SUNDAY OREGONIAX, PORTLAND, SErTE3IBEI.
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rORTLA'I). SUNDAY. SEIT. IS, 1008.
THE TEST OK "DOING THINGS."
It Is fifty years since the Republi
can party came Into prominence and
power and declared Its purposes. During-
this long; period it has kept its
promises, and has done what it said
it would do.
Fault has been found with it, f,rom
the first till now, even by many of
lis own members. Criticism is the
easiest trade In the world, and critics
all are ready made.
But on the whole the Republican
party has kept its promises to the
country, and has done things. A
man writes to the New York World,
a Democratic paper, but now indjrectly
a supporter of Bryan:
Not lnng ago I bought on a ptiahcart two
little book that contain all the platforms of
the National parties sine 1856, and do you
know that all the promiaea the Republican
have mad in thoea 52 years are now enacted
Into the laws of the country, or are atlll In
their last platform, except the Bootell tem
perance revolution of 188s? That they hay
dropped wisely, concluding that temperance
can beet be promoted by non-partlaan method.
The writer says that though a Dem
ocrat, he will vote for Taft. because
the Republican party has done what
it promised, because its policy on the
whole has promoted the public wel
fare which the Democrats have con
ceded by acceptance of everything of
importance that has been done by the
Republican party' these . fifty years.
During all this period the Democratic
party has come drifting and lagging
along, occupying the former camps of
the Republican party, and trying to
warm by the cold ashes of 'its old fires,
after it had moved on. No party can
please all its members, still less can
it please the opposition on the hunt
for materials of criticism and dissent.
But the Democratic party hasn't even
been a good critic. It succeeded,
however, sixteen years ago, in break
ing up the continuity of Republican
rule and had all affairs in its own
hand. But it failed to do anything
but commit blunder on blunder, and
the people again turned it immed
iately out of power.
This party is critical, bu not con
structive. It doesn't understand the
country; it doesn't know anything of
the Just balance between its progress
ive and conservative forces. It can't
do things. It fails. Should It come
into power soon again it will fail now
again, yet will create much disturb
ance and will upset business and check
prosperity, more or less. One great
reason is that its main available
strength Is In the South, which is con
tent to do nothing but sit on the
nigger and hold down union labor
and all social and political organiza
tions not in accord with the control
ling idea of a single party. Its cam
paigns are made wholly in the North;
it is controlled In all its action by the
immovable conservatism of the South.
No house ever was more completely
divided against itself. Therefore it
can do nothing. If it gets power it
will paralyze itself and paralyze the
country, as it did sixteen years ago.
It la the party merely of paralysis, op
position, obstruction, hindrance and
decay. It can't do things. The ac
tivities of the country. If it should
come into power, would be deadened
by its touch. Again, as heretofore.
thousands of people are holding oft
or delaying various undertakings
waiting to see. Nor will money flow
freely again till they do see.
The history of parties, backed by
their achievements, is something. It
is much. It is guide for the present
and assurance for the future.
. THE TTP SYSTEM JARRED.
Among other reforms and much
needed innovations which may get
round before the millennium Is the
"tipless" ocean steamer.' The coming
of that glad day has been materially
hastened by the heroic action of a pas
senger on the Cunard liner Carmanla
a few weeks ago. This passenger, fol
lowing the time-honored "stand-and-
dellver" custom, had distributed 35
in tips-to tho multitude of stewards
who barred his progress as the steam
er neared port. The failure of one of
the stewards to divide a 10-shllllng tip
with another precipitated a crisis, and
the passenger was so vigorous In his
protest against the system that his tips
were collected and returned to him.
The affair created so much trouble
on board that when the ship docked
at Liverpool the bathroom steward,
who started the trouble because he
failed to get his portion of the 10
shilling tip, was promptly discharged
and blacklisted. He then brought suit
for tlSOO, and in the court was de
feated, the defense being that It was
contrary to the rules of the steamship
company to solicit tips. The case
brought to light some interesting facts
regarding the tipping system, which
the big steamship lines publicly frown
on and privately Insist on. It devel
oped in the testimony of the dis
charged steward that out of his earn
ings it was necessary to "tip the pan
tryman in order to get choice cuts of
meat for the passengers. It was not
brought out who the pantryman had
to "tip." but the generosity of his em
ployers was so pronounced that he
probably had to tip tome one higher
up or lower down.
The tipping evil would not be so ob
noxious on ocean steamers were it not
almost exclusively due to the parsi
mony of the owners, the stewards be
ing employed at a- beggarly salary
with the distinct understanding that if
the salary is insufficient they are ex
pected to graft -what they need from
passengers who have already paid lib
erally for the service. Nor do the big
steamship companies conceal all of
their petty grafts by making the poor
stewards scapegoats for the practice.
Th "deck-chair graft." while it is
only SI. is collected exclusively for the
company, although the passenger wno
has paid from S100 to S200 for his
passage is also expected to contribute
another dollar to the deck steward
who collects the company's dollar.
These various grafts seem petty, but
In the aggregate they reach such enor
mous sums that it will be very aimcun
ermlixh the system. On some, of
the well-patronized express steamers
conservative estimates place tne viu
of the tips given employes as high as
S15.000 per trip.- In other-words, the
passengers contributed this sum for a
service which was supposed to be in
cluded In the passage money, and all
of which representea a saving i"
wages for the steamship owners. The
Cunard passenger who had the cour
age to resist the excessive extortion
attempted and thereby brought about
a courtroom exposure of the graft is
entitled to the thanks of every ocean
traveler who has suffered in silence
from a similar hold-up. . v
COMPUUJfTS OF THE PRIMARY 1AW.
nra aro noma expressions from the
press of Washington on the direct
primary law:
Bvery candidate' for nomination Is forced to
mak hi own campaign, mortgage hla own
home to pay hi own expenses and run hi
own leg off trying to aave the acene when
fee goe home and tells hi own wire tnt no
I not the most popular man in .
Beattl Time.
It engender factional imre. . . . "
costly. . . . It i In favor of the minority
party. . - Participation of Democrat In
the Republican primary ahould be obviated.
Aberdeen World.
In ome Instance Democrat voted tne re
publican ticket, though without a. legal or
moral right to do so. . . it i resuoui
to aaeuma that a consiaeranie numoer oi m
..mniiin.,, MmiMTt of the oartv de
liberately sought to folit weak nominee upon
the Republican party. Haius nm-ui
gencer.
How to keep the member of the minority
party from leaving their party temporarily to
Influence nomination oi tne majwivj yi
I one of the most difficult problem In con
nection with the direct primary eyatera.
Tacoma Ledger.
Many Democrat were enabled to lena -a
twintne- hand" ts their Republican brethren
nnrior the beneficent Drovlsnon of that "fear
fully and wonderfully made" direct primary
law. Washington standard, tuia-umo jjemo
cratlo newspaper.)
' This paper la opposed to any amendment of
the . primary law. It I In favor of repeal.
We are of the opinion, that the representative
system upon which the Government of thl
country la based 1 sound. We believe that
the direct primary system contain the germ
of a thousand evils which have not been known
under the old system; and we think tnat a
.v.- nMml. will aree with t
that this new Idea 1 attractive mainly be
cause it 1 new. in tne ena. or aner a tune,
thev will sro back to the old plan because It
la better. Xaklma Republic.
These are representative news
papers of the State of Washington.
All have wa believe. . been favorable
to the primary law, but they see the
grave defects or . its operation, tor
example, the spectacle of Democrats
openly calling for Republican ballots
and voting for Republican candidates
whom they expected in the ensuing
election to oppose was state-wide. It
is freely recognized that if this Inva
sion of party rights, capture of party
organization ana control oi party
nominations by the opposing party is
not checked and defeated the entire
system must break down. But what
is to be done? How can members of
a minority party be prevented, from
amine- boldlv Into the Drlmarv of the
majority party and running its af
fairs? Isn't this the very tning tne
primary law any primary law' In
vites and permits? Isn't it the thing
desired and demanded by the framers
and promoters of primary law legisla
tion? Isn't freedom to' act with any
party at any time and for any time,
and to act with any other party at any
other time the real Inspiration and
foundation of primary election laws
in Oregon, wasnington ana every
where? What is to be done about it? What
can be done about it? How can par
ties be maintained and preserved
under1 it? Thev cannot toe. The next
step will be a plebiscite of the whole
voting population for the purpose of
election without previous nomination
or suggestion from any organized
body of voters. Why not?
A IAWYEB DISBARRED.
Tho mrt omiIq r fortunes nf Francis R.
Hart, of Minneapolis, deserve more at
tention from the readers of newspa
pers than they have thus far received.
Mr. Hart Is a lawyer who has been
temporarily disbarred for sending an
insulting letter to tne cnier justice oi
the finnreme tnurt of Minnesota. It
appears that he appealed three cases in
succession to the supreme court, an
of which were decided against him,
and in the bitter disappointment, or
the righteous wrath of his heart,, it is
hard to tell which, the worm finally
turned. He poured his burning
thoughts into three or four letters,
sending one to Governor Johnson,
whom he besought to begin impeach
ment proceedings against the judges.
Another went to the St. Paul Dispatch,
iwhich printed It and gave it to the
Associated Press, while a third went
to the Chief Justice himself. In all
these letters both the ability and the
integrity of the judges were scathingly
impugned, xar. iian wrote witn es- i
peclal bitterness of the case of a poor
. . . , . . . . I
iwiaow wnom me law naa aepnvea oi
her share in her deceased husband's
property.
In this case the Supreme Court
ruled that . a widow's rights In her
husband's estate were governed, not
hv th a law It hfln been rlnrins bis
life, but as It happened to be at his
death. Thus the day before he died
the Legislature might enact a statute
confiscating the widow's interest, and
the court would hold It valid on the
ground that her right does not vest
until her husband has drawn his last
until ner nusoana nas arawn nis last
breath. Were this rule to be applied
to everybody alike, it would signify
that any non-vestea interest may do
confiscated as the Legislature may
please. But It does not apply to every
body alike. There is as much differ
ence between widows and railroads as
there is between twe'edle-dee and
tweedle-dun. A railroad's right to its
future earnings is not yet vested be
cause no right can vest In a thing
which does not exist. It Is merely a
contingent right, like the Minnesota
widow's clalm'upon her husband's es
tate. And yet. If a Legislature tries
to confiscate the railroad's contingent
right, the courts make all expedient
haste to annul Its action, while the
poor widow's contingent right may be
extinguished as frequently and com
pletely as the Legislature desires. Such
Is the law.'
Mr. Hart said In his pungent letter
'I tnat a court wnicn wouia ruie tnus
: against a widow must b either juuia-Jegg.
that a court which would rule thus
telllgent or corrupt. Modesty forbade
the Minnesota Supreme Judges to try
the offending lawyer themselves, so
they asked Governor Johnson to ap
point a. special bench to look Into the
matter, and this he did. The decision,
printed In the Northwestern Reporter,
is as fair to the accused lawyer as
language could possibly be. The
judges say that he had a perfect right
to criticise any action of the court,
after -It was over and done with, as
much as he wished. It is hot very
pretty conduct on the part of a lawyer
to do so. they intimate, but it is per
fectly allowable. The same privilege
belongs to citizens and to newspapers,
a r.nork of Mr. Justice Brewer is
quoted to the purport that court de
,;.inn. when once completed are pub-
lie nronertv and that criticism ot tnem
tends to keep the courts sound. Jus-
HnitnM Is also auoted as being
of the same opinion, and a long array
of cases is set down to prove mm. ;
courts have almost unuormiy re
trained from punishing people who
ventured to comment upon tneir ue-
clsions. - ...
So Mr Hart could not be dlscipnneo.
for criticising the action. of the court
in his three unfortunate suits, and, if
. rnt ent the letter to the cmei
Justice, he would have come off with
a whole skin. But he did sena it, anu
for that he was disbarred because hiS
act was "disrespect to a juaiciai m-
cer," and consequently a violation oi
v.. 'n.f,iiniii oath. If every law
yer -who violates his professional oath
were to be disbarred, wnunor snuuiu
we turn for legal counsel? Mr. Hart
probably deserved his punishment.
Sending the letter to tne uniei ju"
looks like a piece of spitework which
could effect no good purpose, nn"
amazes one In a free country, is that
he could be tried, convicted and pun-
tnv this offense by a tribunal
consisting of Judges alone, with" no
Jury; a tribunal whose natural . class
feeling was strongly ennstea against
him. His disbarment amounts, oi
course, to s. fine, since he loses his m
.nm for sir months, and the singular
point In the case, we reiterate, Is th
fact that such fines can db unpuacu
for acts not committed in the presence
of the court, or even while a case is
pending, without a Jury trial. The
Arena, commenting upon Mr. Hart's
i!,mmii internrots it as an instance
of Judicial usurpation, but the Arena
Is possibly biased. Still, wnai is wie
..o.nn ohv iiifisres seek so persistently
both to escape criticism and to elude
Juries? Do they distrust themselves
or the public?
LIVING ON A IJTTLK.
Cook books are not by any means
the worst reading in the world. No
body can say that they are Immoral or
.hot thev nronnnrate heresies in eimer
religion or politics. They excite no con
troversies; they leave no neartouni
ings behind when they are put back
on the shelf. If they do not inculcate
the passion of brotherly love, neither
do they teach us to rob and murder.
Tnrieeri1 it seems to be a common ex
perience that the perusal of a well-
concocted cook DOOK produces a tci
tain serenity of mind not otherwise
easily attainable. A certain physician
has recommended them as a sovereign
cure for insomnia. One of the fascin
ating ladies in "The Benefactress
read no other literature, ana n ner
character be looked up in that highly
moral book. It will be found that she
was a person of steady habits and un
imruuhahin ohastlty. Can as much
be said for everybody who reads poems
and novels?
"Living on a Little" is not exactly
a cook book, though It has a good
deal to say about the preparation of
eupeptic diet. In one particular, at
least, its pages remind us of Dickens.
They contain descriptions of innumer
able repasts which the reader devours
in his greedy imagination without the
slightest apprehension of dyspepsia
afterward. This pleasure of eating
imaginary repasts, by the way, is one
in which the laboring man may revel
day and night If he desires, and, since
it is vastly more wholesome than ac
tually to devour luxurious dishes, why
should he complain of his lot? The
swollen plutocrat Is doomed to swallow
the gross material pate de foie gras
and -oceans of champagne to wash It
down, with the certain recompense
ahead of a ruined stomach. The labor
i n.H nnlv eat and drink In
dreams and he keeps his stomach
whole, up to the very margin of the
i.mh- onrl vet he bewails his lot. Un
grateful humanity; how itle It knows
when it is truly oiest.
The real purpose of "Living on rat
tle" is to show the recipient of an ex
iguous salary how ne may spreu
sumptous board all the year round
i .,m nut a hebdomadal mite in
the savings bank. The indispensable
prerequisite seems to be a wife who
miracles. The marvelous
helpmate of the hero of this book
could create an apparition um.
h.mhnrr Rteak." for instance, which
nobody could tell, either by taste or
outward semblance, from a porter
hnea nn one famous occasion she
had perfected a delusion of this sort
rr herself and her husband, having
4., of rtrerlaelv enOUKh Of it for the tWO
,ifh nnn too little and nothing to
spare. .t --
she was about to put the visionary
. - i v,o anlrler. enter her
spare. At the fatetui moment wncu
rrhnir in the spider, enter her
husband with two old college chums,
whom he had clandestinely invited to
dinner. "Was there a panic In that
kitchen? Did the harassed wife flop
t. kv.rii-a? Ttv no means. What
...I- nt women did was to flat
WlODfc V . .
the ateak so that it looked
twice as big. as before. Tou can't
fllatten out a real porterhouse, but
..An nn evnand an imaginary one to
fill any area you desire, and there is
where the imitation nas an unueumu.o
,o, over the orenulne. i ne
i advantage
guests had not the dimmest intimation
the deceptive feast
as they devoured the deceptive feast
that they were being aouDiy lmjjuecu
upon, first, as to quality and, second,
as to quantity. Was there ever such
, .i,1mrh nf cookery recorded before?
T-ueullus' nightingales' tongues pale
hir o-lorv. Dumas' cabbage soup
osma hut a feeble stunt.
Thli won rlerful woman had other
arts no less helpful to the family treas
ury. She was in the habit of allow
in. her husband one egg for his break'
fast. Summer and Winter, the year
. . ' . . , V. & iino-rateflll
rOu n u i uui bviucvuuc, --o
..inr was not satisfied with one,
and asked for another. Did he get it?
Te who would ask such a question
know but little of the resources of
womankind. He did not get It, but
his wily spouse made him think he
did, which was Just as satisraciory to
hie ennetlte and saved expense. The
nil i' - -
next morning' instead of frying his
i ntt 4iw..o
as hitherto, aha. scrambled it and
erverl Ita dismembered remains on
two slices of toast, thus creating the
visual image of two eggs, and the man
was content. The truth seems to "be
that this most ingenious wife fed her
husband on illusions, and put the pro
ceeds thereof In the savings bank. We
cannot, for our lives', see why other
women should not do the same thing.
Why should anybody remain poor
when It is so easy to become rich by
dining on flattened-out imitation por
terhouse steak? It is a delight to see
that the author of this epoch-making
book has a good word to say for the
despised Atkinson oven. This Is the
invention by which the late Edward
Atkinson, of Boston, gained the de
risory addition of "Shinbone Atkin
son." He invented, it to make the
workingmen's" wages go farther. By
using it they could cook without much
fuel and could transform shinbones
and scrags into viands more delicious
than terrapin. They rewarded their
benefactor with the customary re-
vilements. "Why. should we try to
save, we wage slaves?" they railed,
"when the only result of It would be
that our masters would cut down our
wares? - Since they will only pay us
enough-to keep us from starving, any
way,' go to, let us continue to pine
away on rib roasts." So they would
not abide the Aladdin oven, though
there is literally millions in it for the
poor If they would but use it..'
How much makes a "little is a.
mutter of oDiniorr; There is a story
in the papers of an-Englishman who
was left S480.000 a year ana rouna it
not enouerh to keep him out of debt.
Many laboring men would think S1000
a year unlimited riches. So that liv
ing on a little is pretty indefinite in
well as means. Our author
has undoubtedly achieved an economic
irinmnh. hut not so great a one as
Thackeray. He showed how to live on
"Nothlnir a Tear" and enioy an tne
luxuries of polite society. The diligent
reader is invited to compare the little
book we are remarking upon witn tne
wonderful chapter in Vanity Fair and
decide which is the more helpful to
the indigent masses.
SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION.
The leading article in the Atlantic
Monthly for September is good read
ing. It is one of those essays which
make us think better of the human
race. The author. John Martin, is a
New Tork publicist, not especially fa
miliar to the general reader, Dut wen
known among economists. . His theme
Is "Social Reconstruction. in Mr.
Martin's opinion there has been a
great change In the views of our lead
ing thinkers and public men upon so
cial questions wj?in the last twenty
five years. The old. doctrine that
things would come out all right if they
were diligently let alone has been pret
i well riisr-srrlerl. he believes, and
everybody seems to have united either
consciously or unconsciously in an ef
fort for betterment. He reminds us
hntv nonnlar the social Dhilosophy of
Herbert Spencer was In the early days
of the United States, and sets us won-
rlerlns- whv it was that this most an
archistic of thinkers should have har
monized so well with our American
predilections. -
- When we first began to read Her
bert Spencer in this country we were
pioneers. Every man was. and had to
h n law unto himself. On the fron
tiers there was no organization except
vigilance committees. Even in the
heart of the land, organization was
loose There was a call for individual.
Isolated activity everywhere and so
ciety was tolerant of the Individual's
singularities. Of course this was
anarchism more or less thoroughgoing
in practice, and Herbert bpencer s
theories were in complete accord with
its spirit. While the population was
sparse and the struggle for existence
comparatively mild, the arcadian
thoorv of the state worked very well
upon the whole, but now that we feel
the pressure of mutually encroaching
wants more severely. Mr. Martin
thinks that men of light and leading
are working together for a reconstruc
tion of our national life which shall
eliminate waste and friction.
He perceives the signs of this recon
struction on all sides. The National
r"ivlr 'Federation, which was organized
by Mark Hanna, began with the .com
paratively limited ambition to settle
disputes between capital and labor
nuinuhiv Tts work has extended un
til It has today a welfare department
which takes in the whole neia or tne
relations between the employer and
his men, an immigration department
and a municipal ownership commis
sion through which the Federation is
main no- investigations in . all these
fruitful fields looking ultimately to
corrective and constructive legislation.
The old maxim that the best govern
ment is the one that governs least, has
been rejected by the Federation in
rvnr of the new truth that the best
"government is the one that governs
best. What a government snau or
shall not do is no longer determined
by a priori theories, but by a consid
eration of the best interests of all
noman Th Civic Federation is
typical of many other societies whose
members are eminent for wealth.
learning and public spirit. There Is
the Association for the Prevention of
Tuberculosis, the Public Heaitn De
fense League and the like, all working
on the principle that the condition or
man in the world can ana ougm to De
Imrtrnverl
Mr. Martin cites numerous examples
of forward steps which have actually
been taken, a large proportion of them
under the urgent impulses oi air.
Rooaevelfa Dreaching. In fact, he
puts the President forward as the most
efficient power working for social re-
Ain.tniHnii which We nave in tne
.onntrv. Arbitration In strikes, con
servatinn of the nubile coal lands and
forests, the Federal eight-hour and
child labor laws, the inheritance and
income taxes for the purpose of curb
ing swollen fortunes, are mentioned
among the things the President has
either advocated or accomplished. The
regulation of railroad freight rates.
Government construction of irrigation
works, the recent New York child la
bor law, seem to Mr. Martin to indi
cate the Government is steadily ex
tending its efforts in all directions and
everywhere working to make the
world a better place to live In. Where
will the process stop? He thinks it
will never stop. Free information to
farmers through, experiment station
bulletins must lead logically to free in
formation to workingmen in factories
upon matters of technical interest to
them. The little that has been done
to preserve the National health
through pure food laws will naturally
conduct us to public physicians and
nurses ia the schools, free public hos
pitals for the sick, and so on endlessly.
What principle underlies all thl er
fort for reconstruction and better
ment? Our author believes thut it Is
the struggle to spply rational Intelli
gence to the Institutions of society.
He thinks Americans are trying to or
ganize the whole soclrty as thoroughly
arid efficiently as they have organized
business. The movement Is not relig
ious. He does not see any effort to
buy an entrance to Heaven in Mr.
Rockefeller's donations to education,
for example. Nor are the efforts local.
On the contrary, they are National, or
even world-wide, and are optimistic.
They are baaed on the belief that
human, nature can be Improved by
making Its environment better. In
short, Mr. Martin Is of the, opinion
that the leaders of thought and ac
tion in America are engaged in a
united effort "to produce a higher civ
ilization" and believes tkat they will
succeed. The scheme of the universe
seems to have developed higher and
higher types of life, and there is no
reason to think that the process has
reached Its climax or will reach It for
centuries to come.
SOLOMON'S WIVES.
There seems to be, some reason to
fear that The Jewish' Tribune, an es
pecially esteemed contemporary, has
not entirely mastered the distinction
between morality and legality. This
lacuna in our pious contemporary's
knowledge Is the more to be wondered
at when one remembers that John
Bunyan' pointed it out long" ago in his
"Pilgrim's Progress," a work of edi
fication which we cannot suppose the
Tribune has neglected to Tead. The
particular eplstemologlcal errancy of
the Tribune's to which we refer may
toe found in an editorial utterance of
September1 11. Objection is taken to
The ; Oregonian's views as to why
David was not permitted to build the
Temple, the Tribune adhering to the
party of the International Lessons,
which must be a great comfort to the
party. But it Is chiefly our animad
version upon David's ten concubines,
and more especially Solomon's thou
sand, which disturbs the Tribune. In
its opinion these multiplied matri
monial delights were not Immoral
when they were experienced. "We do
not mean to say that polygamy is mor
al, but the fact of the matter Is that
morality itself is changeable." Thus
speaks the Tribune.
What It means is that men s views
of morality are changeable. Other
wise our contemporary would be found
in the ranks of the abhorred prag
matists, who hold that all truth. In
cluding not only morality, but religion
itself, is changeable. Men's aggre
gated opinions upon Nature at any
moment are summed up In the word
"science," and as these views change
science changes with them, but Na
ture does not correspondingly alter.
Likewise the prevalent opinions which
are held at any time upon right and
wrong conduct are summed up in the
word "legality," either ecclesiastical
or civil, and legality is as mutable as
the opinions from which it grows. But
morality is a very different thing.
Briefly, the word sums up that course
of 'conduct which is, upon the whole,
best adapted to the universe we live
'in, and it is no more mutable than the
laws of the universe are. Our knowl
edge of those laws develops from age
to age, and legality advances accord
ingly, but morality, being In reality a
department of Nature, undergoes no
such development. . .
What is immoral now was, there
fore, immoral two thousand years
ago, though people then living did not
know it any more than they knew the
world wal round. And just as It was
scientific at that time to say that the
earth was fiat, so it was legal to have
a thousand wives; but just as it was
not true to say that the earth was flat
any more than it is true now, so also
it was not moral to have a tnousana
wives, or even ten.
TtEDCCUTG THE TARIFF.
The New York Evening Post hopes
that nobody will be begullea into vot
ino- for Mr. Taft because he has prom
ised to call an extra session of Con
gress to revise the tariff. It declares
that whenever the tariff comes up
Congress will be so beset by the pro
tected interests that no reductions will
be possible, while many duties are
likely to be raised and th.e robbery
made worse than ever. The only ra
ha.iI xnnninslon from this is that the
tariff can never be lowered by either
party and the best thing to do with It
is to let it alone. Are the proteciea
interests anv less likely to hover
srminn a Democratic Congress than
one that is Republican? In the edi
torial we are speaking of the Post de-
r-rihes how the tarlir-Dioaiea piuio
crats perverted the . Wilson bill and
made it a high-tariff measure, to the
disgust of Cleveland, who would not
to.,, tt what would hinder them
from repeating the performance if we
.had another Democratic congress i
Puinii who exnect to get some little
relief from tariff extortion by putting
the Democrats in office are aoomea to
dismal disappointment. Mr. Bryan is
probably sincere enough in his prom
ises of reform, but he would And htm.
self powerless to fulfill them. His
iirtor.nariv men are so soaked in
hypocrisy and the essence of broken
promises that they would betray him
by force of habit even If they had no
other inducement. The voter who
hopes for the betterment of condi
tions from the Democratic party
ohnnirl nav more attention to the plain
facts of current history. Mr. Bryan's
nortv Is eone to seed. It has lost the
virility of manhood. Even if It wished,
to accomplish reforms, it lacks the en
orixv Tt wanders ud and down the
ind Hire a deereDlt old rake who
nrnm ises to be virtuous because he
has lost the capacity to be vicious any
longer. Its pledge to revise tne tarin;
Is precisely like its pledge to improve
he rnnditlnn of labor. Both are made
to fool the simple and both will be
forgotten as soon as they nave servea
hir nnriuiw. If thev ever do. It is
possible, that the Republicans would
not lower tne tarin, dui tt ia
that the Democrats would not.
Th. mines of thB Oro Flno dis
trict of Idaho, the objective point of
rrat rush of gold seekers in ism
are. after years of inactivity, again
toeing vigorously worked. The placer
mines were practically exhausted In
a few years and the towns of Florence,
rw irinn and Elk City were depopu
lated after the manner of mushroom
mining towns when their source of
supply ceases. The quartz mines are
however, of relatively recent develop
ment. Capital has gone in and is turn
tne them to rich account. Some of
the larffa fortunes of this city had their
base In the placer mines or tne uro
Flno district or rather in tne excite
ment created by the discovery of gold
In these nlaeerg In the Spring of 1861.
Transportation business on the Upper
Columbia opened with a boom that
vear and In carrying miners and their
supplies to the head of navigation the
stockholders of the old O. 8. N. CO.
reaped a golden harvest. That was
nearlv half a century ago. In the early
stress of the Civil War, and the ac
count of the revival of mining inter
ests In that resrlon recalls an inter
esting chapter In the early commercial
and industrial history of the state.
The rank and filo of the eager army of
gold hunters returned from Oro Flno
in the Fall of that historic year dis
appointed. But the men who en-s-as-ed
In the task of transporting gofd
hurtters and their equipment and sup-
piles to The JJalles ana Deyona as iar
-. MA,,tn1,.m .vUnliiil at that
BS BLVSIU lia v itiivn i.Aivn A. --
time, laid the foundations upon which
the superstructure of many large for
tunes was bullded, some of which still
endure.
If the sons of pioneers had defended
their orchards against codlln moths
and anthracnose as well as their sires
defended them against "savage foes.
those sons would not now be assailing
high heaven with shrieks of wrath
against Mr. Lownsdale. See Mr. Rich
ardson's letter, printed today. The
question of destroying diseased fruit
trees is exactly the same as tnat oi
killing tuberculous cows or glandered
horses. We suppose many a cow
which has been slain for tuberculosis
was dearly beloved by some poor
widow, and here and there a glandered
horse may have been entwined by the
heart strings of a whole family; but
for all that its death was necessary to
the public good and It had to die. The
mossback farmers talk a great deal
about their love for their old or
chards. If 'they are so very fond of
the trees, one would suppose they
would take care of them. If the trees
were sprayed properly, they would not
be in the least danger from Mr.
Lownsdale's ax. The love of these
farmers for their orchards Is about on
a par with that of a son who thinks
everything of his sick father, but is too
stingy to send for the doctor.
Schools will open throughout this
district, and in some of the rural dis
tricts of Multnomah County, tomor
row morning. Teachers have gathered
from the corners of the earth, re
freshed by a vacation of nearly three
months, and ready to take up the
work assigned for the year by the
City Superintendent and his associates.
The rally of pupils promises to be
large for the opening, though the lists
will iiot be full until hop-picking and
fruit-gathering are over. The build
ings will be crowded as usual though
the School Board has made earnest
effort to furnish sufficient accom
modations for all. The increase
of attendance upon the" public schools
Is an index of the growth of the city
in the home side of its development
and is the surest Indication of sub
stantial prosperity. Hence, overflow
ing schoolhouses are regarded with
satisfaction, albeit the taxpayer looks
somewhat apprehensive' toward the
next levy for the maintenance and
betterment of the public schools.
Three men of Portland, Indignantly
denvlnsr that Gompers is trying to
deliver the union labor vote of the
r-onntrv to Brvan. have themselves
undertaken to deliver the union labor
vnta of Oreeon to him. The names
signed to this manifesto are C. M.
Ttvnerson. W. H. Fitzgerald ana J
D. M. Crockwell. Just watch and
watt and see what numbers of union
labor voters of Oregon they will not
deliver to Bryan. A manifesto like
this Is a piece of impudence; and it
violates, moreover, a runaamentai
nrinr-lnln of unionism. But what pen
oiiv if a member of a labor union
doesn't obey the order and vote for
Bryan? Is he to be expelled from the
union?
They say now that defeated candi
dates for Senator in the primaries, In
h stato of Washlneton "will not be
bound" by the primary vote. Cer
tainly not. There is nothing in pri
maries of this sort to bind anybody.
Party allegiance is cast to the winds,
by the very process. Men voting In
these primaries never expect to vote
for the nominees; for the primary is
a confusion of parties, participated
in by men whose great object is de
fiance of parties and embarrassment
of opponents. Our Oregon primary
bound nobody, nor does the pre
tended "election" of Senator that fol
lowed it. The Legislature is still to
elect the Senator, in Oregon as well
as in Washington
The union labor politicians not
union labor tried to defeat Repre
sentative Jones for Senator over In
Washington. They were aided by the
liquor interest. The returns ought to
make interesting reading for those
labor politicians who are trying to
throw Oregon to Bryan.
Mr. Bryan wants Mr. Kern to live
in the White House with him. But
what about Mr. Gompers? Can't he
be accommodated In the attic or some
where? Bryan, Kern and Gompers
would make a lovely ' White House
trio. .
The Interstate Commerce Commis
sion will have no difficulty in collect
ing testimony to establish the fact
that rates of the Pullman company
are higher than the public want to
pay.
Debs, with his "Red" special. Is on
his way to Portland, and we are to
see "The Devil" the play at one of
our local theaters. Hot time certainly
assured for the old town.
Bryan calls Taft "the father of in
junction." Of course it is not true;
yet Injunction is one of the legitimate
methods of government, and has been
for centuries.
Mr. Bryan continues on his Eastern
Journey. We hear no pleasantries
this year about the "enemy's country."
The East never could understand a
joke.
If they are barred from talking
politics, Taft and Bryan won't be so
much of an attraction on the same
rostrum at Chicago. -
One of the magazines has an article
on the "Scarcity of Skunks." It Is
nonpolitical and entirely impersonal.
WANT LOWNSDALE OUSTED.
Farmer Say Old Orchards Should Be
Allowed to Remain.
MTHINNVTLLE. Or.. Sept. 13. (To the
Editor.) The moat interesting question
now being discussed by the people of
Yamhill County is the resistance being
made by the farmers to the autocratic
sway of the County Fruit Inspector. A
petition with 960 signatures was presented
to the County Court last week asking
that Mr. Lownsdale, the present Fruit
Inspector, be removed from office. Not
withstanding that Mr. Reid, the State
Fruit Inspector, has announced that he
will not remove Mr. Lownsdale, and The
Oregonlan, In an editorial, held out the
Inference that the farmers of Yamhill
had no rights which fruit men were bound
to respect, still the "horny hands" of Old
Yamhill feel Justified in the course they
are pursuing. They are not aware of
the fact, if fact It Is, that the rights of
a citizen guaranteed by the supreme law
of the land have ever been repealed. The
course that Mr. Lownsdale has been pur
suing has aroused every man that has
an apple tree on his plantation to take
some action in defense of such property.
That action is being taken in strict ac
cordance with the guaranteed rights of
citizens, "That the right of the people
to petition for a redress of grievance
shall not be infringed."
Mr. Lownsdale claims that the law Jus
tifies him In condemning and destroying
orchards. The farmers claim that he has
no legal right to destroy their property,
that the supreme law of the land plainly
says: "That no person shall be deprived
of life, liberty or property without due
process of law," and our Yamhill farmers
hold that when a fruit inspector exercises
autocratic power by making himself
Judge, Jury and executioner in inspecting,
condemning and destroying orchards it is
"not done by due process of law under the
rights guaranteed to citizens by the su
preme law of the land. The right of a
citizen to show cause before a court of
competent Jurisdiction why the orders of
the Fruit Inspector should not be exe
cuted should be respected. But the ad
ministration of the office under Mr.
Lownsdale is carried on under the prin
cipal of master and slave. The citizen is
held to have no rights which he Is bound
to respect.
The County Court appointed Mr. Lowns
dale, and the people here are curious to
know what Mr. Reid has to do with his
retention or removal.. The appointing
power surely has Jurisdiction over the
tenure of his office, and to that power
the people have petitioned to have him
removed. Whether the court obeys or
disobeys the petition is a matter of little
consequence. The County Court Is a
creature of the people's will and they
can be legally set aside by the same au
thority that created them, and it 1b quite
likely that the law giving the people the
right to recall a public servant will be in
voked if the court refuses to remove an
appointee who has proved so distasteful
to the community as has Mr. Lownsdale.
From an editorial that appeared in
The Oregonlan a short time ago one
would be led to believe that there was
but one side to this question, and that
was the side of Mr. Lownsdale, but a
tramp throufth Yamhill County would
show that there is another side to it,
and a side, too, founded in justice. The
orchards in "Old Yamhill" that are now
In Jeopardy and liable to be cut down
and destroyed by Mr. Lownsdale were
planted and defended against our savage
foes by the pioneers, men and women
who endured the hardships and dangers
of opening up a wilderness to civilisation.
These old orchards are dear to the peo
ple. Around them clusters the history of
the trials and triumphs of early days. No
upstart need think he can cut them down
and destroy them without meeting with
determined and . resolute opposition.
These orchards may be Infested with dis
ease, but disease has been and can be
cured. Why cut them down and destroy
them? People are subject to all man
ner of diseases, but how quick they would
resent a law to put them to death. In
like manner they will resent the destroy
ing of their orchards on the plea that
they, are diseased.
The people of Yamhill County who have
orchards on their farms do not believe
that this war that Is being made upon
the old orchards is wholly In the Interest
of destroying the fruit pest, but to place
the fruit Interests In the hands of mo
nopoly. Every orchard that can be de
stroyed on the farm removes an obstacle
In the way of the frult-ralser. If every
farm orchard can be put out of existence
the fruit industry will pass into the hands
of a few and monopoly in fruit will reign
supreme in the state. The farmers oi
Yamhill have not forgotten that a cer
tain person who Is deeply Interested in
the fruit Industry, only a short time ago
was advocating a change in our immi
gration laws, opening the way to the
Importation of slave labor from China and
Japan to work In Oregon orchards. When
they resist having their orchards de
stroyed they feel that they are defending
their state from being overrun by hordes
of Asiatic coolies;
The arbitrary manner In which Mr.
Lownsdale has undertaken to enforce a
tyrannical and unjust law a law In direct
conflict with the principles of American
citizenship will no doubt in the long
run bear good fruit. It will have a ten
dency to awaken the sleepy lethargy of
the rural community which has so long
been dumb to the ever encroaching
dangeos to its liberties. The cutting down
of a few orchards this Summer has raked
the moss from the backs of most of the
farmers, and as the moss comes off the
scales fall from their eyes. And we can
look forward now to see In a few years
a race of stalwart rustic Americans as
alert and ready to defend the rights of
American citizenship against the slip
shod tyrants of aristocracy as thsV
patriots of old did under the leadership
of Washington and Jackson.
MILT RICHARDSON.
TAFT AVO BRYAN".
An Essay Towards Pltitnrch's Example
of "Parallel Lives."
New Ycrk Sun.
Mr. Taft is a commonplace speaker,
with no spark of the kindling and
communicative imagination and ardor
of the orator. Mr. Bryan has all the
advantage In temperament, in exper
ience, in knowledge of "the psychology
of crowds," in plausible and dextrous
presentation and invention. A vet
eran sophist and fallacy maker, a
trained hunter of applause, a skilful
suggester of falsities, no friend to
Inconvenient truth. Mr. Bryan plays
flawlessly on the prejudice, the passion
and the ignorance of crowds.
Mr. Taft is effective in other ways.
Something large, generous. sincere,
truthful, honest, able. Is conveyed by
his personality, his manner. The crowd
likes him. It respects him. It believes
he knows what he is talking about
and that he believes It. Without any
gift of beauty or saliency of expres
sion, he has the great art of having
no art. of impressing his hearers with
his candor, his knowledge of the sub
ject. He persuades without humbug.
He convinces by fair arguments. Fi
nally, he lrradlcates friendliness and ha
absorbs it back from the audience.
Without oratory he does the task of
the orator. . He carries the audience
with htm, and this Is no momentary
triumph. He is established in Its mem
ory as a man of lofty character, singu
lar Intellectual distinction and personal
charm.
So the real advantage In this war ot
the stump is likely to be with Mr,
Taft, not Mr. Bryan. .j