke. We hadn't" suspected the chan
cellor of so keen a sense of humor.
Now Emperor William has joined
the "Burn this letter" class of states
men. '
STANDARD VERSE
For a' That and a That.
Is there for honest poverty
wna harura his head, and a that?
The coward slave, we pass him by;
we dare be poor for a' that.
For a' that and a' that.
Our toils obscure, and a' that:
The rank is but the guinea's stamp
ine mans the gowd for a' that.
What though on namely fare we dine.
We hoddtn array, and a' that:
Gle fools their silks, and knaves their
wine
And a man's a man for a' that.
For a' that, and a' that, -
Their tinsel show, and a' that:
The honest man. though e'er sae poor.
Is king o men for a that.
Ye" see yon blrkle oa'l a lord.
wha struts, and stares, and a' that
Though hundreds worship at his word.
He s but a coof for a that;
For a' that, and a' that.
His riband, star, and a' that;
The man of Independent mind.
He looks and laughs at a' that.
A prince can mak a belted knight.
A marquis, duke, and a thart;
But an honest man's aboon his might
Guid faith, he matinna fa' that!
For a' that, and a' that.
Their dlKtiltles. and a' that:
The pith o' sense, and pride o' worth.
Are higher ranks than a that.
Then let us pray that come It may
As come it. will for ' that
That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth.
May bear the gree. and a' that.
For a' that, and a' that.
It's coming yet, for a' that
When man to mart, the warld o'er.
Shall brothers be for a thatl
Robert Burns.
NOTHING BUT LEAVES.
Nothing but leaves: the spirit grieves
Over a wasted life;
Bin eommitted while conscience slept.
Promises made but never kept.
Hatred, battle and strllsj
Nothing but ieaves!
Nothing but leaves: no garnered sheav,
Of life's fair, ripened grain;
Words, idle words, for earnest deeds:
We sow our seeds lo! tares and weeds;
We reap, with toil and pain.
Nothing but leaves.
Nothing but leaves; memory -weaves
No veil to screen the past;
As we retrace our weary way.
Counting each lost and misspent day.
We find, sadly, at last.
Nothing but leavaal
And shall we meet the Master so.
Bearing our withered leaves?
The Saviour looks for perfect fruit;
We stand before him, humbled, mute:
Waiting the words he breathes
"Nothing but leaves?"
Anonymous.
SIT DOWN, SAI SOUIi.
Sit down, sad soul, and count
. The moments flying;
Come, tell the sweet amount
That's lost by sighing!
How many smiles? a soore?
Then laugh, and count no more;
For day is dying!
Lie down, sad soul, anfl sleep.
And no more measure
The flight of time, nor weep
The loss of leisure;
But here, by this lone stream,
Lie down with us, and dream
Of starry treasure!
We dream: do thou the same;
We love- forever:
We laugh, yet few we shame
The gentle never. -Stay,
then, till sorrow dies:
. Then hope and toappy skies
Are thine forever!
Barry Cornwall.
MARCH.
The cock is crowing.
The stream is flowing. ..
The small birds twitter.
The lake doth glitter.
The green field sleeps In the sun;
The oldest and youngest
Are at work with the strongest;
The cattle are grazing.
Their heads never raising;
There are forty feeding like one!
Like an army defeated.
The snow hath retreated.
And now doth far 111
On the top of the bare hill;
The plough-boy is whooping-anon-anonl
There's joy on the mountains;
There's life in the fountains;
Small clouds are sailing.
Blue sky prevailing;
The rain is over and gone!
William Wordsworth.
THE MINSTREL BOY.
The minstrel boy to the war Is gone.
In the ranks of death you'll find bim,
His father's sword he has girded on.
And his wild harp slung behind him.
"Land of Song!" said the warrior bard,
"Though all the world betrays thee.
One sword, at least, thy rights shall
guard.
One faithful harp shall praise thee!"
The minstrel fell but the foeman's chain
Could not bring his proud soul under;
The harp he loved ne'er spoke sgain,
For he tore its chords asunder.
And said, "No chains shall sully thee,
Thou soul of love and bravery!
Thy songs were made for the pure and
free.
They shall never sound in slavery."
.Thomas Moore ("Irish Melodies).
Brys aad the Nearro.
There is criticism of Mr. Bryan in
the South because he does not handle
the negro question to- suit the white
people of that section. This is from
the NashVille (Tenn.) American:
"Is the South to get frantic about a
man who teaches that it fought the
greatest war in history and made sacri
fices which have never been equalled
to preserve the institution of slavery?
If it is true that it will hurt Mr. Bryan
in the coming campaign to make him
self clear on this question, let it be
known now. We want no double face
In the White House, and we do hot
want to be goldbrirked.
"The destiny of Mr. Bryan Is In th
hands of the South, and if he 1 not
In sympathy with the South on its
greatest question, why should it sup-'
port him? It is no Injustice at all to
Mr. Bryan to ask him to speak out on
this question. Let him say simply,
"The views of the Southern people on
the negro question are in my Judg
ment correct.' That will not be
difficult. That is a short and simple
sentence. Why should he b afraid to
say it?"
Rarxaln-Dny for Mnabanda,
Chicago Inter-Ocean.
"Well, madam?" Inquired the floor
walker. "I wish," she said, "to get a birthday
present for my husband."
"How long married?" the man asked.
"Eleven years." was the reply.
He pointed to the left.
"Bargains down that aisle," he said.
Contentment All Around.
Irrlgon Irrigator.
Our "lawgiver" told Steffens that he
would be willing to go to hell for the
people of Oregon. As the fpcople of
Oregon are also willing, there is noth
ing standing in. the way of an early
depaxtux.