THE SUNDAY OKEGOXIAX.. PORTLAND. 'MAY C. 190S.
SUBSCRIPTION KATES.
INVARIABLY IM ADVANCE.
(By Mail.)
Dally. Sunday .Included, one year $8.00
Illy. ftuniHty Included, nil months.... 4.25
Ially. Sunday Included, three months.. 2.25
laily, Sunday Included, one month 75
rally, without Sunday, one year 6.00
Dally, without Sunday, six months.... 8.25
Dally, without Sunday, three months.. 1.75
Dally, without Sunday, one month 00
Sunday, one year 2-RO
Weekly, one year (Issued Thursday)... 1.50
Eunday and weekly, one year 3.50
- ' BY CARRIER.
Dally, Sunday Included, one year 9.00
Dally. Sunday Included, one month 75
HOW TO REMIT Send postofllce money
order, express order or personal check- on
your local bank. Stamps, coin or currency
are at the sender's risk. Give postofflce ad
Sress In lull, including county and state.
POSTAGE RATES.
Entered at Portland. Oregon, Postofflce as
Second-Class Matter.
I! to 14 Pages 1 cent
10 to 28 Pages 2. cents
30 to 44 Pages 3 cents
18 to 00 Pages 4 cents
Foreign postage, double rates.
IMPORTANT The postal laws are strict.
Newspapers on which postage Is not fully
prepaid are not forwarded to destination.
EASTERN BUSINESS OFFICE.
The pi. C. Beirkwith Special Agency New
Tork. rooms 4S-.10 Tribune building. Chi
cago, rooms 510-512 Tribune building.
KUPT ON SALE.
Chicago Auditorium Annex: Postofflce
News Co., 178 Dearborn street; Empire News
Stand.
St. Paul. Minn. N. Ste. Marie, Commer
cial Station
Colorado Springs. Colo. H. H. Bell.
Denver Hamilton & Kendrlck, 906-012
Seventeenth street; Pratt Book Store. 1214
Fifteenth street; H. Pv Hansen. 8. Rice,
George Carson."
Kansas City, Mo. Rlcksecker Cigar Co..
Ninth and Walnut; Toma News Co.
Minneapolis M. J", cavanaugh. 50 South
Third.
Cincinnati, O. Toma News Co.
Cleveland, O. James Pushaw. 307 Super
ior street
Washington, n. C. Ebbitt House. Four
teenth and F streets; Columbia News Co.
Pittsburg. Pa. Fort Pitt News Co.
Philadelphia, Pa. Ryan's Theater Ticket
OfTice. Penn News Co.; A. P. Kemble. 8735
Lancaster avenue.
New York City Hotallng's news stands. 1
Park Row, 8Sth and Broadway. 42d and
Broadway and Broadway and 29th. Tele
phone 6374. Single copies delivered: L.
Jones & Co.. Astor House; Broadway The
ater News Stand; Empire News Stand.
Ogden. D. D. Boyle; Lowe Bros.. 114
Twenty-fifth street,
Omaha. Barkalow Bros.. Union Station;
Mngeath Stationery Co.; Kemp & Arenson.
Dee Moines, la. Mose Jacobs.
Fresno, Cal. Tourist News Co.
Sacramento, Cal. Sacramento News Co..
430 K. street; Amos News Co.
Salt Lake. Moon Book & Stationery Co.,
Rosenfeld c Hansen: G. W. Jewett. P. O.
corner; Stelpeck Bros.
Ixng Beach. Cal. B. E. Amos.
Pasadena, Cal. Amos News Co. .
Ban Diego. B. E. Amos.
Han Jose. Emerson, "W.
Houston, Tex. International News Agency ,
Dallas, Tex. Souftl western" News Agent.
44 Main street; also two street wagons.
Fort Worth, Tex. Southwestern N. and
A. Agency.
Amarilla. Tex. Tlmmons & Pope.
San Francisco. Foster & Orear; Ferry
News Stand: Hotel St. Francis News Stand;
1.. Parent; N. Wheatiey; Fairmount Hotel
News Stand; Amos News Co.; United News
Agency. 14 Vj Eddy street; B. E. Amos, man
ager three wagons; Worlds N. S.. 2625 A.
butter street.
Oakland. Cal. W. H. ' Johnson, Fourteenth
and Franklin streets; N. Wheatiey; Oakland
News Stand : Jl. E. Amos, manager five
wagons; Welllngham. E. Ci.
t.olillleld, Nev. L,ouie Follln.
Eureka. Cal. Call-Chronicle Agency; Eu
reka News Co. "
PORTLAND. SUNDAY. MAY 8. 1008.
ABSOLVED FROM PARTY.'
For years there has been a growing
difficulty, culminating now in impos
sibility, of maintaining closely defined
party lines in Oregon. Since the Re
nublican Dartv was much the stronger
of . the political . organizations of the
siate, n was natural mat. mis aim
culty should beset it much more than
the Democratic party, which had be
come feeble, partly through its own
errors and partly because it has hap
pened that a larger proportion of Re
publicans than of Democrats has come
Into the state with the later immigra
tion. Finally, it appeared that the
Republicans outnumbered the Demo
crats at the rate of about two to one;
but this was to an extent delusive,
since President Roosevelt has always
been much stronger than his party.
Yet the Republican party of Oregon
has not been able to hold together. It
has not wished to do so. Oppressed'
by the weight of numbers and by its
superabundance of talents, it has
yielded to factional ambitions; and as
commonly happens in such cases, the
chief efforts of its factions have been
put forth against each other, not
against the common political opponent.
The result has been that the Demo
cratic party has profited mightily, and
for years has controlled the chief po
sitions, political and official, in the
state. Men calling themselves Repub
licans have deliberately used the Dem
ocratic party as an instrument for
"getting even" with their Republican
competitors, or of obtaining revenge
over them; till now the Republican
party has no assured strength in Ore
gon. After many repeated trials The
Orcgonian gave up the effort to sus
tain the party as a party, deeming
further effort useless. It Is a party
now of factional units which signi
fies that it is not a party at all; for
it has no common bond to neutralize
the dissensions and hatreds within it.
Hitherto this newspaper has stood
with the Republican party, because it
believed that the larger purposes and
policies useful for the welfare and
progress of the country could be better
promoted through the agency of this
party than through that of its main
opponent;, but it is constrained, after
repeated rebuffs and defeats, to give
up this view and this "method. About
one-half the Republicans of Or.egon,
or those denominated as such, have
refused hitherto to recognize any
party obligation though , some of
them now, having come to the front
through tne recent primary election,
feel that they are in position to sup
port the party again, and to denounce
as traitors those who do. not. But still
there is some manifestation of human
nature, from which the retaliatory
spirit is unfortunately most difficult
of elimination, among those who hith
erto have been the victims of a boasted
independence of party. "Bolting" has
become too common, and the past
proves it to be too easily condoned, to
he regarded even as a blunder. We
have been too often assured that it is
the highest patriotism.
It has long been the tendency of the
time to force the idea that it is the
highest duty of citizenship to act with
out regard to the general policy or
historic tendency of political parties.
Every citizen, of late, has been pro
claimed a party unto himself. "What
Is Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba?"
On this principle, the Republicans of
iregon nave actea ror years. Many
of them perhaps a majority refer
their politics to no general principles.
Whether the main tendency of a party,
as seen in its course and history. Is in
una direction or another, doesn't con
cern' them. AH political action refers
to the factional contests, or personal
likes or dislikes, of today. Perhaps
the leading reason is that so many
persons see no real differences between
political parties of the present time;
and, never referring to the historical
differences of parties, and to "The va
riety o. general character that has
produced them, no longer see a reason
for the existence of any party. To
the minority party this is agreeable,
exceedingly; and it slyly, though sed
ulously, propagates an idea that prom
ises so much for Its own advantage.
Question now Is whether we are all
to cease, as so many have done al
ready, to vote for candidates because
they are party nominees, and vote
wholly without reference to party.
Since it has been declared, . again and
again in our state," that the course and
policy of a party throughout its his
tory, its work and achievement in gen
eral, afford no ground for appeal in
its behalf; that you are not to infer
anything for the present, or for the
future, from the character or record
of a party, or that of its opponent, but
may take any petty reason or motive
for your guide of action In politics,
and indulge your personal likes or dis
likes (chiefly the latter) to the limit,
and ..vote accordingly, why then, of
course, there ia no ground upon which
to appeal to party and for party; and
this is the condition of Independence,
whether happy or not, into which the
Republicans of Oregon, or men hith
erto called such, have been carried by
the wisdom evolved for us through
personal and factional contention.
It is a period of transition, and The
Oregonian, perforce, accepts the dic
tum of those who break with the past.
It has been proven again and again
in our state that the name of party
that is, the name of the Republican
party Is no longer a thing to conjure
with. He who depends on party alle
giance, or on any sense or supposition
of obligation to party, may be likened
to him "who tries to walk over a roar
ing flood on the unsteadfast footing of
a spear." It has taken The Oregonian
long time to get over the idea that it
wa3 through maintenance of party
that ends and objects were to be ac
complished. It has been forced by
the factional methods of the Republi
cans -of Oregon, and by the results
thereof, to abandon that opinion, -which,
indeed, has proved a delusion.
There are two scriptures pertinent
here. One reads that, "in those days
every man did that which was right
in his own eyes." The other, that,
"The way of the fool is right, in his
own eyes." Since every man is his
own godsmith, why shouldn't every
man be a political party unto himself?
Experience and authority are no
where. Let them go. No doubt we
are the people, and wisdom will die
with us.
TAFT AD BRYAN.
That Taft and Bryan will -be the
candidates of their respective parties is
now as certain as any forecast ever
can be. Next best representative of
the tendencies and purposes of the
Roosevelt Administration next best
to Roosevelt himself is Taft; though
it is not doubted that Hughes would
be a strong man devoted in the main
to the same purposes, and perhaps
In many localities more acceptable than
Taft. We believe Hughes would be
surer to win in Ohio and Illinois than
Taft, and quite as sure to win in-New
York.
But Taft, manifestly, is gathering
up the strength for the convention.
In the Pacific States he will be excep-.
tlonally strong, because of his compre
hensive knowledge of our commercial
and naval needs In the Pacific. This
particular subject Is to be the control
ling and compelling one in those Na
tional and international affairs that
have .relation to American interests
centering in and upon the Pacific
Ocean.
Hence it is that Oregon probably
will deem it best to send to the Re
publican convention delegates earnest
in support of Mr. Taft. That Mr. '
Bryan, will have the Democratic dele
gates does not admit a doubt. This
also will be well; for Bryan certainly
is the best representative of the Demo
crats of Oregon, as of the West in
general. Yet he cannot get the elec
toral votes of New York, New Jersey
and Connecticut, and will have slim
chance to win indeed no chance at
all unless Jie can make good through
gains in the great Middle West. This,
however, need not be deemed an Im
possibility. The great City of Chicago
is a mighty orce in Presidential elec
tions, and an uncertain one.
MR. ARMOUR AND WHEAT.
Reports from the Chicago market
tell us that Mr. J. Ogden Armour
made a furious assault upon the bears
on May 2 and forced the price of
wheat upward almost 5 cents in as
many minutes. This rise was, of
course, the result of gambling, pure
and simple. The law of demand and
supply had nothing to do with it. By
loading the dice and fooling his com
petitors in the game, Mr. Armour suc
ceeded in adding 5 per cent to the
price of the world's principal food
supply, and an enormous increment to
his wealth, which was already swollen
beyond reasonable limits.
For all we care, Mr. Armour may
add million to million until he counts
his money by the ton or the shipload,
but in common with every American
citizen we are much concerned with
the price of wheat and with the forces
which make It rise and fall. It is es
sential to the welfare of the country
that the cost of the staple articles of
food shajl not fluctuate violently from
day to day. They ought to be fairly
constant, varying only within those
moderate limits which the weather
and the seasons prescribe. Natural
changes In the price of food occur in
frequently, and when they do come
they are so gradual that people can
adjust their domestic budgets to them.
Usually when one article rises in price
another falls, and so the average level
Is pretty stable, though occasionally.
as within the last few years, all prices
go upward together. But even in this
case the hardship is mitigated by a
corresponding increment of wages.
Fluctuations caused by gambling,
however, fall upon the country sud
denly. Nobody has time to prepare
for them, nobody can foresee them,
and their total effect is disastrous.
Even the producers of wheat are not
often benefited much by these un
wholesome fluctuations, for the gam
bling spirit seizes them and they are
apt to hold to their supply until it is
too late. There has been much spec
ulation upon the question how to res
cue the markets of the country from
the sharks who disturb them ruinous
ly. No thorough-going solution has
been discovered. Most of the pana
ceas proposed " would probably make
the evil worse. Restrictive legislation
in particular has never done much
good, and very likely it never will.
Most thinkers agree that if an effective
remedy, is ever found it will consist in
co-operative selling by producers .and
co-operative buying by consumers.
This idea seems Utopian Iter America,
but it has been carried out on a great
scale In England, and especially in
Belgium. In those countries co-operative
trade plays an important part in
internal commerce, and tends power
fully, toward stability both of prices
and general finance. Naturally it
eliminates the middleman who does
the gambling. It gives the producer
the benefit of natural increment in
prices and rescues' the consumer from
such piratical raids as Mr. . Armour
has just achieved.
But co-operation cannot be brought
about by legislation. It is the fruit
of common sense combined with fore
thought and patience. Why It has had
so little success in this country is a
mystery, considering the intelligence
of our producing and consuming
classes. Perhaps we have been so
well off hitherto that we have not
minded being robbed, but the signs of
the times point to a change in this re
spect. There is much . evidence that
economic conditions will never be so
easy again in the United States as
they have been. The struggle for ex
istence will press harder upon the man
of moderate income and he will be
obliged to consider ways to make his
means go farther than formerly. As
socn as he begins to consider the prob
lem seriously he can hardly fall to
turn to co-operative buying. Indeed
the great department stores are in re
ality nothing but brilliant applications
of the principle of co-operative trade,
and their benefits to the consumer are
vast. The mail-order business is a
further example of the same principle.
If Congress had the welfare of the
country at heart it would enact a par
cels post law to promote mail-order
trade, since it would benefit thousands
where it harmed a single person; but
Congress looks at other matters much
more intenfly than at the public wel
fare. FEMINIZED SCHOOLS.
President G. Stanley Hall, of Clarke
University, has written in the May
number of The World's Work on "The
Feminization of the Schools." The em
inent student of educational affairs ad
vances nothing new in this, article; he
merely estates and elaborates two
opinions which he has published else
where, but apparently he is more than
ever convinced that they are correct.
The first is, that there are too many
women teachers in the public schools
and too few men; second, that boys
and girls ought not to be educated to
gether after they are 10 or 12 years
old. If these opinions were adopted In
practice they would revolutionize the
public schools, and If they are sound,
they ought to be adopted. But are
they sound?
Women have displaced men in the
schoolroom very rapidly during tne
last few years. They now hold almost
80 per cent of the teaching positions
in the country, while in some states
they hold 90 per cent. The common
supposition that women are preferred
to men by school directors, because
they will do the same work for less
pay, is true as far as it goes. There
has been an economic struggle be
tween the sexes in the field of educa
tion, and the men have been defeated
by the same weapon "which ' drove
American workmen out of the Penn
sylvania coal mines. They were un
derbidden. They might have met the
competition, perhaps, by a still lower
bid, but that would have helped them
only for the moment. Since women
as a class can work for less wages
than men, the contest, if it had been
carried to the end, would have re
duced the pay of teachers to the star
vation point. To this extreme it did
not come because there were other
opportunities for men where they
could make as much or more than
they had received for teaching. Teach
ers' wages have fallen so low in some
parts of the country, in comparison
with the remuneration for other serv
ice, that it has become almost a dis
grace fpr a man to earn his living In
the schoolroom. ,We recall a speech
of the Governor of Montana, delivered
a year or two ago, in which he re
marked that no man of spirit would
condescend to be a teacher. "Educa
tion, he declared, was emphatically
women's work.
From one point of view this remark
Is nonsense, since the old distinction
between men's and women's work has
vanished. But there Is a marked dis
tinction between the masculine and
feminine wage scales, and the Gov
ernor really meant to say that teach
ers' pay had been degraded to the lat
ter, which was true. Still it is a com
mon . observation that once an in
ferior economic class has displaced a
superior one in this country, it imme
diately begins a struggle to raise its
standards of pay and living. This has
been true of the Italians, the Russian
Jews and even of the negroes. The
real reason why many of our snobbish
plutocrats love the idea of admitting
the Chinese is that they believe this
docile and unambitious race will re
main permanently content with servile
standards. In the matter of trying to
better their economic condition women
teachers are no exception to the gen
eral American rule.' Now that their
victory over the men is virtually com
plete, and the jobs are in their pos
session, they are making a fight every
where for better pay; so that the
stingy directors who hired women for
the sake of reducing school taxes a
mill or two on the hundred dollars are
destined to ultimate disappointment.
Thus the wheel of fortune whirls and
time brings in his revenges. .
If women do the same work as men.
no just person will contend th.at they
should receive less pay, but President
Hall believes that they cannot do the
same work in the schoolroom. He is
content to leave the education of all
children in the hands of women up to
the age of 10 or 12 years, but after
that he contends that boys ought to
be under the control of men. In his
great work on "Adolescence," Dr. Hall
made the point that government by
women tends to develop sentimen
tality, flabbiness and hoodlumism in
boys, and he repeats the remark in
his article in The World's Work. " It
is unnatural, he says, for adolescent
youths to be subject "to 'women.. It
makes them sullen, indocile, rebellious.
It suppresses rn them the distinctive
characteristics of their sex and . de
velops slavish traits like deceitfulness.
malice and cunning. One remark of
Dr. Hall's in this connection is very
interesting. Women, he thinks, have
abolished whipping in school because
they detest all forms of violence for
one thing, but chiefly because they
lack the physical strength to wield the
rod persuasively. The result has been
deplorable. There is a place for the
smart of the hickory withe in educa
tion. . Many youths have been saved
from destruction by a sound thrash
ing administered in the nick of time.
The banishment of this means of grace
from the public schools is to be sor
rowed over by all lovers of their kind.
So thinks Dr. Hall, and we must ad
mit that the facts seem to uphold his
views.
Our author also . contends that the
government of women excites a pre
mature, spurious imitation of chivalry
in boys which is 'altogether' hateful.
In the hobbledehoy stage, as he aptly
terms it, they ought to be somewhat
rough in their sports and manners,
whereas the effort of their1 women
teachers Is to make them sleek little
dolls, as much like girls as may be.
Beware, he cries, of the boy who does
nothing to shock the ladies; such a
youth is a monster who will come to
no good end. . -
The education of boys and girls in
the same classes excites Dr. Hall's es
pecial dislike. He thinks' that this
practice blights the natural charm of
the sexes . for each other by that fa
miliarity which destroys illusion. It
injures the boys' self-confidence be
cause in mere formal studies the girls
can excel them. It drives young men
out of schoolo find a natural environ
ment on the street long before they
are prepared' for the struggle of life.
If these remarks of Dr. Hall are true
they merit attention. Separate schools
for boys and girls would cost some
money, to be sure, but perhaps the
best of all uses for money is to give
young people a sound education.
FORD'S ACQUITTAL.
Of course the world is not convinced
from the latest San Francisco verdict
that Attorney Ford is innocent. There
has simply been failure, thrpugh the
unfathomable processes of the Califor
nia courts, to find Ford guilty. We
shall hear no" doubt now that Heney
is at the end of his rope in California;
and perhaps he is, but it is no re
proach to Heney that he has been
balked in his persistent and courage
ous endeavors to put the San Fran
cisco grafters in jail and keep them
there.
Perhaps Ford is entirely innocent.
We haven't said that he was not, only
that the verdict doesn't vindicate him.
It could not, in view of the known rec
ord of bribery and corruption of San
Francisco Supervisors by the agents
of the United Railways. The Super
visors got the money, thousands of
dollars, through Ruef. They were
told what it was for, and they did
what they were told, being paid for it.
It was not their part to ask where
Ruef got the "boodle." They knew,
or supposed they knew. Ford had
.withdrawn $50,000 in cash from the
San Francisco mint, and there were
numerous circumstances to corrobo
rate the theory of the prosecution that
this same $50,000 was paid by Ford
himself to Ruef. But the jury by its
verdict said it wasn't satisfied that he
did. But if Ford, the United Railways
attorney, did not pay out 'this money
on behalf of his client, somebody cer
tainly did. It is inconceivable that it
could have been paid by any other
than a trusted and accredited aent of
ttie company.
There Is no question, of course, that
the whole method of the franchise
corporations in San Francisco was
bribery and corruption of public offi
cers. They have openly Justified it on
the ground that they could do no
business unless they resorted to such
methods. Evidently the people of
San Francisco have reache'd the con
clusion that the defense of the cor
porations is reasonable and good. So
much the worse for San Francisco.
WHERE COMPETITION IS HOPELESS.
The United . States last year con
sumed about $60,000,000 worth of lace
goods, of which more than 90 per cent
were imported. These figures turned
the attention of the bureau of manu
factures .to the lace industry with. a
view to increasing the home product.
A special agent was sent to Switzer
land to inquire into lacemaking there,
while . United States Consuls in
France, Belgium, Germany, England
and British. India were called upon for
reports of jace manufacture in those
countries.
The finer laces of Continental coun
tries are made by the slowest of slow
hand processes, and the laceworkers
toil under conditions and for a pit
tance that would not be considered for
a moment by skilled laborers in this
country. These facts apply also, in
perhaps a lesser degree, to machine
made lace and embroidery, the mat
ter of wages figuring largely in favor
of foreign manufacture. The major
ity of workers in lace factories in Bel
gium, for example, earn from 10 to 17
cents a day, and' the best workers get
only 20 cents. The town of Paulen,
Germany, sent $5,000,000 worth of
lace to ths country last year. Out of
15,000 workers in those factories there
are not more 'than ten or twelve who
earn as high as 38 cents a day. For
these reasons it has been found impos
sible to establish lacemaking as an
Important industry in the United
States.
American manufacturers, however,
have found it expedient and profitable
to engage in this industry in St. Gaul,
Switzerland, and nqw own most of the
up-to-date lace factories in that lace
making center of the Old World,
where thrift constantly does battle
with penury among the patient, plod
ding masses. In British India condi
tions are even worse, in that thrift has
been eliminated entirely from fhe
problem, the laceworker expecting
nothing in return for his labor beyond
the miserable dole that barely suffices
to sustain life. How, indeed, can it
be otherwise when, as reported by
Consul-General Michael, who. pursued
this inquiry under the direction of the
bureau of manufactures in Washing
ton, "an article that requires six days
to make, working from ten to twelve
hours a day, sells for less than Jl,
the worker receiving of this sum less
than 33 cents?"
Competition with such labor as this
in the United States is manifestly
hopeless, and every Intelligent citizen
In the land Is glad that it is so. Bet
ter Import what face we want, even
though the price in aggregate is J60,
000,000 a. year, than to surround any
Industry with conditions that exist
among the . laceworkers of .foreign
lands. "While according to popular be
lief there is no sentiment In business,
there is a certain recoil of humanity
in business as well as industrial cir
cles at the -thought of engaging in a
competition the success Qf.wh.ich de
pends upon a compensation for labor
that keeps the laborer constantly on
the verge of starvation.
PORT OF PORTLAND AMENDMENT.
The argument submitted by the
rivers, harbors and navigation com
mittee of the Chamber of Commerce,
in support of the amendment proposed
by initiative petition for enlarging the
powers of the Port of Portland, sets
forth quite clearly the position of Port
land on this most important subject.
Maintenance of an efficient towage
and pilotage service at the river en
trance is of vital Importance to the
City of Portland, and to the entire Co
lumbia Basin. With completion of
the North Bank railroad and the Lew
Iston branch of the O. R. & N., prac
tically the entire wheat crop of Ore
gon, Washington and Idaho is easier
of access from Portland than from any
other port in the Pacific Northwest.
But to hold this immense traffic at
Portland, it is -necessary that the ex
pense of towage and pilotage between
Portland and the sea be placed on a
parity with that of the ports with
which we come in competition.
The work of the Port of Portland,
in making a twenty-six-foot channel
from Portland to Astoria is an elo
quent tribute to its worth and its value
to the community. The improvements
which have been made by this organi
zation have enabled exporters to char
ter much larger vessels than could
enter the river before the work of the
Port of Portland was inaugurated, and
with the increasing size of the vessels
there has come a steady reduction in
freight rates. The proposed amend
ment enlarging the powers of the Port
of Portland so that its present work
of deepening the channel can be sup
plemented by an Improved tug and
pilot service, is a measure which con
cerns every property-owner in the dis
trict involved. The prestige given
Portland by her admirable location at
the foot of a down-hill haul from the
great producing regions of the Inland
Empire, must not be jeopardized by
out failure to maintain water trans-
portation facilities in keeping with
those which deliver the traffic at tide
water at Portland. There was no op
position to the petition for this meas
ure, and there should be no adverse
votes at the June election.
ANNULLING LAWS.
The most remarkable passage in the
President's last special message seems
pto have been overlooked by many
readers. Partly to call attention to it
and partly because it bears upon the
subject we wish to discuss, a portion
of it is quoted here: "Congress has
no more right to pass a bill without
regard to whether it is constitutional
than the courts have to declare uncon
stitutional a bill which Congress has
solemnly ratified. The responsibility
is as great on one side as on the other,
and abuse of power by the Legislature
in one direction Js equally to be con
demned with an abuse of power by the
courts in the- other direction." We
repeat that this Is remarkable lan
guage. On its face it seems to assert
that the courts have no right to annul
a law duly passed by Congress on the
ground. that it is unconstitutional, and
we are inclined to think that such is
Mr. Roosevelt's opinion. Clearly Con
gress does wrong when it enacts leg
islation which it believes to be uncon
stitutional; hence the inference from
the President's words is unavoidable
that the courts do wrong when they
set aside a law which has been sol
emnly enaced.
The simple truth is that the Con
stitution gives no right to the courts or
to anybody else to annul a law. The
power, If it exists, is purely inferen
tial, and, being deduced by reasoning
which may or may not be correct, it is
open to question. At any rate, there
is another line of argument which
leads to a conclusion entirely differ
ent, and it is debatable whether the
latter Is not better grounded than the
former. The Constitution confers su
premacy upon no one of the three de
partments of the Federal Government.
They are created co-ordinate and
equal. No. power is given to one. of
them to annul the acts of the others;
and if such power may be assumed by
one, why may it net be assumed by
the others? If the courts may annul
an act of Congress, why may not Con
gress annul a decision of the courts?
Why may not the President declare a
law invalid when It thwarts some pol
icy which he thinks desirable? The
common saying that the Supreme
Court is the guardian of the Constitu
tion has no support in our funda
mental law. Congress and the Presi
dent are just as much charged with
Its guardianship as the court is;' there
is not a scintilla of reason for the
propostion that this duty is exclusively
conferred upon the judges.
But the doctrine was in force in sev
eral of the states before the forma
tion of the National Constitution. It
was debated in the constitutional con
vention, to an extent, but was left
without positive determination. After
the adoption of the Constitution, as
cases arose and were carried before
the Federal Courts, the right to pass
upon the constitutionality Of legislative
acts, interpreted from the system that
had been prevalent in certain of the
states, was assumed or taken for
granted by the Federal Courts, and
was specially upheld by Chief Justice
Marshall and his successors.
In the Senate of the United States
there afe lawyers quite as able and
learned as those who sit upon the su
preme bench. Their opinions upon a
point of constitutional law are fully as
likely to be correct as those of the nine
judges. Wfien, therefore, they have
maturely deliberated upon a bill and
definitely decided that it is in har
mony with the fundamental law of the
land, why in all reason should the
judges be permitted to set thelr'action
aside as if it were of no validity?
And if the judges may do this, surely
Congress has -an equal right to set
aside the decisions of the courts. It is
argued that the courts have to deter
mine finally what the law Is, and If
they perceive a conflict between the
statutes and the Constitution, they
must prefer the higher law to the sub
ordinate. This is true enough, but
Congress has also to determine finally
what the law is, or at least it would
have to do so if it fulfilled its duties
as pointed out by the President. .Con
gress frequently has to vote money to
carry into effect decisions of the
courts. Is it under obligation to do
this when it. conscientiously believes
that .those decisions are unconstitu
tional? Is not the conscience of Con
gress as important as the court's?
Must the people's representatives
smother their scruples in order to give
implicit obedience to mandates which
they believe to be' wrong? Or take
the ease of the President. It often
happens that a decision of the Federal
Court cannot be executed unless he
orders the military, or the United
States Marshals, to lend a hand. Must
he give such orders. when he believes
the decision to be contrary to the fun
damental law?
Without pretending to answer these
questions, it appears to us that they
are weighty enough to make the busi
ness of annulling laws extremely deli
cate. Custom has brought us to the
point where the legislative and execu
tive departments take orders with
more or less grace from the courts.
More than . any other nation in the
world we are governed by lawyers, and
there are writers who say that no class
of men is less fit to govern than law
yers, are, except priests. However
that may be, it is not to be denied
that the power of annulling laws ought
to be exercised with extreme modera
tion. It is, the highest act of sover
eignty. It is a power which was for a
long time claimed by the British mon
archs, but was finally taken from them
because it threatened the safety of the
realm. When it comes to the pass
that a single subordinate judge, act
ing with little deliberation, without
hearing both parties in interest, merely
upon the petition of a lawbreaking
corporation, assumes to dispense with
the laws of a state or of Congress, it
really seems as if it were time for a
halt. For this reason the Senate bill
regulating the authority of the Federal
Courts to annul legislation appears to
be opportune. It forbids fewer than
three Judges to take cognizance of
cases, where it is sought to restrain a
state official from executing a state
law on the ground of its unconstitu
tionality, and no injunction for that
purpose may be Issued without notice
and a full hearing. This bill ought
to pass the House without much diffi
culty, for while it is manifestly sound
statesmanship, it would put a stop to
a practice which stirs up unnecessary
discontent and at the same time it im
pairs popular respect for the courts.
Only a few years ago an injunction
proceeding was a remedy rarely used.
Now it is a common proceeding. Re
cently in Illinois a man illegally de
tained sought to gain his freedom by
habeas corpus, a remedy particularly
guaranteed and guarded by the Con
stitution. But before the judge could
hear the habeas corpus case an in
junction was issued by another judge
forbidding him to do so. Soon we
shall behold the spectacle of one judge
attempting to enjoin a certain act.
whereupon a second judge will at
tempt to enjoin the injunction by the
first, and then a third will come to
the rescue of the first by successfully
enjoining the injunction of the second.
Leave it to the lawyers and they will
find a way to make trouble and busi
ness.
New battleships and cruisers are In
some respects like new passenger lin
ers. No sooner is one launched than
something a little better appears, and
the queen of the seas last year be
comes a "has been." The new cruiser
Indomitable is reported to be smash
ing all records in her trial trips, now
being conducted on the Clyde, having
steamed & measured mile at the rate
of 28 knots per hour, and 26 knots
per hour in continuous steaming. For
the continuous test this is slightly bet
ter than 30 miles per hour, which is a
pretty stiff gait for an 18,000-ton craft
to be hurled through the water. - Up
to date there is nothing afloat that can
fight and run away" in order to live
and "fight another day" with the In
domitable. No man who owns real estate in
Oregon, much or little, or expects ever
to own any, can afford to vote for the
single-tax amendment. It means con
fiscation, through taxes, of all the pro
ceeds of land; that is, of all the value
of land, whether in farms or town lots,
and exemption of the chief forms of
personal property, in which the great
wealth of our plutocratic classes
mainly consists.
It seems to the common onlooker
that ' the popularity of George E.
Chamberlain Is declining. In the re
cent primary contest in Multnomah
County he received only 1255 vote3 for
Senator- though two years ago he got
9214 votes in the county for Governor.
But perhaps in June he will get some
of the votes that were cast in the pri
mary for Cake or Fulton.
Having taken great interest in the
nomination of the Republican candi
dates, and having secured in the main
the nomination of the candidates they
wanted, our Democratic friends now
are anxious to beat them In the elec
tion. Another lesson on the inconsis
tencies of politics.
"The prosecution in the Ford case,"
says the press report, "made out a
stronger, case in the two former trials."
Ford was acquitted in two minutes.
Mr. Heney is learning the dangers in
California of making out too strong a
case.
Congress purposes to limit the activ
ities of the Government secret service
to pursuit of Counterfeiters and to
personal protection for the President.
The old system has indeed made trou
ble for some few Congressmen.
The historic tall and short man are
responsible "for the Wolff murder, ac
cording to one able newspaper theory.
If you happen to be short, don't walk
down the street with a tall man. The
-dice might get you.
The prohibition nominees are pre
paring to stand up and be counted
once more, just the same as the high
ball ticket of the Kentucky Klk-k.
Two (or more) souls with a single
thought, etc.
Los Angeles thinks It has a prodigy
in a woman who has been asleep for
85 days.. Yet here in Oregon are peo
ple a few, only who' have been en
joying uninterrupted slumber for
years.
The single-taxers, men who have no
real property and are envious of those
who have, are the chief agitators for
the proposed amendment for unequal
taxation.
Prince Helie consents to become a
Protestant to marry Madame Anna
Gould. We really wouldn't like to say
outright just what she will become.
Mr. Heney ought to appeal from
the jury In the Ford case to the I'ali
forina primaries. - Or the Oregon pri
maries, perhap
VERSE
BY HARRY MURPHY.
God must, since He made man in that
fa dawn.
Have often wondered whom the joke
was on.
He reared the roof that glitters there.
His home's 'where heaven spreads;
He wove the silk the idle wear.
He shivers in his shreds.
He won the wealth that weaklings waste
A pocket's his least need.
With shining tracks the earth he traced.
O'er rocks his racked feet bleed.
Warehouses with his toil are stored;
Dowerless he and gaunt-
Nay, not for him they hold their hoard;
His child lies dead, of want.
His blood has made the desert bloom.
He built those cities vast.
But street or field there is no room
For htm. despised outcast.
EPIGRAMS FROM THE LATIf OB
MARTIAL.
On Fanslos.
When Fannius before the foe was flying
He slew himself he died for fear of dying,
To Kaalca.
When I'm, engaged and must decline,
'Tls then you bid me with you dine.
To Zollna.
My threadbare clothing, Zollus, nejr and
fine.
You jeer; yet threadbare though they are,
they're mine.
To Olua.
Your locks, Olua, axe Jet, your beard M
snow;
The reason is to dye but one, you knowi
To Soalblanna.
Till you are dead your verses you avow
Shall not be read; . O but to read them
now! .
To Fsuitm.
We don't know why you write so often ta
The girls; we do know that none writes
to you.
On Llgrla. ,
If hairs and years should equal be,
Llgeia's age were only three. " j
To Auctus. j
Oft rich men's anger has an end; j
To quarrel's cheaper than to lend.
To Aemlllanus.
Riches are for the rich; if you are poor,
Aemillan, then so you'll stay, be sure.
On Andragorss.
Daily with me he supped, then went ta
bed;
Met in a dream Quack H., and now U
dead.
pn Lnpercns.
So long that barber has been dawdling
o'er
Lupercus that his beard has grown one
more.
To a Bad Couple.
Husband and wife In wickedness are ucn
A match 'tis strange they disagree
much.
To Zollna.
Red hair, black face, foot cloven, ana
blear eyes;
If you're an honest man, then nature Ilea,
To Catullus.
Upon your death your goods I shaD
receive.
You say? Well, when I have them I'U
believe.
Ta Parla.
You're wise to want to' marry Priscus,
and
He, too. Is wise, since he declines jroia
band.
On a Parasite Friend.
You think this fellow Is a friend sincere!
Not you he loves. It is your lavish cheer-.
Your oysters, mullets and wild-boar. As
you
If I would feast, Td have his friendship,
too.
To Quintus Ovlillus.
I'd please you since you want no present;
be
You as obliging and send one to me.
To Plcentlnus.
Galla, who's buried seven, you has wed
Galla, no doubt, would follow her loved
dead ?
To Polllo.
When drunk at night you promise yod
will pay;
Next morn forget; pray, drink both night
and day.
To Laelia.
She wears bought teeth and hair; too bad!
An eye for coin cannot be had.
To Tupca.
Not satisfied to be a glutton, you
Are anxious to be seen and called one, too.
On a Friend.
Genial, sullen, you at once are both;
To live without or with you one Is loath.
To Aulus.
Our wise friend, say you, is not hard ta
fool:
An honest man-in fraud's a boy at school.
On' Paula.
Rich Paula is too old for me, though were
She older still I'd not object to her.
On Himself.
Though famed for verse and jokes, envy
me not;
The fastest horse wider renown has got.
To ZOllUK.
Who calls you vicious, Zoiius, speaks not
true;
Not vicious, Zoilus, vice itself are you.
On Phllo.
He never dines at home, so Philo swears;
Then only when invited out he fares.
On TlinlM and Laccaala.
Net's teeth are black, while Kate's are
white; Kate's ought
No doubt be white but just this minute
bought.
To an Envious Man.
You, who with spleen and grimace these
My verses read, may. If you please,
Envy all men; nobody, poor
Wretch, e'er will envy you, be sure.
To Frientlnnsj.
So ill you read that book of mine
That 1 begin to think It thine.
On Quintus.
Quintus loves Thais. Thais with but one
Eye; Quintus, it is evident, has none.
On Clunn..
China's a writer. I am told, of small
Lampoons against myself. You cannot
call
A writer one who's never road at all.
Men In Hum, Write llnivrn. In Freed.
New York Tribune.
An Tluli:tt. vmilli u.it.l i .
. -" ?vu.m. ni. .tllA JH; Via
zio Tanelurrino, of New York, was
caught stealing a ham in Bayonnc, N. J.,
and locked up. While in a cell he wrote
a postal card, which he asked a police
man to mail. The card was written in
Italian anil was addressed to '-Jcf-iis
Christ, Streets of Paradise." It
read: ."O, my dear God, I am in prison
because I stole a bain. I did not steal
it maliciously, but because I .needed it
and hadn't anything to eat in ten clays.
I wish I could have died the moment I
done this. Protect me in this case. and.
forgive me. Goodhy. Koodby."
Recorder Lazarus discharged the youth
and gave him money enough to get to
New York.