6
THE SUN DA OKEGONIAN. PORTLAND, MARCH 22, I90S.
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rORTI.AM, SISI14V, MARCH . 10.
IT COMES TO THE POINT.
It must' be taken as extraordinary
that certain Catholic priests and Jew
ish rabbis arc undertaking' to. discredit
the prosecution of the municipal
thieves of Han Francisco. People ask
what can be the reason, beyond the
fact that Pat Calhoun and certain of
his confreres are Catholics, aud Abe
lluef is a Jew?
Our friends, the Catholic priest anil
the Jewish rabbi, know not what they
are doing when they place themselves
in a position of this kind. Tjiey do
not think It out. The protest against
tho method docs not disguise the pur-
' pose. Here these apologists are, still
pretending to doubt whether the
Schmltz-Ruef "administration, and the
' franchise mongers, led by Calhoun,
robbed San Francisco!
Father Torke and Rabbi Wise, good,
simple shepherds of the people, don't
, know. -
Our people, undoubtedly, are all
honest alike Catholics and Protest
ants, Jews and men and women of no
formal profession of faith. No need,
; therefore, of any ecclesiastical or other
' zeal In support of thieves.
A blatherskite known as Father
Yorke, from San Francisco, has been
, holding forth In Portland, upholding
the thieves in San Francisco and de
nouncing the prosecution of them.
Kabbl Wise. . of Portland, has been
more considerate, but ' he, too, flnds
fault with the prosecution and tries to
discredit its results.
Father Yorke says: "Mr. Scott (of
Tho Oregonian), I understand, was
"- accused by Lincoln Steffens of offering
a bribe of $25,000 in some case or
other. How would Mr. Scott like to
have the Heney methods applied to
himself?" Let this blatant political
priest apply the Heney methods to Mr.
Scott, if he will. But who is Lincoln
. Steffens, that he should '"accuse" any-
body? Is he also accusing Senator
Bourne as a party to that "bribery"?
Men who pose as representatives of
great ecclesiastical orders, which they
may be unworthy to represent, may
: get a little attention, even from The
: Oregonian, which they would not get
if they didn't appear as "fathers" and
; "rabbis," here or at San Francisco.
FORCING AHEAD.
Portland was hurt less by the panic,
Is In better financial condition and has
a brighter outlook than any other city
. In the United States. Compare the
. situation four months ago. when Xew
, York had tied up the country's cash,
; with today, when bank clearings are
only $ per cent below normal, and
1 judge for yourself.' Portland has
; grown only at the same pace as the
i tributary region with which she does
business.
I.ast year's crops are secure. The
r cord-breaking product of wheat has
been marketed at the highest prices in
: eleven yeans say 25 per ent better
: than was reasonably to be expected.
Its proceeds furnish the basis for this
year's commerce with the Inland Km
pire. The North Bank road puts Port
land into closer relation with that rich
region and must augment the steadily
crowing trade. Taken far and by, the
Pacific Northwest Is the most prosper
ous part of the Nation.
To get Portland in clear perspective,
look at the town from Seattle or Los
Angeles two cities approximately the
sume size, all three progressing at the
same pace the last ten years. Port
land didn't get wild over real estate.
Very few men are into it more than
knee deep; 99 out of 100 will wade out
comfortably on dry land. Valine
haven't dropped. If you have such sus-
p'.cions. try to buy anything for less
than It was held last October. It will
be surprising if it hasn't advanced 5
to 10 per cent. Lest you may have a
. sneaking doubt whether demand Is
genuine, read the list of building per
mits every day. Men don't build houses
for fun.
In Seattle it is common talk that
real estate drags: that most of the
property on the market can be bought
at prices scaled 10 to 25 per cent be
low the value one year ago. " In X.os
Angeles there, were never half so many
vacant houses as right now and busi
ness prostrate. Too many men are up
to their necks in real estate; aome of
them can't tread bottom. Of course,
both these cities are going to recover,
but It will be some time before the
natural growth will restore real estate
values to the 1907 figures. In Port
land, because prices were kept within
bounds, there was no backset. . It is
reasonably certain that there will be
steady advance. 'While other Pacific
Coast cities are striving to catch up,
Portland will be forging ahead.
THE 'TOl'RTESY- OF EXCHANGE.
"The Republican." a paperpublished
at the town of Union, Union County,
Oregon, offers these remarks:
The Oregonian has ' served ' notice -upon
the country press of the state that hereafter
it. will grant the customary courtesy of an
exchange only upon the payment of half
rates, in advance, and a blush of shame un
doubtedly crept over the building with the
tall tower, from cellar to turret, when the
order was made. God In Israel.- Has It
come to this In Oregon?
The demand upon The Oregonian
for exchange has reached enormous
proportions. This journal has not
cancelled Its exchange list; but a time
has come when it Is obliged to dis
criminate. Its exchange list costs It
many thousands of dollars a year
large part of which is of no use what
ever to it. "Courtesy" is fine; but
there must be a limit to its cost. The
demand for The Oregonian in ex
change had reached an extreme which
obliges it to drop some and to offer
terms for others that might at "least
cover the cost of white paper to say
nothing of postage and other expenses.
There are country papers with which
The Oregonian willingly makes ex
change. They are such as may be in
the course of the year of some use to
it occasionally, at least. Every Im
portant newspaper is at all times beset
with this demand for exchange. All
of them are obliged to decline many.
The Oregonian is an expensive or
costly newspaper. To publish it costs
money. No such newspaper anywhere
can be given away. Every such news
paper, wherever published, has almost
unlimited requests, and even demands
for exchange. And not only so, but
for free copies to school, college and
church libraries, for village lyceums
and old peoples' homes and children's
homes, and for no end of associations
and institutions and even for private
persons, who deem themselves entitled
to "courtesy" and consideration. But
no newspaper of the grade of The Ore
gonian can be published on this basis.
The paper of no grade or value Is not
asked for on the plea of "courtesy,"
because it isn't wanted at all. The
Oregonian declines the "courtesy" of
exchange only with publications that
are of no possible use to It, nor to any
body, not even to the communities in
which they are published.
Doubtless the Union Republican is
as good as many another, which is no
good to The Oregonian. There are
numbers of these papers which are
printed in one place or another, merely
for a show of occupation for persons
too lazy to work In any calling, and
the paper appears as an exrust?. But
there are earnest, industrious and vig
orous country newspapers, which The
Oregonian is glad to get in exchange.
They say something; they represent
activities about them; they lead the
thought of their own towns. When
they have news they supply it. And
their comment, too, is often sug
gestive, stimulating and - useful.
Through such weekly papers The
Oregonian has 'been accustomed
always to keep in touch with the
spirit and purpose of the North
west. But It has little regard for the
Inanities of the lazy loaferism of the
other sort, but will exchange even with
them for the cost of the white paper
upon which Its one hundred and sixty
pages a week are printed.
There ought to be some reciprocity
in exchange of newspapers. "Courtesy"
is a mighty good thing and mighty
fine; but who knows of anybody who
likes to give goods away year after
5'ear upon claim 'of courtesy set
up by those who want something
for nothing? "Exchange" should mean
something. Let the plain speech be
pardoned. There was and is need
of it.
WHERE THE SIMPLE 1JFE IS STREN
UOUS. Fred Lockley has in the current
number of the Pacific Monthly an ar
ticle on "Our Contemporaneous An
cestors" that, looking iinto domestic
and social conditions which he declares
still exist in the Central Oregon .region,
furnishes a glimpse of pioneer life
which, according: to popular belief the
great Western world had entirely out
grown. The assumption that "the day
of the pioneer is over, for no longer
Is there any frontier;, that the last
West is gone" is dispelled by the pen
picture this writer gives of the homo
of a settler typical, as he asserts, of
scores of others that are scattered
through the remote districts of the
"interior country," 1. e., the region
that is yet devoid of modern transpor
tation facilities. "Here, far from the
beaten trail," he says, "time has stood
still; here we may step, back into the
era that we thought existed only in
books and see. perfectly reproduced
the daily life of our ancestors." '
How quickly around the nucleus
furnished by this declaration thesubtle
forces of memory rally. With what
fidelity to detail appears the tallow
dip, flickering upon the rude table,
the wood Are blazing upon the broad
hearth, the rag carpet upon the floor,
the blue and white crockery (carefully
preserved from a wedding "setting
out" of half a century ago) upon the
table, the mud-chinked walls of the
log cabin, its roof of shakes. Its batten
door and broad flagstone step, the
bench just inside supplied with a tin
wash basin, a bucket of water, a gourd
dipper and a crock of home-made
soap! A quaint picture truly, present
ing a scene, and its details to which
few would care to return except on a
brief scout to gratify curiosity, but one
that Is instinct with much that is sa
cred .in the home life of the past and
thus sacred to memory or lighted with
the soft glow of tradition.
Here we have the "simple life" in
its very essence. Yet It is by no means
the care-free life of which the sated
dependent upon the bounty of civili
zation dreams. It is in the primitive
sense the strenuous life, ever on the
alert for the needs of the morrow.
The chance Autumn visitor sees the
well-filled -barns, the high pile of pine
knots stored for Winter's fuel. tb flock
of turkeys roosting in the trees, the
sheep gathered in woolly fold, thestore
of fruits and meats and vegetables
which betoken rude plenty: the home
made soap and candles and carpets
and quilts and clothing finished prod
ucts awaiting use and enjoyment. But
he can have no conception of the labor
or months and years of which these
assured comforts that wait upon the
simple life of the frontier are the re
sult. The traveler's tale is fascinating,
but it merely skims the surface for in
cident and illustration. The effort of
years,, plodding, painstaking, strenu
ous, was necessary to bring this about.
To the extent that this effort has been
dominated by cheerfulness and con
tentment, and sweetened by family as
sociations, it has lent its testimony to
the proof that life is worth living, and
that the simple life In Its primitive
state is the embodiment of peace and
plenty.-
FOR TUB STOMACH'S SAKE.
Chinese, Japanese and Italian gard
eners produce the major portion of all
the green vegetables, except those of
hot-house growth, that are consumed
in the homes of Portland. The Ore
gon State Medical Association declares
that it is customary for these people
to use as a fertilizer very objectionable
matter, which is productive of animal
and vegetable parasites that become
as it were, a part of the vegetable
growth and being taken into the hu
man system, produce enteric and oth
er diseases.
Since many of the vegetables thus
grown are eaten without cooking, as
lettuce, radishes, cabbage, onions, etc.,
the admonition that follows the pre
sentment of this matter is timely. A
foul fertilizer, human excreta espe
cially, alive with animal and veget
able parasites, may and does produce
a rank growth of spinach, lettuce,
onions and other green things so
eagerly devoured in Springtime as
table luxuries, but it is conceljible
that these toothsome esculents may
not be entirely purged, in process of
growth of the foul matter that has
stimulated this growth. Indeed, it Is
more than probable that this process
has not been entirely a cleansing one,
and that many of the uncooked veg
etables served upon out tables have
not undergone in this process a chem
ical change that makes them fit rom
a sanitary standpoint; for human food.
Hence, the action of the Medical As
sociation in regard to this matter Is
worthy of the attention of the health
authorities, to whom 'appeal Is made
to investigate and report upon the con
dition under which vegetables in our
truck gardens are grown.
It is easy td imagine that there may
be found to be such as will cause the
fastidious -stomach to revolt and the
practical sanitarian to shudder. On
the other hand, they may be better
than the alarming suggestion con
tained in the protest and resolutions of
the state medical authorities plainly
indicate. In either case it is desirable
that the true facts in the premises be
known. Therefore for the stomach's
sake, which is to say for the sake of
the health of the Individual and fhe
community, it may be hoped that this
matter will be looked into by those
who have authority to correct what
ever abuses in the use of fertilizers iu
"truck" gardening may be found to
exisi.
MUSIC.
Since last Fall Portland has been
favored with a rather generous share
of excellent music. Three or four
vocal soloists of great renown have
been heard, a tenor, a basso and more
than one soprano whose programmes
included songs from Mozart down by
way of Schubert to Grieg and living
composers. All of them seem to have
shunned the beautiful productions of
Robert Franz; but next year someone
may appear who will make up for the
loss. We have had also some excel
lent violin and piano music; but not
enough of either the vocal or instru
mental sort for the ordinary play
goer to form the musical habit. Muplc
is a language which expresses thought
and emotion. Unless one knows Its
vocabulary and syntax he is as much
at a loss to discern what the composer
is driving at as he would be listening
to a Greek tragedy. People of means
who own musical instruments and
have the skill to play them can, to a
degree, overcome this difficulty. There
is no good reason why they should
not learn the language of music as
they, do French and go to hear recitals
with full understanding of what is said
by the singer or the violin or the
piano.
The talking machines and self-playing
pianos have made It possible for
music to make a genuine appeal to a
much wider audience than it could a
generation ago. Say what one will
about the defects of these instruments,
their mechanical baldness, their lack
of expression, nevertheless they use
the language of music and use it cor
rectly. A person can, with a talking
machine or automatic piano, learn the
structure of Beethoven's symphonies,
memorize their massive sentences, gain
some insight into the master's thought
and therefore prepare himself to listen
with understanding and rational en
joyment to performances such as the
Portland Symphony Orchestra or the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra gives,
where music appears not as a mere
skeleton of rhythmic phrases, but
clothed with the beauty of passionate
life.
People in most, European cities of a
hundred thousand population are pro
vided witli opportunities to hear good
music at public expense. We teach our
children to read English and cipher
out of the general treasury; we even
make an effort, not very successful, to
teach them to appreciate Shakespeare
and Milton. But thus far we have
not thought it -worth while to elevate
their musical taste above ragtime. Has
the thought ever occurred to our peda
gogical leaders that it is just as ruin
ous to the mind to dissipate with bad
music as with bad literature? Plato
thouarht it was worse. We have prob
ably got beyond that strange concep
tion of art in general which looks
upon it as a species of amusement.
There was a time In our National his
tory when we thought a- novel was a
book designed to be read when a man
was too weary dollar chasing to use his
mind, or when a woman needed & little
relaxation after the ravages of bridge
whist. The theater was deemed an
excellent place to study anatomy, and
music was created by Sebastian Bach
and Wagner to lull one into refreshing
dreams. What amusement Is there In
reading such a novel as "The Turn of
the Balance." " "The Iron Heel" or
"Tess of the d'Urbervilles?" Who finds
himself in any mood for slumber after
seeing such a play as "Mrs. Warren's
Profession" or Hauptmann's "Sunken
Bell?" Is there anything funny about
"Paradise Lost" or "Lear?"
Art' is a serious-matter. The great
artists - have appealed not at all to
minds jaded and weary. Their crea
tions are not designed to be pastimes
for the frivolous or recreations for the
exhausted money grabber. They call
upon the intellect for. Its keenest in
sight and most wakeful energies. To
go. to a concert where the "Messiah"
is to be played expectlng'to take in the
music without any effort of attention
is fatuous. Onewho does so may
make believe that he has understood
and enjoyed the mighty . thoughts of
the great oratorio, but his pretense
will be just as silly as if he should sit
down and pretend to enjoy Virgil
without-first learning Latin. .
Very likely there is enough money
wasted and peculated in every Am
erican city as large as Portland
to support a good local orches
tra. We shy at the idea of appro
priating public funds to provide an
education in music or any other art.
but we abide with resignation the
spectacle of waste, graft and extrav
agance in our city governments. Music
is among the things which make life
worth living, just as pictures are and
noble architecture. By proper educa
tion it would be as easy to teach the
public to understand and enjoy good
music as It is to create the taste for
good books. Silly songs are as de
moralizing as silly stories. People
shake their heads after a concert
where Wagner has been played or
Sehumann, and say "Very fine, no
doubt, but It was above me." They
are mistaken. It was not above them.
They were listening to a language
which they had never taken pains to
learn. That was the whole of the dif
ficulty. When we have mastered mu
nicipal housekeeping somewhat better
we sflall probably perceive the utility
of bringing the civilizing power of
great music to bear upon the public,
and shall find means to pay for- it by
what .we can save from the claws of
the grafters.
THE CALL, TO THE ABORIGINAL.
A local item in a Valley paper says
a number of boys escaped from the
training school at Chemawa, but a tel
ephone message overtook them and
thej- were returned. It is to be hoped
their punishment Was not severe. The
blame is not wholly theirs.
In the Spring the white man's fancy
may lightly turn to thoughts of love.
But. In the Spring, when every branch
is running bankful; when the lark and
the robin carol to their mates; when
the pussy willows are ripe and the
swelling buds are about to break forth
into fragrant bloom; when the lords
of four-footed creation neigh and bel
low and prance and snort afield; when
the young grass is mighty green and
tender and the smell of the upturned
earth is incense to the nostril it is
hard to listen to the call of Nature
anear and afar and be confined within
walls of brick, when by'birth and In
heritance, coming down from centu
ries of environment and custom, one
should have the right to roam freely
and unrestrained. Civilization cannot
be laid on with a brush, even in many
coats, and perhaps it would be just as
well if the excellent men in charge of
these copper-colored wards' of the Na
tion allow an escapade or two of this
kind occasionally as a harmless blow
ing off of the safety valve, always with
watchful eye and kindly hand to aid
in the return. , . .
THE UNHAPPY MOSSBACK. .
The Oregonian prints today a pas
toral epistle from Millard' O. Lowns
dale. Apostle to the Mossbacks, giving
ghostly counsel to his woebegone flock.
The counsel is excellent. 'It ought to
stir the souls of these children of
wrath into repentance for their manv
sins and set the ax at work in every
old orchard from Roseburg to Portland
But we fear it will not. Jordan is a
hard road to travel. Broad is the way
that leads to codlin moths, and many
there be that find it. Once a moss
back always a- mossback, is a maxim
which experience compels one to ac
cept, however sorrowfully. It Is easier
to keep ninety, and nine sensible orch
ardists in the path of righteousness
than to retrieve one casehardened
mossback from his wicked ways. As
a rule argument is wasted upon him.
It Is not enough for him to be "Hair
hung and breeze shaken over hell," as
good old Lorenzo Dow used to put It.
He must actually be dropped down
into the brimstone.
It is remembered that when Mr.
Stewart first set. out his now
famous orchard near Medford ho was
abhorred by his neighbors as a public
enemy. They had been raising nuss
for many years and they knew ail
about it. They knew, for one thing,
that no such apples could- ever be
raised in Southern Oregon as they used
to pick in daddy's old orchard back in
Missouri. After setting their trees out
these devout pioneers had, with a
beautiful and childlike faith, left the
Lord to take care of them. The re
sults rather tended to show that the
Lord had not made a specialty of hor
ticulture. And now here came this
self-confident and intrusive Scotch
man with a lot of newfangled and
foolish ideas. They could have for
given him for being foolish. What
could not be forgiven was the sad fact
that his ideas would compel people to
go to work.. They were an impious
assault upon the sacred belief that in
Oregon work was a sin.
One fancies that here, perhaps, lies
the secret of the reluctance of the
mossback to accept the plain truth. So
long as he can shun it or argue it
away he can continue in his old,
shiftless, lazy courses with a good con
science. Hence he conjures up reasons
to show that it is wrong to cut back
the horrible old orchards. Pruning
trees is a good deal like work, while
to let them alone is no work at all.
With these two alternatives clearly
before him,, w-hich would you natur
ally expect a mossback to choose? He
began life w-ith the fundamental be
lief that work is wicked and the Gov
ernment encouraged his faith by giv
ing him fr nothing more land than
any' man could cultivate. A premium
was thus set upon thriftlessness and
selfish exclusiveness, two character
istics which have persisted down to
the present time and seem likely to
survive for a goodly season yet to
come.
While we admire, therefore. Mr.
Lownsdale's enthusiastic missionary
work among the-mossbacks, and laud
and magnify his energetic spirit," we
cannot conscientiously - say that we
have much hope of his success. The
most effectual remedy for the moss
back is time, which ultimately seizes
him with a grasp he cannot s-k. and
lays him away where he will cease
forever to impede the progress of the
world. In our candid opinion, when
the mossback was shipped to this
world a mistake was made by the
clerk of the universe. 'He was cre
ated for some other sphere where
work Is not necessary. Here he finds
himself entirely out of place, and the
striving of his neighbor is a continual
grief to him. We do not, of course,
recommend to the mossback that he
should take it into his own hands to
remedy the mistake that was made in
sending him to the earth to live: but
if it should by chance occur to him
to do so there are several very ef
fectual and not unpleasant devices for
the purpose which one would gladly
suggest to help him avoid failure.
OLD-AGE PENSIONS.
The first breath of hard times brings
in view the thoifsands of poor, but un
fortunate people who, despite their
best efforts, are forever hanging over
an abyss of poverty. These unfortu
nates, who seem utterly unable to
"grasp the skirts of happy chance, or
breast the blows of circumstance,"
even in what we term good times, are
unable to lay by anything for the
periods of adversity, and accordingly
must suffer the pangs of poverty, or,
if they happen to be proud and high
strung, the still greater pangs of
"charity." The problem of poverty is
world-old. There were "poor people"
when history first began recording the
movements 6f man, and undoubtedly
the predecessors of man on earth in
their caves and trees found difficulty
in an equitable distribution of what
we term property. But it is in these
ever-recurring periods of financial de
pression that the spectre of poverty
stalks forth so promiscuously that its
presence becomes painfully apparent
to others than the actual sufferer.
A recent address delivered by Will
iam Allen White in Chicago has at
tracted much attention through Its
suggestion of a National pension sys
tem for poor people. "National re
sponsibility," said Mr. White, "Is to
ward the honest, hard-working man,
who, at the end of a long, industrious
life, through no fault of his own,
finds that he has nothing to show for
his labor and only charity upon which
he may depend for support." But Mr.
White fails to offer, nor can anyone
offer, a solution of the problem tjiat
would meet the requirements of all
cases, or even a. majority of the cases
of the poor, but honest people who
have failed in the battle of life. In his
address, he called attention to what
the people of Europe have done in
the way of age pensions, cheap gov
ernment insurance, and savings banks
under government control, as well as
other measures devised, for the inter
est of the laboring classes.
But the conditions which make old
age pensions practically a duty of the
government in Europe, do hot exist
in this country. In Europe all of the
land is controlled by the landlord class,
largely the nobility. The population
of entire cities and even counties in
Europe are but tenants of some enor
mously wealthy landlord, and all the
life earnings of the people go to swell
his treasure chests. The entire econ
omic system of the European countries
makes it impossible for a man to reap
the reward of his labor, and it is ac
cordingly but just and right, that the
landlords, who are the "government"
in most European countries, should
provide old age pensions for those who
have worn out their lives in service.
But In this country, we have not yet
reached that stage of servitude. All
over the United States, and in Canada
and Alaska,- there are thousands and
millions of thrifty people who have
been crowded out of the cities of the
old and new world, and, to escape the
terror of old age poverty, have sought
the forests, fields and" mines, and
wrested from them a competence
which will render an old age pension
unnecessary.
To a greater degree than anywhere
else on earth, every man in America
Is "the architect of his own fortune."
It is regrettable that honest, industri
ous men should suffer from poverty
after their days of usefulness are end
ed,' but It will 'be an extremely dif
ficult matter to formulate an old age
pension system that would not in many
cases place a premium on lack of
ttirift. As no two men are exactly
alike, there would be no two cases
which could be considered alike, and
society would find It impossible to de
termine how far It could go in pro
viding for the poor soldiers who had
fallen, in the battle of life. We may,
and undoubtedly will, accomplish
much by legislation that -will tend to
equalize . the opportunities men now
have for amassing a fortune, but it
would be impracticable at this time
to adopt a system of old age pensions
such as may be due the landlord-ridden
countries of the old world.
THE WAR AGAINST TUBERCULOSIS.
Effort by the officers of the Inter
national Congress on Tuberculosis, to
reach the people on educational lines
in regard to the cause, treatment and
cure of tuberculosis is comprehensive
and should prove far-reaching in its
effects. This body meets once in four
years for the presentment of data
collected in the Interval between ses
sions and for the general furtherance
of the work indicated by its name.
Its next session will be held in Wash
ington, D. C, next September, at
which time a vast fund of information
in regard to the subject treated will
be made available to the public. The
question of sanatoria for the treat
ment of incipient and hopeful tuber
cular cases - will be presented in a
light which It is believed cannot fail
to cause the multiplication of these in
stitutions sufficient to meet the urgent
demands of humanity and of Indus
trial, social and political economy in
the premises.
Among the prizes for treatises upon
the various phases of this subject is
one of J1500 offered by the Smithson
ian Institution for the best treatise
that may be submitted on "The Rela
tion of Atmospheric Air to Tubercu
losis." Other prizes of J1000 and less
are offered for the best exhibit of an
existing sanatorium for the treatment
of curable cases of tuberculosis among
the working classes; for the best ex
hibit of a furnished ho.use for a fam
ily of group of families of the work
ing class, designed in the interest of
the crusade against tuberculosis; for
the best exhibit of a dispensary for
the treatment of the tuberculous poor,
and for the best exhibit of a hospital
for the treatment of advanced pul
monary tuberculosis.
Other subjects are presented, all of
which are- of more or .less vital
Importance to the civilized world.
facing as it does the growing menace
of this insidous disease. Scientists
have sounded the alarm"; scientific re
search has justified in every instance
the validity of the claim that the prog
ress of tuberculosis, having already
caused a decimation of population in
certain districts, threatens to depopu
late them if not speedily and effec
tively checked. The late rep'ort from
Alaska by Government officials, rela
tive to the growing prevalence of this
disease among the Indians of that ter
ritory and the "consequent menace to
the white population, is in point. The
alarum cannot be too quickly or too
loudly sounded in regard to this mat
ter. Science has discovered the cause
of what is commonly termed "con
sumption." It has also discovered
and prescribed a remedy for the dis
ease in its incipient stage. Better
than all (since the ounce of prevention
is everywhere accredited as worth a
pound of cure), it has discovered and
prescribed preventive measures which.
if followed persistently and intelli
gently, would practically blot this most
prevalent, wasting and wasteful
scourge out of existence in a decade.
The hope of civilization in this mat
ter is in the intelligent dissemination
of knowledge.' The International Con--
gress on Tuberculosis at Its session in
Washington next Fall will present the
grounds for this hope and indicate the
means whereby they may be worked
with profit to the race.
Students at Ann Arbor who had to
be handcuffed in order to be taken to
jail after rioting in a theater, should
join with the insurgents at Stanford
in founding a new university dedicated
to the principles of liberty as they un
derstand the word. There are a num
ber of eminent and wealthy men in
the country who would doubtless join
in establishing an endowment fund for
such an institution. All men who deny
the right of organized society to regu
late their actions should enter into
hearty co-operation in maintenance
of such an institution. Harriman,
Rockefeller, and all other beneficiaries
of stock manipulation, rebates and
similar unlawful transactions, might
reasonably be expected to lend all pos
sible aid to a college of that kind. And
from every part of the country there
should be a rush of students to the
new educational institution where
every young man and young woman
would be free to exercise individual
fancy and give free play to personal
desire, regardless of the rights or
wishes or opinions of others. Colleges
with rules are all right for those who
like tjiem, but there should also bo col
leges without rules, or, rather, col
leges with rules that need not be
obeyed. It takes all kinds of people
to make a world. We must expect to
have the hoodlum in college as well as
out of it. But since it is not fair nor
wise to. mix the hoodlums with the
orderly and decent people, separate
Institutions should be maintained for
those who belong to that class. '
All over the United States public
school authorities are investigating
stairways, fire escapes and other means
of exit from school buildings in case of
fire. It takes a catastrophe such as
that at Collinwood to arouse sleeping
officials and spur them to performance
of duty. A few years ago a similar
disaster in a Chicago theater resulted
In a general campaign against thea
ters that had no adequate exits for use
of the crowds in case fire should break
out or some other emergency should
create a stampede. Other wholesale
forfeitures of human life will be neces
sary to inform the people and their
servants of other dangers whose ex
istence is not thought of until the ap
palling accident occurs. Perhaps the
next structure to claim its victims wilf
be a steel bridge whose supports have
crystallized with .age, an insane asy
lum, a prison or an underground grill
room. If some superhuman power
could give warning of the catastrophe
the suffering, the loss of life and limb
and the grief of the bereaved could be
averted, but apparently the sacrifice
must be made by the relatively few in
order that the many may be taught
how to avoid the danger. In the mean
time, however, it is better to appear
over-cautious than to overlook any
preventive measures that can be taken.
A great lot of persons who have
been voting for Governor Chamber
lain and other Democrats these many
years! now announce themselves as
Republican candidates for various of
fices. That is amusing. Don't they
know there Is no Republican party?
Don't they know they and their fellow
"Independents" have killed it? It has
been decreed, during -years past, by
these people, that there shall be no
Republican party in Oregon. Very
well. There is some time yet ahead
of us. We can wait.
If every Oregon farmer will resolve
this Spring to raise twice as many
chickens as he did last year, and will
set twice, as many hens, we shall have
next year a more nearly adequate sup
ply of poultry and eggs' and the state
will be that much better off. The pro
ducer will scarcely notice the addi
tional cost of production, but will en
joy the Increased returns. .
The Irish master of a British steam
ship who refused to fly the American
flag above the green emblem of Ire
land will not be applauded by either
Irish, British or Americans who are
possessed of the usual amount of good
sense. fool is pretty much the same
kind of an individual, no matter what
flag he Is sailing under.
Donbtless Father Yorke thinks
Schmitz, Ruef, et al., are innocent.
Everybody else knows they are guilty,
and bught to be in the penitentiary,
and any court procedure necessary to
place 'them there is justified. Father
Yorke doesn't want them there, guilty
or innocent That's what's the matter
with Father Yorke.
The Democrats of Lane County for
mally agree to support no candidate
"who is not for Statement No. 1."
There Is no disagreement among Dem
ocrats on that question. For that rea
son there are Republicans who will
support no candidate who is for State
ment No. 1.
- What cares the Supreme Court of
California for the protests and criti
cisms ot the people. The judges have
the approval of the men to whom they
owe their position, and with that they
are probably content.
Salem has a poundmaster whose du
ties include the catching of bicycle
riders who violate the spec? ordinance.
The pound is a pretty good place for
the "scorcher." .
VERSE
BT HARRY MURPHT.
THE "STATESMAN."
Wears a formal solemn phiz.
' As a nation's cares were his;
Stands upright as virtue's friend.
Says corruption's reign must end;
Lashes with a noble rage
A debauched and sunken age;
Hints of plots among the great
Boding ruin to the state;
Cunningly he knows to steer
For tho thing- he feigns to fear.
When benignest Is his smile
Then beware his web of wile;
Hides his vile self-seeking under
Sanctity that nrake men wonder.
With a heart to fawn and flatter
Or to threaten doesn't matter
Both he'll do with equal will
So it but his end fulfill.
Greed or malice ever lurks
As the motive of his works.
Skilled to slay with nameless lie
Men of reputation high.
Like a snake he wriggles on.
Slime betraying where he's gone.
Cancer plague personified
Of such cause have nations died;
Judas, Janus, trickster, traitor.
He'll prove mortal soon or later.
SWEETER, STILL THE HOPE.
Remembrance of the past is sweet;
To reunite links broken.
The friends of youth again to greet.
Again hear fond tones spoken.
The flow'rs of those departed days
Are brighter than before;
They bloom 'neath mem'ry's magic rays
Upon- a fairy shore.
The commonplace, familiar things
Once deemed scarce worth a glance
The vanisned time around them fllnga
What glory and romance!
Remembrance of the past Is sweet,
iBut sweeter still the hope
Of future, when, earth's task complete-,
Beioved arms shall ope.
SPRING.
Beneath the step of maiden Spring
The blushing blossoms w-ake;
Her nimble-pinioned breezes bring
To bud each grove and brake.
Now sport the flocks o'er hill and
piain;
The serpent's dight anew;
The blithesome bird its nuptial strain
Pours from the boundless blue. '
'T!s as a loving call they heard
Each thing and promptly came;
Leaf, blade and flower, beast, bee and
bird.
To answer to Its name.
a rnxrriox.
Give me & cot by nature's side,
Aloof from rout and riot.
Where gentle bird and beast abide.
Amid the vernal quiet.
By stream and mountain be my lot.
I'm tired of towns and noise
j'm tired of toils that lead to naught
And burdens misnamed joys.
A roof mid nature's paareantry;
To know a brotherhood
With wind-swept cliff and solemn sea
And venerable wood.
To be where hoary summits stand.
Where viewless waters flow.
By melody of fountain and
An end of empty show! '
EVENING.
The misty shadows waft around
The earth a curtain of repose;
City and Held -have husht their sound, '
And shuts the rose.
A gleam from casement here and there
Lights up the gathering gloom. Afar
The townsman hears o'er tranquil air
The clang of car.
The tired toiler seeks his cot.
Where lowly cheer-his breast rejoices
With limbs relaxed and cares forgot.
Mid childish voices.
Returnirg steps make grentle hearts
Beat high, and bright eyes dim; a
year
A termless age the day that parts
From one who's dear!
The evening breeze plays gently
through
The old man's locks; a smile rests or
His facethe lowered lids renew
Life's happy dawn.
The pallid student, bending o'er
His page, peers 'yond the nightly
flame
As though the darkness he'd explore
For deathless fame.
Despair comes with this peaceful hour'
To knock" upon the secret breast.
Where sins and wrongs forgiveless
cower
And murder rest.
But sweet to him. with task fulfilled,
" When earth enfolds her tired brood
In that dear lap where care is stilled
And hope renewed!
Spiritualism.
Grace Sorenson, In Omaha World-Herald
Of this weird, un-ranny doctrine,
Much on both sides can be said,
But I see no satisfaction
In conversing with the dead.
When the spirit leaves the body
And attains a higher plain.
Whv should we desire to bring it
Back to earthly woes again?
When I die and go to heaven,
There a while I'd like to stay.
Without feeling that the family
Wanted me to come away.-
If I had to be forever
On the earth and heaven road,
I would And a half-way station
' Where I'd take ud nty abode.
Bo when I'd receive a message
From my relatives below,
I could answer their Queer summoni
In a way that wasn't slow.
And if they kept on insisting
That around them I must pranca,
I would give them all they wanted
Of a ghostly song and dance.
I would not. like other spirits.
On the chairs and tables tap.
As it seems so idiotic
On old furnituro to rap.
It is atrance how many people
Who contented lives have led.
tFhould become these -on.tant knocker
Just as Foon as they are dead.
And no mediums I'd talk through,
Tho' there was no other way.
When they asked me for my mesagl
I would simply say. "Nay. nay!"
I don't like such go-betweeners.
Who can fall off in a trance
Any time they take a notion
Or are given any chance.
In't'-'s age. so Jast advan-ing,
tts certainly worth while
, To abandon o'd-tlme methods
And to do things up in style.
So in my communication.
If I am allowed a cholt-e,
I ivill either Sf-nd a wireless
Or I'll megaphone my voice.
The Plain Woman.
reople's Magazine.
The world for me another face mu wear
Than if I challenged it with beauty's eyew:
The deference, the smile of quick sur
pr!e. The flatfrinc glance of strangers unaware.
Even the rude, appreciative stare
Which beauties while they chide do not
misprise.
I muKt forepo, affecting to despise;
These thinss he for my sisters who are fair.
So when one night beneath the Winter mn'.n
IThe evening to my poor pale looks grown
, kind I.
You spoke the words- that turned my night
to noon.
' I hel.l th'.-in but as words; and thought to
fln'l
The candid day disperse them like spilt
wine.
o late 1 was, dear Love, to kn'jw you mlnr.