6
THE SUNDAY OREGOMAX, PORTLAND, MAY 10, 1908.
wt &tm
vmmx
SUBSCRIPTION RATES.
INVARIABLY IX ADVANCE.
(By Mall.)
Tially, Sunday Included, one year 8 .00
Dally. t-'tHiday Included, six months.... 4.5
lally, Sunday Included, three months.. li.jjJ
Ially, Sunday Included, one month i
Ially, without Sunday, one year 6.00
Iiaily, without Sunday, six months.... 8.23
lally; without Sunday, three months., l.i J
Ially, without Sunday, one month -0
Sunday, one year r-y
Weekly, one year (Issued Thursday)... 1-S0
Sunday and weekly, one year 8.j0
BY CARRIER.
Dally. Sunday included, one year 9.00
Dallv. Sunday Included, one month "3
HOW TO REMIT Send postortice money
order, express order or personal check on
your local hank. Stamps, coin or currency
are at the sender's rink. Give potonice ad
dress la full. Including; county and state.
rOSTAGE RATES.
Entered at Portland. Oregon. Postofflce as
Fecohd-Olass Matter.
io to u yg i en;
in to ax pages 3 cen;!
80 to 44 Pages ? cents
40 to B0 Pages . . cen"
Korelpn pontage, double rates.
IMPORTANT 'The postal laws are trlct.
NewMpapers on which postage Is not fully
prepaid are not forwarded to destination.
EASTERN BUSINESS OFFICE.
The . f. Berkslth Special Agency New
York, rooms 4.S-50 Tribune building. Chi
cago, rooms &10-S12 Tribune building.
KEPT UN -SALE.
f'hirairo Auditorium Annex: Postofflce
Neww Co.. 17S Dearborn street; Empire News
island.
Ht. Paul. Minn. N. Ste. Marie. Commer
cial Station
Colorado Springs. Colo. H. H. Bell.
Denver Hamilton A Kendrtck, 006-012
Seventeenth street; Pratt Book 6tore. 1214
Fifteenth street: H. P. Hansen. 8. Rice.
George Carson,
Kansas (lly, Mo. Rlrksecker Cigar Co
Ninth and Walnut; Yoma News Co.
Minneapolis M. J. Cavanaugb, SO South
Third.
Cincinnati. O. Tons News Co.
Cleveland. O. James Pushaw. 30T Super
ior street.
Washington, n. C. Ebbltt House. Four
teenth and F streets; Columbia News Co.
Pittsburg-. Pa. Fort Pitt News Co.
Philadelphia. Pa. Ryan's Theater Ticket
Office, Penn News Co.; A. P. Kemble. 3735
Lancaster avenue.
New York City Rotaling's news stands. 1
Park Row, 3Sth and Broadway. 42d and
Broadway and Broadway and 20th. Tele-
5 hone . 63T4. Single conies delivered:
ones & Co.. Astor House; Broadway The
ater News Stand; Empire News Stand.
Ogden. D. I,. Boyle; Lowe Bros.. 114
Twenty-llfth street.
Omaha Barkalow Bros.. Union Station;
llageath Stationery Co.; Kemp & Arenson.
Ies 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..
Bosenfeld & Hansen; O. W. Jewett. P. O.
corner; Stelpeck Bros.
Long Beach. Cal B. E. Amos.
Pasadena, CaL Amos News Co.
Pan Diego. B. B. Amos.
San Jose. Emerson. W.
Houston. Tex International News Agency.
Dallas, Tex. Southwestern News Agent.
844 Main street; also two street wagons.
Fort Worth, Texv Southwestern N. and
A. Agency.
Amarilla. Tex. Tlmmons & Pope.
Sun Franclaco Foster Orear: Ferry
News Stand; Hotel St. Francis News Btand;
I.. Parent;' N. Wheatley; Fairmount Hotel
News Stand; Amos News Co.: United News
Agency. 14V4 Eddy 'street; B. E. Amos, man
ager three wagons; Worlds N. s.. 2025 A.
Sutter street.
Oakland, Cal. W. H. Johnson, Fourteenth
and Franklin streets; N. Wheatley; Oakland
News Stand; B. E. Amos, manager Ave
wagons; Welllngham, E. G.
(...l.ldeld. Nev. Louie Follin.
Eureka, Cal. Call-Chronicle Agency; Eu
reka News Co.
PORTLAND, SUNDAY, MAY 10, 1908.
DEALING WITH A WHIMSEY.
Mr. Walter Thomas Mills, arguing
for the proposed tax amendment, says
that valuations now for purposes of
taxation are unequal, since "the bulk
of the wealth is in the cities, but that
farmers of the country pay three
fifths of the taxes." This will not bear
examination from any point of view.
It is inconsistent with the facts, and
inconsistent with the main argument
of the proponents of the amendment.
To assert that but two-fifths of the
taxes are paid by the cities is a serious
error. The assessed values of Port
land alone are almost two-fifths of
those of the state. And the assess
ment is right up to actual values; In
many suburban districts, above them.
Many tracts in various directions,
around the outskirts of Portland, are;
assessed at prospective, city values.
Then, besides the assessment of
property in Portland, amounting to
one-third to two-fifths of all the as
sessed values of the state, there are
the valuations of other cities and
towns; as Astoria, Salem, Eugene,
Ashland, Baker, Pendleton, The Dalles
and many more, which would carry
the total much above one-half the en
tiro valuation of the property of the
state. At present valuations of prop
erty in the cities and towns, as com
pared with valuations of country lands,
the former now are paying fully a just
share.
Moreover, the argument of Mr,
Mills is inconsistent with the main
contention of the single-taxers, since
their avowed object is to place greater
burdens on unimproved country lands;
in innumerable instances held by own
ers who have not yet found means to
Improve them. A farmer has a tract
which he has but partially Improved,
but which he holds with intention of
cultivating all of it when he can. He
doesn't wish to see it confiscated by
taxation. Exemption of his tools and
hullding3 would be no compensation
for confiscatory taxation of his unim
proved land.
Tr!e argument for an oppressive land
tax is the argument of theorists who
look only at one part of a subject and
distort everything to meet their pos
tulate; or It is the old agrarian argu
ment of those who have no land, have
not had the enterprise to acquire any,
and cultivate an envious disposition
towards those nho have had the fore
sight to get land and have endured the
sacrifices . necessary, to keep it. Of
course, wo are not including among
these land owners the beneficiaries of
large grants, which were got by per
version of the intent of the laws; but
we are including the lands granted t
actual settlers and held rightfully by
them, or descended to their posterity
or lawful assigns. Owners of these
lands, in country or city, demand fair
treatment for their 'property and will
have it, since they have right and jus
tice on their side as well as fair in
telligence and sufficient numbers. The
members of the granges throughout
the state are right on this business.
They see at once through the sophis
tries of those who propose the new
method of taxation; which would be
not only unjust to all land owners,
present and prospective, but would
completely upset the general tax sys
tem of the state a system based on
the Justest of. all principles, namely.
equal taxation of all' actual values,
Such, indeed, has always been the rule
of the law in Oregon, and the prac
tice year by year, in all parts of the
state, is coming into close and closer
conformity to it. The theorist, the
projector, the promoter of a fad and
whiitisey, '.will not be permitted to
overthrow, it. Land holding is lawful
nUX honorable, and necessary to civil!
zuiUD,,'.and to. devise means to rob the
land owner is no more justifiable than
to devise means to rob him of "his
movable goods. -.
"BY DIVINE THRUSTING ON." v
The phrase is Shakespeare's. . It
means simply that there Is a divinity
within us. which moves us to action,
but which, under free will, it is our
privilege and duty to direct for our
selves, this way or that.
The doctrine of free will is the hard
est of all metaphysical problems; yet
hard and difficult only in proportion
to the firmness or weakness of the in
dividual mind that tries to deal with
it.' Still, it may be said that this begs
the question. For if the mind is weak,
then free will is out of the question.
It was the woman that misled the
man. Whisky was responsible for his
fall.
Such pleas are entered every day,
Bui they are very contemptible. Most
of those who plead "weakness" for
their faults and crimes are. themselves
responsible for that weakness. And
all must be held responsible. Man is
nothing at all, if not superior to all
"the mortal Instruments" that he
would blame for his .lapses or his
downfall.
It is a false philosophy to assume
that there can no more be free will in
human conduct than chance in physi
cal affairs, and .that by predetermined
necessity there is a fixed quantity of
crime in every society, which the strug
gles of the individual will not be able
to change. Example and habit do, in
deed, go far; yet there always is, in
reserve, some quantity of choice. Else
every principle of virtue would soon
disappear from the world.
There is. no basis for human law
except in the moral order. This moral
order must be assumed. It is sug
gested by Nature and confirmed by
reason and experience. Thus, the les
son of bad actions, even more than
that of good, confirms and supports
the moral law.
Human sympathy makes allowance
for apparent necessity, which seems
to drive on towards evil. But human
laws cannot. Opium and alcohol can
not be treated as moral agents, or held
to accountability. But man can be so
treated and so held to account; and he
must be.
Yet man continually fails to realize
his ideal. Nevertheless, everywhere,
in our conscience, in our physical na
ture, in the sentiments of associated
men, there are indelible marks and
proofs of a morally constituted world,
moving towards righteous ends. Still
it is true that nowhere within us . or
out of us do we find the fulfillment of
this idea, but only, as Martlneau says,
"the incipient and often baffled ten
tatives for realizing it by partial ap
proximation." We are here in the
very center of the doctrine of deter
minism and free will, which in' one
form or another, through all ages, has
fascinated the human mind. It has
been especially the problem of Chris
tian theology; and a great writer has
truly said that "in Western Christen
dom it is the Catholic Church alone,
especially in its Dominican and Jesuit
schools, that has Baved any ability in
man to obey the will of God; while the
Augustinlan theology, whether shel
tered in Port Royal, or breaking forth
into branches of the Protestant Ref
ormation, has merged all human
power in Divine grace and foreordina
tion." Hence the celebrated Proving
cial Letters of Pascal, with all their
acuteness and brilliancy, and notwithy
standing their general service in clear
ing up theological subtleties, were
written on the wrong side of the ques
tion. MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT TAFT.
Mr. John C. Young is correct in his
statement that the vote of Oregon In
the National Republican Convention
at Chicago, being less than 1 per cent
of the total, will have small influence
in its proceedings. It would appear,
then, to be of no great importance as
to whether Oregon shall send to Chi
cago an instructed 'or uninstructed
delegation. The Taft men in Oregon
will want a Taft delegation because
they desire to be on the Taft' "band
wagon," while the opponents of Mr.
Taft, and even those friendly to him
who feel he may not be successful, will
want to leave the delegates' hands un
tied, so that the vote of Oregon may be
trafficked ' wherever it will "do the
most good."
This is about the situation as The
Oregonian understands it. Yet it
would seem that there is an .unneces
sary lack of Information, as to the real
strength of Mr. Taft. The Oregonian
print3 today a letter from Mr. Walter
Wellman, the well-known correspond
ent, which it believes gives the truth
as to the various state delegations to
the Chicago convention as nearly as it
may be given by anybody at this time.
Mr. Wellman thinks that Mr. Taft will
have enough, or very nearly enough,
instructed delegates to nominate him,
and his resources among the unin
structed delegates seem to guarantee
absolutely his success. This Is, of
course, merely an opinion from a well
informed newspaper correspondent.
Yet it is not an opinion, but a matter
of record, that Mr. Taft has instructed
for him at this time 4&0 out of the
necessary 491 delegates. He needs.
therefore, about 91 more. To get
them he must depend on the unin
structed delegates, numbering about
200, and on the delegates yet to be
chosen, which are somewhat less than
200. In this latter number are Ore
gon, "Washington, California and Ida
ho, all unquestionably for Taft. Among
the uninstructed delegations are states
like Massachusetts,- where the state
convention by a resolution recognized
the fact that its delegation was large
ly for Taft, but distinctly refrained
from instructing them in deference to
time-honored precedent in that state.
The Taft managers claim that nearly
100 of the uninstructed delegates so
far elected have publicly announced
themselves for the Ohio candidate.
There is no question that their conten
tion is well founded on fact.
- There Is another condition quite
helpful to Mr. Taft that would in a
close contest greatly aid in turning the
issue in his favor. He is unquestion
ably the second choice of several im
portant delegations Instructed for
"favorite sons" like Cannon and
Hughes. It is notorious that the New
York delegation, ' nominally , for
Hughes, is very largely in the hands
of Taft's friends. With Illinois, too,
the situation is very much the same.
When these delegations abandon the
candidates of their respective states,
if they ever get a chance to abandon
them, where are they'golng? To Taft
undoubtedly, unless meanwhile the
long-anticipated Roosevelt stampede
shall have occurred ami Mr. Roosevelt
shall have been nominated. But the
stampede that everybody expects rare
ly or never occurs,, for the element of
surprise is missing and the delegates
are completely fortified against it. The
Roosevelt stampede suffers from too
much advance advertising.
. It is impossible to avoid the conclu
sion, then, that Mr. Taft today has the
nomination for President in his own
hands. That he will, in all probability,
be nominated on the first ballot is ob
vious to all careful and impartial ob
servers. Whatever action the state
and Congressional conventions take
next Thursday, should, therefore, be
taken advisedly.
OLD AGE.
It does not follow necessarily that
Jacques was any better off for the ser
mons he found in stones. Perhaps,
like many sermons found in pulpits,
they were too long to be truly edifying.
The honey which the industrious bee
gathers ' from innumerable calyxes
during a long Rummer day fills but a
little pouch when she returns to the
hive at nightfall. Likewise, it may be
surmised that the piety and wisdom
which most preachers distil from their
researches during a whole week can
usually be condensed into the space of
twenty minutes or half an hour on
Sunday, with plenty of rooru left va
cant. One of the most valuable
amendments to the Constitution which
we can recommend to' the initiative
and referendum toilers 'is an article
forbidding "any minister to preach
more than thirty minutes upon the
stretch.'' Think with what enthusiasm
the suffering multitudes would vote
for this blessed amendment, and how
much the joy of the world would be
enhanced, by it, .with no. loss to any
body. Incidentally, a clause might be
annexed making it a capital crime for
any orator, of whatever stripe or hue,
to speak more than forty minutes con
secutively. The poets allege that garrulity is the
besetting sin of old age, but we have
not found it so. ; In our experience
Dogberry's gibble-gabble is a trait
which belongs to youth rather than
senectitude. Young politicians are es
pecially fond of imprisoning a helpless-audience
in a torture chamber
and wringing their souls with oratory.
Who has not been through one or more
awful scenes of. this kind. Who does
not retain in his memory, among the
pictures he would fain forget but can
not, a vision- of some youthful monster
on a platform shaking his hyacinthine
locks and rattling his tireless tongue
while he smiled at the agonies of his
victims? Torquemada in the chamber
of' the Inquisition was an angel of
mercy compared to a boy politician
with an audience in his toils. There
has been much vain discussion among
theologians about the unpardonable
sin which the Lord had in mind when
he said that everything should be for
given unto men with one exception.
What was this exception? Nobody
hitherto has been able to specify it
with certainty, but in our opinion he
meant garrulity.
Certainly boys are more garrulous
than old merr, more given to boasting
and all sorts of gibberish. The gift
of beauty may be a fatal one to wo
men, but to a young man the gift of
gab is much more deadly. Beauty
may have slain its thousands, but gab
has slain its tens of thousands. Which
sex is the more subject to this lethal
disorder it would be difficult to decide.
There is a common report that wo
men's tongues are more agile than
men's and their brains less active, but
brought face to face with cold facts,
this report loses a good deal of its
credibility. It is extremely doubtful
whether a sewing bee or a mission
meeting runs to gossip more than a
beer party in a corner saloon does. In
both sexes and at all times of life,
when people have nothing else to do,
they will talk. Wordsworth's boy
whistled as he went for want . of
thought, and among Goldsmith's party
under the hawthorn the loud laugh
bespoke the vaoant mind, but as a rule
it is the active tongue that bespeaks
the vacant mind. When a man finds
himself indisposed to think, he gets
on his feet and makes a speech.
We remember an erudite and up
right judge, now in Paradise, who was
much invited to dinners, funerals and
other diverting scenes, but before
promising to go he would always ask
warily, "Are there to be any
speeches?" If there were he would
resolutely decline. Long subjection to
the society of lawyers had filled him
with a preternatural horror of
speeches. This judge passed away in
the prime of life. Perhaps if he had
lived to old age he might in his de
cline have fallen into the vice of gar
rulity. He might possibly have ac
quired the habit of oratory, just as
some aged men lapse into other un
speakable practices, but we think not.
As he advanced in years his mind
seemed to grow more powerful and
his intelligence more alert. The com
mon belief that the approach of old
age impairs one's useful faculties was
not true in his case, nor do we believe
that it is true in general. Nature has
so constructed us that we may en
joy life to the end, unless In youth we
have squandered our inheritance of
vitality. It seems to be the plan of
Providence that a human being should
grow more valuable as he grows old,
although we often thwart the Almighty
by our follies.
In his remarkable novel, "Old
Wives for New," David Graham Phil
lips preaches a little sermon upon the
sinfulness of meeting old age more
than half way. In his opinion it is
our duty to resist the invader at every
point and only yield at the last mo
ment when all the walls have been
battered down and the last bullet fired.
His doctrine' is sound. Instead of ar
raying themselves in sad garments af
ter 50 or 60 and leaving the gay hues
to youth, why should not aged people
put on apparel more and more gaudy
as they approach the grave? Why not
keep up. a brave heart and fortify
our courage with gorgeous attire? If
our women of 90 were truly philo
sophic it would be they who would
wear the merry widow hats, while
solemn bonnets of sable hue would be
left to schoolgirls.
' The ancient world valued old men
more highly than we do. Our times
incline to thrust the aged into corners
out of the way and give everything
over to the young. Much boasting is
heard that "this is an age of young
men." There is an accepted belief
that everybody does his best work be
fore he is 35, but it is wholly fabulous.
Except in the realm of experimental
science nobody knows enough to be
very useful before he Is 40. Man's
muscular power declines after that
epoch, but his mental vigor increases.
It is then that he begins to reap the
harvest of his early sowing and it
would be sad, indeed, if he were to be
deprived of his reward by decrepitude.
The best work of the world in every
department requiring greatintelligence
has been done by men between 40 and
70. After 70 one may Justly claim the
right to rest, but If weakness compels
him to rest sooner it is because he
has discounted the best period of his
life by folly in his youth. We fail pre
maturely because we do ndt . learn
soon enough how to live.
DR. . VOORSANGER.
Dr. Jacob Voorsanger, of San Fran
cisco, who died a few days ago, was
one of the most eminent members of
the Jewish race, and one of the most
distinguished philanthropists and
scholars of the Pacific Coast. He was
born in Holland in 1852 and lived
there until he was twenty-one years
old, receiving his early education in
the schools of Amsterdam, his native
city. It was in Cincinnati, however,
that he prepared himself to exercise
the office of Rabbi. , He presided over
several congregations, always with
great success, that of Houston, Tex.,
being the last which enjoyed his serv
ices before he went to Emanu El syn
agogue, in San Francisco. He was the
Rabbi of - this congregation, which is
the largest west of the Mississippi, for
almost twenty-five years.
Dr. Voorsanger was . a conspicuous
example of that passion for broad use
fulness and devotion to high Ideals
which inspires so many of the min
isters of the Jewish Congregations.
Largely free from sectarian bias, mas
ters of an ancient and profound re
ligious philosophy, excited to emula
tion by the deeds of noble ancestors
and the mighty history of their race,
and endowed with an intellectual acu
men which no other class of men ex
cels and which fev can equal, they
have been pioneers of religious and
political liberty. Among these leaders
of men Dr. Voorsanger was conspicu
ous for his ability, energy and courage.
He was an educator, an editor, an
author and a philanthropist, as well
as a minister. The- chair of Semitic
languages and literature in the Uni
versity of California was founded by
Dr. Voorsanger, and by him it was
filled for many years. At the same
time he delivered lectures at Stanford,
edited the denominational paper called
Emanu El, and wrote books of merit.
At the time of the earthquake in San
Francisco no man was more prom
inent in active service and wise coun
sel than this energetic Rabbi. He was
famed for his courageous thought and
his unswerving devotion to the truth.
He was loved for his devotion to hu
manity. He was revered for his conse
crated piety. The Jewish race has
produced many more than its propor
tionate share of scholars, teachers and
leaders of thought in this country, and
among them Dr. Voorsanger was one
of the most admirable.
"ON THE "WITNESS STAND."
Under this title Hugo Muensterberg
a name suggestive of scholarly re
search and radical opinion has pub
lished a volume of essays, eight in all,
which is entitled to more than pass
ing notice. It deals with matters that
confront the world today and fascinate
while they appal the philosophers, so
called of advanced thought, the stu
dents of cause and effect in the realm
of occultism. The topics treated are,
"Illusions," "The Memory of the
Witness," "The Detection of Crime,"
"The Traces of Emotion," "Untrue
Professions," "Suggestions in Court,"
"Hypnotism and Crime," and "The
Prevention of Crime." The present
ment of these subjects is preceded by
an introduction In which the author
remarks that there are in the United
States alone about fifty psychological
laboratories "a fact which the aver
age man of education has not noticed.
or, if he chances to hear of them, fan
cies that they serve for mental healing
or telepathic mysteries or spiritualistic
performances." Continues Professor
Muensterberg:
What else can a laboratory have to do
with the mind? Has not the soul been for
20CO years the domain of the philosopher?
What has psychology to do with electric bat
teries and Intricate machines? Too often
have I read euch questions In the faces- of
visiting friends who came to the Harvard
Psychological Laboratory in Emerson Hall
and found 27 rooms venspun with electric
wires and filled with chronoacopes and kymo
graphs and ergographs and a mechanic at
work.
Considering that, perception and memory,
feeling and emotion, attention and volition,
and so on, are the chief factors of daily life,
entering Into every one of our enjoyments
and duties, experience and professions. It
seems astonishing that no path led from the
psychological workshop to the market place of
the world.
The conclusion reached by the au
thor is that the time for applied psy
chology is near, and that the fields of
practical life that come first irr order
for study and development are "edu
cation, medicine, art, economics and
law." The latter he considers the
field where greatest resistance will be
encountered. The lawyer is more ob
durate, more closely wedded to prece
dent, more dependent upon the power
to make the worse appear the better
reason In plying his vocation than are
workersalong other lines enumerated.
It is with the hope, not altogether
forlorn, to exert some pressure upon
the jurist through public opinion that
will compel him to make some conces
sion to the spirit 'of modern psychol
ogy that " these sketches have been
written. That they will repay perusal
is conceded. That they will change
the tactics, indurated in custom, that
have made the "witness stand" what it
is a dreaded, uncertain and unsatis
factory element in our jurisprudence
is at least doubtful.
A TEMPEST STIIXED.
A short time ago there occurred a
genuine tempest in a milliner shop in
Wabash, Ind. The press of Spring or
ders was great it was, in fact, just
before Easter and the distracted
forelady we use the term "forelady"
advisedly the forelady was driven by
dire extremity to trim a hat. It being
contrary to the rules and regulations
of the milliners' union for a forelady
to demean herself or infringe upon the
rights of her subordinates by work,
the union promptly levied a tax of J I
upon the offender. Urging the stress
of the situation in defense of her ac
tion, the forelady refused to pay the
fine and was expelled from the union.
Here the proprietor's trouble began in
earnest. A committee of the union
waited upon him without delay and
demanded the discharge of the non
union forelady. This demand was. In
common justice, refused, the other
employes, by order of the union, de
clined to work with a non-union
woman, and a strike was on.
In the emergency Samuel Gompers.
president of the American Federation
of Labor, was called upon, and, after
gravely considering the matter, he or
dered the union to rescind its action,
saying:
A forelady has an unquestioned right to
assist in the performance of any work, and in
any establishment foremen and foreladles are
required not only to superintend work but to
do work themselves. '
This is easily the most important de
cision that Mr. Gompers has rendered
in his official capacity for months. It
may be doubted whether any that he
has rendered during his official career
as leader of organized labor surpasses
it in interest; certainly none outranks
it in plain, ordinary common sense. If
there is any reason why a foreman
or forelady"' in any establishment
should not be allowed to use his or her
own judgment in the interest of the
employer, such reason is not apparent
to the unprejudiced observer. Why,
indeed, should not an employe in such
capacity do what he or she is hired to
do, look after the interests of the em
ployer? Why, indeed, should he or
she not be permitted to use his or her
own judgment in the discharge of the
duties of such vocation?
THE GENERAL. CONFERENCE.
The governmental machinery of the
Methodist Episcopal Church has been
admired by almost everybody who has
taken pains to study it. Not by any
means a pure democracy, it makes
abundant use of the representative de
vice, and even retains vestiges of au
tocracy. Still the voice of the lay
membership Is potent in its affairs and
ultimately predominates. This voice
is heard four times every year In the
quarterly .conferences which assemble
under the leadership of the "presiding
elders." Here primary tendencies be
come manifest, new Ideas begin to fer
ment and changes of policy are de
bated. From these original assem
blies what is left after the preliminary
sifting goes up to the annual confer
ences, each of which is presided over
by a bishop, while the ripened judg
ment of the denomination embodies
Itself in fundamental law at the great
general conference, "which assembles
once in four years. This is the su
preme legislative body and the court
of last resort for all Methodists.
It is a coincidence not without sig
nificance that the. quadrennial confer
ence comes in the same year with the
Presidential election, for the Methodist
Church has never withheld its hand
from secular affairs. From the stormy
days of the slavery agitation down
through the troublous temperance re
form the voices of the local and gen
eral conferences have invariably been
heard on the side of righteousness.
When some genius is born who shall
adequately write the social history of
the United States, he will assign no
mean place among the factors which
have molded our life upon the Ideals
of genuine Integrity to the persistent
striving of the Methodist Church. Sol
diers of the cross and followers of the
Lamb were the old circuit riders; mili
tant protagonists for the God of Jus
tice are the delegates who are now a.s
sembled in Baltimore. Marvelous in
Its origin,- wonderful in its achieve
ments, the church of Wesley has
steadfastly cleaved to its high ideals
and relentlessly fought the world, the
flesh and the devil. Nor does it think
the victory won now, or show any dis
position to lay down its armor. The
Baltimore conference confronts- the
questions of the day like a young man
stripped for the race. The bishops
havespoken their mind to the dele
gates upon temperance, upon labor
and capital, upon worldly amusements,
upon divorce, and we search in vain
for any abatement of the ancient cour
age, the unflinching integrity, the in
exorable hostility to sin, which have
characterized this noble church from
its humble beginning until now.
Not without a sympathetic beating
of the heart can one read the account
of the enthusiasm which swept over
the conference when the bishops called
upon the delegates to "pledge eternal
hostility to this foe of man and God,"
the liquor traffic. It recalls old his
toric scenes when men forgot their
souls and bodies for the moment and
merged themselves in the eternal.
Every delegate sprang to his feet and
everj- voice rose triumphant in the
mighty hymns of the church. So Han
nibal, one man against the military
oligarchy which threatened to sub
merge the world, knelt at the- altar
of his God and vowed eternal warfare,
upon Rome; so the Hungarian noble
when the Empress Maria .Theresa,
queenly in imperial majesty and thrice
queenly in the beauty of motherhood,
held up her baby for their fealty, drew
their swords and swore that they
would die for their King; so the gath
ered multitudes of Europe caught fire
at the exhortations of the Hermit
Peter anl took up their march to re
deem the tomb of Christ. It will be a
sad day for the world when the
breath of heaven hath blown out these
enthusiasms and strewn the cold ashes
of prudence upon the deliberations of
conferences and legislatures. It is a
good thing for great assemblages to
burn with high ideals. -
And the ideals of the Methodist
Church are high. We bow to their
splendid consecration. We do homagi
to their unflinching steadfastness,
even if our own thought cannot quite
accept them all. As to wqrldly amuse
ments,, the bishops wish to drop from
the discipline certain condemned pas
times, like cardplaying and dancing,
and return to Wesley's simple rule.
This was that a Christian should go
nowhere and do nothing which would
involve "the denial of the Lord Jesus."
The probability is that Wesley was
wiser than those who altered his orig
inal regulation. The advice of the
bishops tends toward individual free
dom and true piety. Consciences are
not all alike. An act which is sinful
under some conditions is innocent else
where. Religion is a state of mind,
not a system of rigid formulas. One
source of the power of the Methodist
Church has been its uncompromising
hostility to frivolous living, but there
is a frivolity of asceticism as well as
of indulgence.
When the bishops come to speak of
divorce, however, they lose something
of their persuasiveness. They refer to
the present facility in dissolving the
marriage contract as encouraging
"consecutive polygamy." Are they
quite sure that additional restrictions
would not encourage simultaneous po
lygamy? Their contention is that di
vorces break up homes, but the fact
seems to be that the home is broken
up before the divorce is sought. De
nial of. the divorce would not restore
the home. It would simply drive the
parties to unlawful cohabitation. More
than that, it would subject women In
particular to intolerable hardships.
It is not divorces which threaten the
home, but those social conditions
which make people seek divorces. In
this field it is an inveterate habit of 1
clergymen to deal with symptoms and
Ignore the causes which underlie them.
It would probably be a mistake for the
Methodist Church or any other church
to try to restrict the freedom of di
vorce, but the bishops are eminently
wise in advocating uniform laws upon
this subject thoughout the country.
In this effort they will enlist the co
operation of everybody who cares for
the public welfare.
"Logic and Its Uses" is the subject
of an extended dissertation written by
George H. Smith, formerly Supreme
Court Commissioner in California, for
a well-known magazine devoted to the
legal profession. . He urges that law
yers and Judges should be well ground
ed in the principles of logic as In
vented by Aristotle and modified by
the school men of the Middle Ages.
And there are many who will agree
with him.- especially since reading
some of the recent decisions of courts
In the jurisdiction in which Mr. Smith
resides. The trouble is that the logic
used by the lawyers and Judges today
is not that founded by Aristotle and
modified by the school men of the
Middle Ages, but is a variety devel
oped by the legal fraternity in modern
times. As Mr. Smith aptly quotes:
What thief e'er felt the halter draw.
With good opinion of the law?
There all the trouble lies. The thief.
whether a pickpocket or a political
boss and bribe-giver in San Francisco,
must devise a system of logic by which
Judges may divide a hair 'twlxt south
and southwest side, thereby allowing
the guilty to escape. In the immedi
ate past there has been a departure
from that fundamental principle that
"law is the perfection of reason, it al
ways intends to conform thereto, and
thatt which is not reason is not law."
Mr. Smith has undertaken a huge
task when he endeavors to interest
lawyers in the uses of logic of the old
school. But his efforts may be spe
cially commended to the attention of
the fraternity in his own state.
One of the. strongest arguments
against an increase of pay of members
of the Legislature from $3 a day to
$10 a day is that it would breed a
spirit of extravagance. There would
be a tendency to raise the compensa
tion of all officers and employes of the
Legislature, including the clerks and
stenographers, in a corresponding de
gree. There would be a greater read
iness to increase salaries of county and
state officers and to enlarge the force
of officials and assistants beyond the
needs of the public service. We shall
get just as good men in the Legisla
ture with compensation at $3 a day as
we would if the pay were J10 a day,
and the service rendered would not be
Improved by an increase in per diem.
A recent article in the Michigan
Law Review says that "the? profession
of the law exists in all civilized coun
tries save China, and it is hard to see
how society gets on without it there."
If the author of the article, who is a
lawyer, were a resident of the Pacific
Coast he would know that the Chinese
have the reputation of being the more
truthful in their speaking and more
honorable in their dealing than any
other class of people with whom we
have business relations. He would
then admit, perhaps, that the Chinese
have no need of lawyers, for, having
had none, they have never learned
those nice technicalities by which men
convince themselves that wrong is
right.
A news dispatch from Albany says
that "it is no uncommon sight to see
youths of immature years intoxicated
on the streets of Albany." If this is'
true, it conclusively proves one thing
that a new set of prosecuting officers is
needed pretty badly up there. What
ever one may think of the saloon
question and of the effectiveness of
prohibition in general, there can be no
room for doubt that when it is a com
mon sight to see immature youths In
toxicated upon the street of a "dry"
town there is gross dereliction of duty
somewhere.
Judge Cameron's principal objection
to John Manning as District Attorney
Is that Manning has found it expedient
in important cases to employ special
counsel. Cameron as District Attor
ney would not hire special counsel.
Here Is another first-class reason for
the re-election of Manning.
It will be well for all women travel
ing alone to equip themselves with
identification cards or photographs,
showing that they are not Mrs. Belle
Guinness, of La Porte, Ind. Other
wise they are likely to fall into the
hands of some able detectives.
It would appear to have been quite
unnecessary for the President to in
form those Senators that he Is the
commander-in-chief of the Army and
Navy. . He always knew It himself,
and he has proved it to the Army and
Navy a great many times.
Admiral Evans has been in the
American Navy for forty-eight years.
He ought to know something about
eggshell 'armor belts; but he never
saw them, apparently, except in the
muckraking magazines.
It is unkind to throw it up to Judge
George that he happens to have the
same name as the great advocate of
the single tax. The Judge is doing his
best to live down the family reputa
tion. Suspect Martin is the latest to com
plain of the fare served him at the
City Jail- Everybody knows the way
to ' get along without Jail food, and
that is to stay out of jail.
Mr. John C. Young describes him
self and Senator Bourne as "Statement
No. 1 Republicans." The Republican
with a prefix has a long history in
Oregon.
Harmon is the "choice of the con
servatives," we are told. Well, that's
all he's the choice of.
The man who snatched away Judge
Marquam's property Is no better off
for having done it.
There is .yet no 'skyscraper office
building m England. But Liverpool is
about to erect one.
Just how many states will Hon. Jud
son Harmon carry that Mr. Bryan
couldn't !
Oregon will be for Taft, not for
second elective term.
VERSE
, BY HARRY MURPHY.-.
Why God selects a aaturnine,
Intol'rant sword in hand -To
represent his love divine, .
I'd like to understand.
.
Deliverance from every vice yet known
Is possible, save avarice alone.
... ;
The day of love of country's by;
The day of love of mankind's nigh.
"
No sham so shallow that it ever ned
Seek followers; but who the truth will
heed?
.
We call our court at Washington su
preme And, put just slightly slangy, that's no
dream.
....
Perhaps the reason why so few of us
Are good, we fear to be ridiculous. '
March of Mind.
The baron, bandit, buccaneer.
Are but a memoried name;
When came their modern trust compeer.
They forthwith died of shame.
1
Your Turpin. Rob Roy, Kidd and Hood
Were but a simple lot;
'Tis well they've gone from wave and
weed
Such bunglers be forgot!
Perhaps their blunderbuss and lance
Were fit for untaught tlms;
Be we've progressed to high finance
To rob's no longer crime.
For paltry purse we never knock
Our victim down or shoot;
O gentler far's statute and stock;
And nations are the loot!
Epigrams From the Latin of Martial
TO POMPONIL'S.
Your guests applaud, but .if you only
knew
It is your feast that's eloquent, not you.
TO VACERRA.
Alone to poets dead your praise you give;
The price I thinks too high and so I'll
live.
TO A BAD DOCTOR.
A doctor, you're a soldier made; the name
Is dlff'rent, the employment is the same.
TO THEODORUS.
Tou've vainly begged my verses? ' Well,
you see,
I feared lest you present your own to me.
ON THEODORUS. A BAD POET.
By flames the house of Theodore the
bard
Has perished; that it's owner's spared is
hard.
TOMATHO.
You speak too finely, Matho; if you
would
Speak well, speak sometimes neither ill
nor good.
TO REGULUS.
No money, Regulus, at home have I;
Only your gifts. Are you inclined to buy?
ON BASSUS.
Bassos' new robe's a bargain? Why,
Ten thousand seems to me quite high.
High, yes; but cheap you will admit.
For Bassus. who'll ne'er pay for it.
"The poor always ye have with you." -Quite
so! likewise the priv'ledsed few,
...
Most folk are right some time; not
through Intent,
Of course. Ah, no; it's merely accident.
...
Our locks and laws and jails are just
A trifling mark of mutual trust.
...
Our "sense of humor's" all a'mytb, else
we
Die with laughter being called "the free."
. .
The "good of greatest number" is to say
In specious phrase, that strong on weak
shall prey.
e
Females most laud the beauties of the
mind
Who lack those beauties of another kind.
To teach divine good will
Your heart with hatred fill.
...
Behave as though you think a man a
thief
He'll likely give you grounds for your
belief.
....
The most surprising thing that we
Meet with 's an act of honesty.
...
Men with brutes themselves compare.
In the brute's case this
Usually 'a an instance where
Ignorance is bliss.
.....
Nothing is wonderful whose place
Is not far off in time or space.
. . . -Who
cares his own infirmities to mend
When he can rectify those of his friend?
...
Our kind of government is all
Right for the few who take the toll.
, . . .
Laurel for conquest o'er
A fool, who ever wore!
...
When someone else is be
ing damned we all agree.
e
Call no people free
Wanting honesty.
e
Optimism somehow fails
To account for laws and jails.
...
In selfishness and jealousy.
Men differ, only in degree.
... .
The barbarous of human kind
Have less of vice than the refined.
...
Great wealth and poverty's the ground
Where worst iniquities are found.
...
Of folk to pass the hat there's no
Lack filling it is diff'rent, though.
.
We doubt one who would render us
A benefit gratuitous.
. .
We exclude our own Infirmities and their
Virtues when with others we ourselves
compare.
"Widow" Hat Too Bis; for Phosc Booth.
Baltimore (News.
Miss Marguerite Shonts, of New York,
daughter of Theodore P. Shonts, and a
sister of the Duchess de Chaulnes, is
wearing one of those large sailor hats
black, trimmed with a single wreath of
four magnolias.
The revenge of a long-suffering public
who have been dodging these millinery
cartwheels for the last month seemed
to have vented Itself, all unconsciously,
at Sherry's the other day.
Miss Shonts was about to telephone.
She went rather hurredly to the booth
designated by Central, reaching the door
when she suddenly tossed her head over
as does a long-horn in close quarters.
It was unquestionably a dilemma. She
looked hastily about, then out came the
long hat pins and oft came the offending
hat, and Miss Shonts. with the hat held
sideways, entered the narrow but now
no longer impossible portal.
. Bad Attack of Xewapnperltla.
Chicago Record-Herald.
Colbourn Huey. of Springfield. 111.,
aged 13. frequently runs away trtra
home, in order, he says, to get his name
in the nevrspnpers. He gets his ideas
of making escapes from novels.
J