THE SUXDAT OREGONIAJf. PORTLAND. OCTOBER 4, 190S.
$J (Que jpmian
MRTLIND. OREGON.
Entered it Portland. Oregon. Poitotfct an
Becead-Claaa alattar.
aubacripttoa Kate lavarlabhr IB Advanca.
By Mall
laily. Sunday included. on year J
Daily. Sunday Included, sm moolhl-.-.
Ua.ijr. Sunday Included, threa xnontna.
ti-liy. bjudsy Included, one mmu.v - An
La:; without Sunday, ona ear . JW
atly. without ttuaday. alx months. . a.-i
Lallr. without buoday. thrca montna.
Lal.y. without Sunday, ona month .. -oo
v ... ' lot!
Sunday,' ona .!! J J
feuuUT and Weekly. Ana viar
(By Carrier
! ft innriif Included, ana mf tOO
Llallv. uniia lmluded. ona month.... -7
How to Kenilt sand postofllca money
artier, express order or personal ch-ck on
yocr local bank. Stamp, coin or currency
are at tha sender' risk. Olva postofnca ad
drees In tu.l. including county and alata.
faetace Kate lo to 14 pales. 1 cent; 1
to 2f paf-a. 2 cents; SO to 44 pagea. a
eanta; 41 to AO pagca, 4 centa, Foreisa post
age double ratea
Eastern Uauneao Of tie Tha C. Beck
wit a Special Agency New York, rooma 49
00 Tribune buiUlr.s. Chicago, room alO-313
Trlbjne building
PORTLAND. KINDAY. OCT. 4. IMS.
THE IMt.VOH J tJl'ANTITT.
Possibility of Bryan's election is
admitted. It Is admitted, always,
when he is a candidate. Because It
Is admitted that every person who
may be dissatisfied for any reason, or
for no reason, may vote for Bryan.
Even the man who is dissatisfied with
himself will vote for Bryan. To this
sort the candidacy of Bryan always
appeals, with peculiar force.
The election next month will not
be decided by the business vote or
industrial vote, commonly called the
independent vote, but by the vote that
Is dissatisfied with Itself. The really
independent and substantial vote of
the country is divided: but the ma
jority of It supports TafL Bryan's
play Is for the votes of those who,
since they haven't much energy or
efficiency or foresight, and want to
work as little as possible and to fly
as far as they can from the compe
tition of those of their own class who
set a high pace, feel and declare that
they "haven't a fair show." To this
sort of people tha effort of Bryan's
whole campaign is directed. Partisan
spirit and the name of party will get
for him. he knows, the bulk of his
votes. His play Is for these others..
He expects help from the labor
unions. Some help he will get from
them. They, too. have members of
varying degrees of efficiency and pur
pose. Then every labor union has
members of radical and revolutionary
disposition. In every crisis and on
very important occasion, these come
to the front. The more quiet mem
bers do not care to contend with
them. Just now it is advertised that
the labor unions o Portland are soon
to hold a Bryan or antl-Taft meeting.
These are the extremists. Needless to
pay, they can't control the union labor
vote. The solid element of union la
bor does not commit Itself to effort
through partisan politics. But the
element that la violent and rash often
tries to do so much to the injury in
the long run of the cause of union
labor. The "agitator" sort, in union
labor or out of It, doubtless will now
support Bryan. Indeed. It always has.
Hut the rational and steady element
of lubor, whether in the unions or out
of it. never has. There are no men
more steady of purpose or careful of
Judgment than the majority of tha
men who constitute the labor unions.
But In times of radical action and in
revolutionary times, the aggressive
minority is always at the front, with
loudest noise. On these Bryan now
depends, as always heretofore. Hope
springs eternal In the Bryan breast.
It hangs chiefly on appeal to those
who are dissatisfied with themselves,
and attribute their lack of success to
their assumption that society some
how is unfriendly to them, and "that
the party In power" doesn't give them
a chance. These ' and such like. It
will always be necessary to contend
with, till the end of time.
AGKfS THE NHiHT RIDERS.
The American Society of Equity,
which for the past two years has
been endeavoring by unnatural and ar
tificial means to advance the price on
tarm products, is extending the scope
of its operations. In an effort to in
crease the price of tobacco in Ken
tucky and Tennessee, the famous
"Night Hitler" branch of the society
burned, pillaged and murdered quite
freely for the past year, but was un
successful In Increasing the price of
tobacco. Recently a similar organl
atinn has been formed In Arkansas
for the purpose of reducing the yield
of cotton and maintaining prices.
Marked riders have called out promi
nent planters nt night, and warned
them, under pain of death, to reduce
the acreage planted, and not to sell
at less thnn the price set by the farm
ers union.
If the criminals who are responsi
ble for this 'night riding and for the
arson and murder which they have
deemed necessary In enforcement of
their arbitrary and unreasonable de
mands were ordinary. Irresponsible
sneaks, such as their actions would
Indicate. It would be easier to ferret
them out and punish them. Unfor
tunately for the good name of the
South, where most of the outrages
re committed, the guilty persons are
in nearly all cases men of such re
sponsibility and power in the com
munity that the task of bringing
them to book Is practically impossi
ble, and hope for bringing order out
of chaos In the immediate future has
been abandoned.
It Is legitimate and praiseworthy
that the grower of tobacco, cotton,
hops. wool, wheat or any other com
modity should secure for his crop the
highest possible price wnrranted by
the untrammeled law of supply and
demand, and by natural, healthy
competition for the product. But
when any man or organization of
men. like the American Society of
Equity, essays to dominate the mar
ket by force and to regulate prices bv
unnatural and criminal methods. It Is
full time for the Government to take
a hand In the game. The code of de
cency which prevailed when our an
cestors lived In caves and mauled
each other with atone hammers
awarded to every holder of any com
modity the right to give it away if he
saw ftt to do so, and the only maul
ing indulged In was for the purpose
of making a division of property in
stead of hoarding It and making those
who had no cotton, tobacco or wheat
pay more for it than It was actually
worth. The Baltimore Sun credits
Henry YVatierson, who U an authority
on all things Southern, with the ex
pression that
TJilnga nave come to a hell of a pasa
When a man can't wailop bin own jackass.
They have also reached a similar
state when a man can no longer sell
his cotton, tobacco, or any other
product, at a price and a time agree
able to himself. Some parts of the
South are certainly in need of a new
deal.
IMPERIALISM LET T8 SEE.
And who is mora to blame than
yourself. Mr. Bryan, for what you
call "the Inexcusable blunder of im
perialism in the- Philippines?"
At the conclusion of tne ar un
Spain we could have quit the Philip
pines. We could have scuttled the
Islands and sailed away. But we
didn't. It didn't seem to be the thing
to do. The matter was long in debate.
Opinion was very evenly balanced.
The treaty, as negotiated, demanded
cession of the Islands on the payment
by the United States to Spain of twen
ty millions. But It was necessary
that the treaty should be ratified by
the Senate. It was in danger of rejec
tion. There was a strong body in the
Senate that favored Independence for
the Philippines. It required two
thirds to ratify, and on this division It
was extremely close. Whether two
thirds could be secured was doubt
ful. Senator Hoar, of Massachusetts,
a man of great power in the Senate,
was leader of the opposition. He re
sisted to the utmost the ratification of
the treaty, and induced others to help
him. Then it was. at this critical
juncture, that Mr. Bryan appeared at
Washington, and threw all his influ
ence in favor of-the treaty, using his
prestige as leader of the Democratic
party. In i.hat behalf. His appeal had
weight W.th the Democratic and Pop
ulist Senators. Senator Hoar and
other opponents of the treaty always
Insisted that without Bryan's help the
treaty would have been rejected; for
it was ratified by a vote of 57 to 27
only one more than the necessary
two-thirds. It was said that Mr. Bry
an's motive was to "put the Adminis
tration In a hole."
It hardly becomes Mr. Bryan at this
time to talk about "our Inexcusable
blunder of Imperialism In the Phil
ippines," and to lament that In taking
the Philippines we were guilty of
"violation of the Immortal principles
of our own Declaration of Independ
ence." What is Mr. Bryan but a tempo
rizer, an improviser and time-server;
a man of expedients, unstable as
water, variable as the wind?
THE CONGRESS OX TCBERCCLOSI8.
The sixth triennial Congress on Tu
berculosis, now In session in Wash
ington, is perhaps the most important
convention to medical scientists that
has ever assembled in this country,
or, for that matter, in the world, since
the scope of Its work Is world-wide.
Its Importance from the standpoint of
the humanitarian may be Judged from
the statement made by Professor
Fisher, of Yale, that 5,000.000 people
In the United States at this time are
marked by this destroyer, while the
economic Importance of the question
Involved In stamping out this disease
is noted in the further statement of
this careful statistician that the 138,
000 people who annually die of con
sumption in this country represent a
cost in hard cash of $1,000,000,000 a
year.
The first statement deals with a
pale host, flitting hither and thither
over the land, seeking to shake off the
deadly germs that have fastened
upon their vitals; falling pitifully to
accomplish this object, but hoping
ever hoping for the miracle of
health to be wrought within them by
"change of air." which Is pouplarly
supposed to be able to work this
miracle. Enduring the discomforts
of travel; turning with loathing from
the food of hotels and restaurants;
latterly shunned as disseminators of
disease; homesick and possessed of a
languor that makes any exertion a
real hardship: now suffering from be
numbing chills, now parched with
fever and again drenched with pers
piration; trying to persuade them
.if. om-h dav that they feel better;
at times buoyed up in spirit by a de
ceitful rally of their struggling me
tr.-c- uinnnlns: to return home only
to suffer relapse and die among
stranger this is the saa lot oi mis
large army of hopeful yet hopeless
health-seekers, who. carrying the ;
germs of tuberculosis with them, try
to escape from the deadly clutch of
their Insidious foe. j
mr the rest those who do not
change location because they cannot
afford the cost they fight the battle
o hope against Inevitable defeat In
thousands of humble homes, wnere
l.. ministers to their fading vitality
in vain, keeping the monster at bay
but unable to prevent his slow,
stealthy encroachment; their dally
portion excessive weariness, tne ersa
death. Pitiable as is the condition of
these two classes of sufferers from
tuberculosis. It Is as sunshine com
pared with darkness to that of the
myriads who pass their wasting days
i" ih awentshoos of a greedy traffic
and later end them amid the reek of
the crowded tenements of the great
cities.
The economic loss Incident to the
struggle and vanquishment of this
great army annually can only be ap
proximately estimated. Dr. Fisher
gives it In the enormous ngures quot
ed. In this computation of suffering
and loss the great element of per
sonal sorrow and family bereavement
Is necessarily left out; Its volume,
and the effect of Its mighty surge
upon the energies of mankind, who
can measure? Clearly, In view of
these facts, science can set Itself to
no task more humane, to no effort
that looks more directly to the conser
vation of human energy and happi
ness, than that to which it has ad
dressed Itself In the Investigation,
looking to the prevention, treatment
and cure of tuberculosis. It is but a
few years since the specific germ of
this ages-old disease was discovered;
fewer still since Its communlcability
was established, and yet fewer since
the medication of consumptive pa
tients has given place to treatment
with Nature's remedies fresh air,
sunshine, pure water and nourishing
food. It Is at this point that the In
terests of sanitary science converge.
The seal of death has for years been
set upon the consumptive. Science
declares that this Is not necessary If
the presence of the disease Is noted In
time and Nature's remedial agencies,
combined with nourishing food and
proper exercise, are engaged on the j
other side of the combat. The chief
object of the present Congress on Tu
berculosis Is to put In motion such
agencies as will promote knowledge
that will lead, first, to the prevention
of this disease, and then to its proper
treatment. Communicable, consump
tion is not actively contagious; Its
germs are not a baleful inheritance.
That Is to say, it is not hereditary.
Any one can acquire it- Some per
sons, owing to resistance of constitu
tional tendencies, can throw it off;
others with less resistant powers of
body, aided by mental depression and
anxiety, become its prey. - With the
dissemination of knowledge among all
classes, and an improvement in the
domestic and Industrial surroundings
of the poor, especially In large cities,
sanitary scientists declare that the
ravages of this great scourge can be
checked and that It can ultimately be
stamped out among civilized peoples.
Surely, in this view, the effort that Is
being made Is well worthy the grand
rally of science now In progress look
ing to that end.
THEIR "RECONCILIATION."
It Is quite probable that the much
discussed reconciliation between Taft
and Foraker was more apparent than
real. It took place at a Grand Army
encampment, where the managers of
the affair took pains to have Taft and
Foraker sit side by side. They both
spoke from the same platform. What
could Taft do? Should he refuse to
sit there or speak from that plat
form merely because a man with
whom he did not agree politically had
been invited to do the same thing?
Could Mr. Taft, with due respect for
the organization whose guest he was,
do otherwise than manifest a friendly
attitude toward every other guest?
The Grand .Army encampment was
not a political gathering and men who
were most diametrically opposed to
eacli other In politics were there,
meeting each other in a friendly man
ner. Mr. Taft would probably wel
come the vote of Mr. Foraker and
gladly receive his support. Just as a
Prohibitionist would accept the aid
of a saloonkeeper; but there Is not
nor ever has been any evidence that
Taft ever approved or excused For
aker's objectionable political ideals
or practices.
If Mr. Taft, knowing Foraker as
he did, had made him a campaign
treasurer, as Mr. Bryan made Haskell
treasurer, there would be reason to
question either his honesty or his
good sense. The people of this coun
try have intelligence enough to know
that Taft conducted himself as a gen
tleman should and In no way com
promised with dishonesty.
WORKING HIS WAY tPWARD.
According to press dispatches, Theo
dore Roosevelt, Jr., has commenced
work in a carpet factory, and will be
assigned for duty at first in the wool
storing department where he will help
unload, wash and store the wool.
There are many people who will think
that his thus "beginning at the bot
tom" is a farce, and that he will 'be
rapidly promoted from one depart
ment to another until he occupies a
responsible position with a large sal
ary merely because he Is the son of
the President. Quite likely his pro
motion will be rapid, for he is un
doubtedly a bright boy, anxious to
learn, strong and ' active. But if his
own best interests are considered, he
will be promoted from one depart
ment to another only after he has
mastered the work of each depart
ment in turn. No man Is competent
to "boss" the wool-storing depart
ment until he knows by actual expe
rience how a sack of wool should be
handled, how many sacks a man
should be able to handle In a day,
and how the time of laborers can be
economized.
President Roosevelt is above all
things a practical' man. Though of
moderate fortune, he has always been
a hard worker at some useful occu
pation. He despises the idler, rich or
poor. He knows that wealth is an
uncertain possession and that a man
trained in some useful occupation
need never be in want, but may al
ways hold an honorable position
among men, even If it be none other
than that of a common laborer. Like
a wise father, he wants his sons to be
independent by reason of their power
to earn their own way In the world.
He knows that experience gained by
hard work is the surest road to suc
cess, and he desires that his sons shall
pursue the safest course. No salary
that a mill company could pay the
boy for filling an honorary position
could tempt an intelligent parent to
permit his son to assume abilities he
does -not possess. If Theodore, Jr.,
should learn the business of carpet
making, he would very likely succeed
at it, especially if he has inherited a
fair portion of the energy, intelli
gence and honeBty of his father. If
he should undertake the carpet-making
business without first learning the
work from the bottom up, he would
probably go down to failure in com
petition with some other man, per
haps of poor and unknown parentage,
who has paid the price of success.
GREAT WEALTH-PRODUCING STATE.
No well-informed person will
charge that The Oregonian's estimate
of exports from this state for the year
1908. published yesterday, leans
toward exaggeration. On the con
trary, the total of J100.O00.000 will
be accepted as conservative by men
engaged in the various interests whose
output was summarized. Some day
Oregon will establish a bureau to
keep a precise record, and its Integ
rity will not be attacked by Jealous
and malevolent rivals.
Among residents of the Middle
West who are considering removal to'
the Pacific Coast and have been led
Into doubting by too roseate descrip
tions sent out from professionally
boomed sections, these figures on
Oregon's inherent wealth cannot fall
to be Impressive. Personal Investiga
tion will promptly confirm every par
ticular. Information Intended to attract-
farmers, manufacturers, mer
chants and other Investors that con
tains 100 per cent truth is quite as
much a surprise as the actual indus
tries, which can neither be concealed
from nor misrepresented to the man
who has enough interest to examine
into the facts.
The intelligent reader on the other
side of the Rockies will naturally ask.
Where is all this business centered?
What city is the terminus of the rail
roads that move 100,000 loaded cars
a year? Where is the harbor that
forms the meeting-place for freight
cars and ocean-going vessels?. Where
do the producers who ship this $100.-J.
000,000 worth of stuff buy their sup
plies? There is only one answer.
And as Oregon grows In productive
wealth, so grows Portland. It is a
trite remark that the industries of
Oregon are only in their infancy,. So
is Portland.
OCR DCAL NATTER
In his famous book on "The Ego"
Max Stlrner finds an opportunity to
laugh at the idea of the dual nature
of man, as he does at most other
ideas. We divide ourselves into two
parts, he says, one mortal, the other
Immortal. For six days of the week
we serve the interests of the mortal
part; Sunday we devote to the Immor
tal. Possibly this shows the relative
values which we attach to them. Ac
cording to Stlrner, the soul, or the
eternal entity In man, Is nothing more
than a piece of Insane dreaming. "To
think of such a thing," he remarks,
"Is merely to spook in the head."
Still science presents some very fair
grounds for the belief that we have a
dual nature and that one side of It is
immortal. Welssman's great theory
of heredity Is nothing more than a
restatement of the ancient dogma
that each human being includes In
his being a. deathless soul as well as
a mortal body. . Persons who were
readers of biological literature some
twenty-five years ago will remember
what a stir it made among the
learned when Welssman announced
his conviction that "acquired traits"
could not be inherited. If this were
true, what would become of Darwin's
theory of evolution by natural selec
tion? In order that natural selection may
act on a race, variations must ap
pear, and they must be inherited.
According to Welssman, the? may ap
pear as numerously as you please,
but when the Individual who exhibits
them perishes they will perish with
him; he cannot transmit them to his
offspring and therefore there is noth
ing for natural selection to work
upon, seemingly. This conclusion is
absurd, however, for we know that
natural selection does work, and arti
ficial selection also, and that they
produce astonishing results. "It
works," said Welssman, "but not upon
acquired traits." For thousands of
years men have been shaving their
beards, and yet at the age of puberty
the beard still springs upon the chin
of the youth. Just as it did when
Adam tilled his figs in the Garden of
Eden. The Indians of Oregon had
been flattening the heads of their In
fants for numberless generations
when the whites discovered them:
nevertheless each new pappoose a
head needed Just as much flattening I
as its sire's. The son of a DraKe
man who has lost both his legs in a
wreck will not be legless. You may
mutilate and deform the human body
as much as you please, and for all
that if the power of procreation is
left unimpaired, normal descendants
will be produced. How shall we
reconcile this undeniable truth with
the actual operation of selection
through heredity?
Welssman accounted for it by re
turning to the ancient theological
concept of man's dual nature. The
theologians said that we were com
posed of soul and body. Weissman
used different language, but It came
to the same thing. We are composed,
he declared, of two kinds of cells,
somatic and germ cells. The Bomatlo
cells are a sort of slaves. They per
form the gross services which we re
quire to keep alive, such as bringing
in nutriment, healing wounds, carry
ing oft waste, and so on. They build
.and maintain this earthly tabernacle,
but not for themselves. The mansion
is for the habitation of the aristo
cratic and immortal germ cells. The
somatic cells are of the earth, earthy.
They die when the body dies, and all
the variations which they undergo
necessarily perish with them. When
a man shaves his beard he cuts off
somatic cells merely; he does not
alter the germ cells. Hence he may
go on shaving forever and his boys
will need razors just as much as he
did. But let anything happen to the
immortal germ cells and the descend
ants of that man will show It to the
end of time. Thus we see that, even
if "acquired traits" cannot pass on by
Inheritance, nevertheless there is
plenty of material for natural selec
tion to deal with. It seizes upon the
modifications which happen to the
germ cells. So It turned out that
Welssman was really a friend to the
Darwinian theory, since he reconciled
circumstances which appeared to con
flict. He showed why some traita
could be Inherited while others could
not. Weissman was rather a poetic
person for a German and a biologist.
He conceived of the aggregate of
germ cells in the world as a unity and
seemed to speak of It as if it were a
sort of supernatural being which sur
vived the mutations of time and
change and were endowed with eter
nal life. He named it the "germ
plasm."
The germ plasm is the most pre
cious thing in the universe. It trans
mits life from one generation to an
other. It is the treasury where all
that the inhabitants of the world have
gained is everlastingly stored. It Is
the same in the brute, the tree and
the human being. It is the same in
us as.it was In the protoplasm where
life began. In each new generation
It is reborn. Hence, if Welssman's
theory Is true, we can answer the
question where the soul was before
It entered the body. We can see also
how much truth there is in the Hindu
doctrine of transmigration, which
Malvolio explains so lucidly in
"Twelfth Night." The particle of the
universal germ plasm which exists in
Malvolio has passed through a thou
sand bodies before it came to him,
dwelling now in a pine tree, now In a
serpent, now In a swine and finally
In a man. When we slay a beast for
foo'd, how do we know that we are
not ending some career of life which
in the long succession of the ages
would produce a finer race than our
own? The first care of nature is al
wavs to see that the germ plasm Is
not lost. When a plant is deprived of
water or nourishment It forthwith
goes to seed. Emerson tells us that
nature has overloaded the passion of
love to subserve a purpose of, her own.
Clearly that purpose Is to transmit
the germ plasm to the succeeding gen
eration. Weissman's theory gives encourage
ment to everybody who hopes for a
better race in a better world. The
base characteristics which men and
mor, ar-nuire in miserable condi
tions of life are loot when they die.
Their children are free from heredi
tary curse, and If we can. only make
their environment good, they have
the same chance as others to grow
into normal individuals. Or, if the
bad conditions have affected the germ
cells, their vitality must be impaired
and it Is only a question of a little
time when the degenerate stock will
perish. Thus' natural selection will
protect the race in spite of all we can
do, and we understand how little oc
casion there is for the fear which
some people have that helping the
blind, the diseased and the unfortu
nate may lower the standard of man
kind. Their acquired triats cannot
be inherited, and if they possess an
undesirable modification of the germ
cells it is sure to cause the extinction
of their line. No large section of man
kind can possibly become permanent
ly degenerate, and It follows, there
fore, that by improving the environ
ment of our fellow-men they can all
be elevated to the normar"standard;
or, if there are exceptions, they are
rare and from the Mature of heredity
they cannot persist.
FALL GARDENS.
People who wait till Spring to make
their gardens lose half the pleasure
and profit of the art. Anybody who
has a plot of ground containing a
square rod or two may have a garden
where many vegetables can be raised
and flowers will bloom, nor need he
wait for Spring sunshine in order to
plant them. In the climate of Oregon
the most desirable perennials should
be set out In the Fall. From October
to the end of November is the time
to do' it. Hollyhocks along the border
of the lot, a bed of tulips to adorn the
front yard, a row of daffodils beside
the walk and crocuses here and there
In the grass may all be planted now
better than at any other time. These
hardy perennial flowers are cheap and
more beautiful than any others except
rosea. t
It is a mistake to plant nothing but
roses. Beautiful as they are and lav
ish of their bloom, still roses alone In
the gardens must Inevitably become
monotonous in the end. Some of the
most charming lawns in Portland are
ornamented with old-fashioned mixed
borders which contain bluebells, col
umbines, delphiniums and similar
flowers, with no roses at all. In our
enthusiasm for the queen of flow
ers, we are sometimes prone to
forget that she is only the first among
many almost as lovely. Two or three
large enclosures in Portland which
have been planted with mixed shrub
bery are to some tastes the most at
tractive in the city.
Fall Is also the best time to plant a
great many other flowers, such as
sweet peas, canterbury bells, foxgloves
and sweet Williams. It is to be re
gretted that the seed stores do not of
fer the Summer's crop of seeds earlier
in the season. As the matter is man
aged It is difficult to get them In time
to plant before the rains begin and
part of the best growing time is thus
lost. It Is astonishing to see what a
quantity of vegetables for the table
can be raised on a square rod of land
by a skillful gardener, and one who
has not investigated would be sur
prised to learn how many of them can
best be planted In the Fall. Spinach,
onions, Summer squashes, potatoes
and peas may all be planted In Octo
ber with advantage. The crop will
be earlier and more certain than If the
gardener hastens his sowing in Spring.
Potatoes will lie safely under the soli
throughout the Winter, making some
root growth in February and matur
ing many days before the first Spring
planting can be used. The taste for
gardening both in city and country is
becoming more general and more in
telligent every season, and the climate
of Oregon Is so mild that It can be in
dulged almost without interruption
from one year's end to another.
GOOD ADVICE FOR PREACHERS.
When Bishop Hughes, who presided
at the recent session of the Oregon
conference of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, told the ministers of his de
nomination that they should make a
practice of writing their sermons, he
gave advice that might well be direct
ed to ministers of all denominations.
There may be a few ministers who can
think out their sermons and deliver
them in an orderly, forceful manner,
with reasonable grammatical precis
Ion, but those who can do this are
very, very few indeed. There are
many who attempt It and empty pews
and low salaries show the result. A
blind faith in God, an Ignorant self
confidence and a lack of appreciation
of the rights of an audience, lead min
isters to deliver sermons into which
they have put no real effort and which
have no value whatever to the hear
ers. Almost any minister can talk for
thirty, forty-five or sixty minutes on
almost any text that might be given
him, but not one In a hundred could
say anything worth hearing unless he
spent hours in careful preparation.
There are many ministers who are
proud to boast that they can preach
upon any text given them after they
enter the pulpit. They do not realize
that sermons of that kind are ad
dressed to audiences that do not think
it worth while to listen. Wherever
there is a preacher who talks to his
congregation without having prepared
his address, it is safe to say there is
also an audience that thinks of its
own personal affairs while he is occu
pying the- pulpit. To talk Is one
thing; to instruct, inspire, persuade or
convince la quite another.
There are many reasons why a min
ister should write his sermon before
delivering it. Bishop Hughes did not
say that a minister should read his
sermon, or that he should commit it
to memory, but that he should write
It. There is much gained by the writ
ing, even though the speaker follow
the exact words of the written address
very little. When Bacon said that
"reading maketh a full man. confer
ence a ready man and writing an
exact man"," he gave reason enough
why not only preachers, but all public
speakers, should write their addresses.
Writing an address tends to make a
speaker exact not only as to his facts,
but as to his language. The preacher
who does not write becomes careless
In what he says and In the manner In
which he says It.
Perhaps a more important advan
tage gained by writing a sermon is
that the man who puts his thoughts
down in black and white has a clear
understanding of what he has to offer
his audience, and if he has neither a
new message nor an old message In a
new form, he will discover that fact
and endeavor to produce something
worth the time and attention of those
who are expected to listen. Ministers
are, as a rule, honest and charitable,
and few of them would expect others
to listen to sermons to which they
would not listen if they were in the
pews The written sermon is most
likely a product of thought: the un
written sermon may be but the listless
movement of an almost stagnant
mind.
Again, writing a sermon enables a
minister to economize the time and
mental effort of his audience, for by
carefully preparing his sermon he
avoids repetition, eliminates common
places, arranges his material in logical
order, removes ambiguities, makes his
meaning clear and acquires a more
forceful style. The man who writes
his sermon can easily deliver In thirty
minutes an address which, unwritten,
would spread over forty-five minutes,
or even an hour. But the saving of
time to the audience means an ex
penditure of time on the part of the
preacher, and . there's the rub. As
Bishop Hughes said, there are a great
many ministers who would rather
spend the week in idleness, relying
upon the Almighty to help them out
when they get up in the pulpit on
Sunday. To write a sermon requires
thought, and thinking is hard work.
But hard work is the price of success,
and those who wish to attain success
should be willing to pay the price.
It leaks out that one motive for em
ploying the pay-as-you-enter car, soon
to be Introduced here, is to Increase
earnings of streetcar companies. The
general manager of the Metropolitan
Street Railway in New York esti
mates that his company loses 8 per
cent of the fares through failure to
collect and dishonesty of conductors.
During the rush hours many passen
gers make a practice of "beating"
their way. Experience In Eastern
cities which have used the new car
Is that its easy operation depends
upon the passengers. They must be
provided with tickets or the exact
change, else no time Is saved. Spe
cial Inducements to patrons to provide
themselves with tickets are now being
offered.
Rev. George F. Houghton, aged,
broken In body and spirit, poor and
seemingly alone in the world, has
asked to be taken to the county poor
farm and there be allowed to end his
days in peace. A man useful in his
long day and generation; generous to
prodigality, and charitable to the ex
tent of his entire substance, the
plight of the aged minister Is Indeed
pitiable. It is hardly probable that
the great church to which the best
efforts of his life have been devoted
will allow its faithful servitor to spend
his few remaining days as a public
pauper. Eighty-six years old, simple
minded and destitute surely there Is
a home and welcome for him some
where among his brethren.
The large number of birds and
wings and feathers that are displayed
upon women's headgear this season
lead one to suppose that the Audubon
Society had gone out of business in
this city. Such is not the case, how
ever, as a meeting of the society was
held at the City Hall last night, in
which the cruelty of plumage-hunters
and the vanity of giddy women who
wear birds and feathers were duly
reprobated. But the slaughter of the
innocents still goes on, the demand of
commerce being held to justify the
rapacity that comes up boldly with
the supply.
The property-owner of Multnomah
County who has postponed the evil
day as long as possible must walk up
to the Courthouse Monday and pay
the deferred half of the taxes that
stand against his name, or later pay
them with penalty for delinquency
added. This is a cruel and exacting
world.
Does any one suppose that the Mil
waukee road, due to reach the Pacific
Coast within twelve months, Is going
to Ignore a territory that produces
100,000 carloads of freight a year?
And does any one fear that Oregon is
going to resist Invasion by Mr. Earl
Ing and his associates?
If they do succeed in Haskellizing
Treasurer Sheldon, it is to be hoped
he will retire to the dark abysses of
Wall street and be heard of no more.
Mr. Haskell appears to be supplying
all the posthumous remarks neces
sary to any ordinary campaign.
It's a mistake to have a Presiden
tial campaign and a baseball season
with a heart-disease finish running at
the same time. How can any patri
otic citizen be expected now to settle
down to the ordinary excitements of
a mere political campaign?
Mr. Bryan might explain it all sat
isfactorily by showing that, while he
is the only bona fide blown-in-the-bottle
heir to the Roosevelt policies,
there is just now a wicked attempt
by his sire to deprive him of his law
ful inheritance.
The National Irrigation Congress
having listened patiently, not to say
enthusiastically, to the annual roasts
for Chief Forester Plnchot, dutifully
indorse's him, as usual. That's what
the Irrigation Congress is for.
Candidate Taft appears to be get
ting steam up all right. He applies
the "short and ugly word" to Gom
pers. The campaign has gingered up
all around, and then some. But Is
Bryan any the happier for it?
The man who can talk about "sin
soaked sirens." and yet have no word
of censure of their male coparceners
worse, the makers of the sin-soaked
sirens is badly unhinged somewhere
In his moral make-up.
Though he strives to please, Chair
man Hitchcock's management of the
Republican campaign is likewise par
ticularly unsatisfactory to the Demo
crats. The Democratic war on Republican
Treasurer Sheldon looks like spiteful
retaliation for the great Haskell ex
posure. But Isn't it a trifle too late?
Senator Foraker and Mr. Archbold
at least had the good judgment not
to add to their letters the postscript
"Please burn this."
Now Ethel Barrymore says she
didn't say it. We're sorry. We had
begun to think very well of Ethel.
Is there no way to get the National
rs. warden after the President?
. . , int ila limit. '
ne xin onvfc -
Later Feature of a Crltlelnm by the
Rival Town.
Tacoma Tribune.
The Lake Washington canal project
for Seattle has been abandoned. The
real reason for this is that the tax
payers of Seattle are carrying about
as heavy a burden of taxes as they
can stagger along under. In a recent
editorial The Tribune stated that Ta
coma's advantage over her sister city
lay in the fact that Seattle had gone
the pace and must rest a bit or perish.
Regrading and street-paving In
Seattle attracted widespread attention.
The Seattle spirit was undergoing a
paroxysm. It has come out of It now
and Is weak and trembling ai a re
sult. During the past six to eight
years Seattle has grown like a mush
room. It has abosrbed suburban towns
and made them part of the city proper.
It has platted vast tracts of land ly
ing beyond its watermalns and gas
mains and electric light and power
wires, and until these Improvements,
entailing expenditures represented In
at least seven figures, are made, Seat
tle must sit still and watch Tacoma
grow.
In addition to regrading and paving,
the craze for skyscrapers, richly fur
nished, hit Seattle hard. That ctty
may well be proud of so;ne of Its busi
ness buildings, the furnishings of
which equal those In the great cities
of the East. But there Is danger In
this too raplj growth. A most notable
example is that of Kansas City, Mo.,
from the mushroom growth of which
sprung the origin of the word "boom."
Kansas City was the first "boom" city.
Frontage on the business streets
jumped from hundreds to. thousands
of dollars per foot. Business build
ings which had been rated at JB.1.000
were given fictitious values of a quar
ter of a million, and in equal propor
tion were the structures of greater
cost boomed to the skies. Kansas City
outdid itself and finally sank exhaust
ed, and fortunes were swept away as
chaff before the wind.
Topeka, Kan., Is another city which
all of a sudden, during the "boom"
period, built steam railways for the
streets of the city Instead of sticking
to the old "hoss" car. The side streets
as well as the main thoroughfares of
Topeka were asphalted, and one day
Topeka came out of It and could not
borrow $400 for which to buy a neces
sary patrol wagon.
It Is not the purpose of the Tribune
In this connection to Intimate that
Seattle has reached the collapse stage
of either Kansas City or Topeka j
merely to state facts and clinch the(
argument that Tacoma today Is In the
best position of any city on Fuget
Sound to sustain that healthy growth
which makes wealthy cities tike St.
Louis, rather than those of the mush
room sort that eventually go back.
Tacoma has not outgrown herself.
Improvements have followed the legit
imate Increase In business buildings
and residences.
Tacomans can make no mistake In
working energetically for the upbuild
ing of their city, for it Is now a cer
tainty that Tacoma Is In a better peti
tion than Is Seattle to become a solid,
substantial metropolis-
TREAT MEN AND WOMEN ALIKE
Publifih Nnmen of All Who PatronUe
Disorderly Reaorla.
Corvallis Times.
On the assumption that no firm can
continue in buisness without patron
age. The Oregonian asks Mayor Lane
why he does not let the immoral
women of Portland remain in their
present quarters, end then arrest every
male specimen seen entering those
joints? And the question Is extremely
pertinent. Why should there be for
men a set , of morals less Ideal than
those set up for women' Why should
woman be harrassed for offering
temptation and her male partner In
crime escape the law? Why should a
bibulous man receive social recogni
tion throughout years of drunken Im
becility and a woman becoma social
outcast for a single misstep of llko
kind? Why should vile, vicious, un
couth, vulgar language not condemn a
man as it does a woman? Why should
we demand of woman greater purity
of mind and soul, more perfect gen
tility, greater worthiness, stricter ad
herence to virtue, than we demand of
man?
There can be no hope of reforming
men by statute, but It would seem Jus
tice If male frequenters of female re
sorts were arrested, fined and their
names published in all papers, that
unsuspecting women of a higher social
sphere might be warned of their
lechery.
The People's Press (East Portland).
Some time ago The Morning Ore
gonian suggested that the names of
the men who were caught by the po
lice In houses of prostitution be pub
lished in the newspapers, and to start
the fun that paper offered its own col
umns free of charge. Not to be out
done by Its big West Side contem
porary, the Peoples Press hereby of
fers its front page for the same pur
pose, and to go the morning paper one
better, it agrees not to suppress any
names, no matter who or whactho- -gentlemen
are. A short time n,go
Mayor Lane was tickled when told by
one of his most trusted detectives that
one of His Honor's prominent political
enemies was overhauled In one of the
bawdy houses; his Joy was short-lived,
however, when the sleuth Informed
him that one of his own official family
was pulled out of the same bed during
the same raid. Time and again men
who are higl in the official and busi
ness life of this city have been caught
In the unlovely arms of s.ome North
End siren in the small hours, and.
though they were taken to the polled
station, their names did not even ap
pear on tile blotter, let alone In the
newspapers. Lets us be consistent.
If we are going to give publicity to
the patrons of the houses of prostitu
tion the men who are really responsi
ble for their existence let us not
make fish of one and fowl of another.
Print their names.
The Overahndowlng Iaaue.
Baltimore Sun. Ind.. Taft.
It is, perhaps, natural that Mr.
Bryan, If he Is merely an opportunist, '
should desire to eliminate his record
from the Issues of this campaign, riut
he cannot. The overshadowing issue
of the contest this year Is "Bryanlsm"
and all that word means, politically
and economically. Mr. Bryan musl
meet that issue. He cannot run away
from It. He cannot evade It by refus
ing to discuss It. Mr.' Taft has
brought It to the front and will keep
It there for the edification of voters.
He will emphasize it as a warning of
what will be in store for them if they
vield to Mr. Bryan's entreaties and
forget the danger to our material wel
fare which the election of a candidate
with such a record would Involve.