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THE ST7XDAY OREGOXTAX, PORTLAND, NOVEMBER 22, I90S.
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PORTLAND. SO DAT. OT. XI. 10S.
OLD jLESSONB TO BK LEA RTI1 ATW.
Does direct legislation violate the
National Constitution? It Is a ques
Uon. raised by certain states, which
ret awaits answer. It la raised in Ore-g-on
by the Initiative method. In so
far as It relates to the personal and
property rights of citizens of other
states. Probably the Supreme Court
of the United States will leave It to
each state to fight out the problem of
direct legislation for Itself. In so far
as It may concern Its own citizens only.
But It Is a question how far. If at all,
the state Initiative will be permitted
to Interfere with a Federal function,
or with rights Included in federal
powers.
Each state Is required by the Con
stitution to have a republican form of
Kovernment; and a republican form
of government has always been under
stood to be based on the suffrages of
the people, with a representative legis
lature and an elective and non-hereditary
executive, while In a pure democ
racy the people make the laws and
elect all the officers, directly.
Nothing Is more certain than that
the Constitution of the United States
requires the election of Senators by
the Legislatures of the states. It fol
lows that any attempt to Interfere, di
rectly or Indirectly, with the Consti
tutional principle, by the states, or by
part fes . within the states. Is void.
Judge Williams, in his article on the
subject, published yesterday, puts the
rase with his usual clearness and force.
"An ante-election pledire made by a
candidate for the Legislature to vote
in a particular way In the election of
Senator Is unconstitutional and void,
because it divests him of a power ex
pressly conferred upon him by the
Constitution of the United States,
which cannot be delegated or exer
cised by any other person or persons."
Tet, says the author of this luminous
statement: "I do not question the
right of the people to express at the
polls their preference for a United
States Senator, nor do I question the
right of a member of the Legislature
to act In accordance with this ex
pressed preference, If It meets with
his Judgment; but under no circum
stances can such expressed preference
be otherwise than advisory."
It Is absolutely certain that the
people of Oregon, who have Just voted
by the enormous plurality of 25,000
for a Republican President, do not
want a Democratic Senator. Just be
- fore the Presidential election the man
who now Is a candidate for the San
ate, and who rails on Republicans to
elect him to that office. Issued an ad
dress to the people. In which he de
clared for Bryan, examined In detail
the principles and purposes for which
Bryan stood, and to which the Demo
cratic party stood committed, and
pronounced for Bryan and the Demo
cratic platform and policy, as against
Taft and the Republican platform
and policy; yet he and his supporters
insist that a Legislature, live-sixths
of whose members are Republicans, is
bound to elect him. Is It In this way
that we arrive at the will of the peo
ple? If so. It must go on the assump
tion that the enormous Republican
majority In Oregon means nothing.
The Senatorshlp for six years means
more to Oregon than the Presidency
for four.
But to go back to the question.
Does direct legislation violate the
Federal Constitution? Consider cer
tain fundamental facts and principles
How will the Supreme Court of the
United States deal with them? Be
sure that In such a matter the people
of the United States will follow the
historical exposition of the subject,
delivered by the Supreme Court.
Under democratic government the
people gather together and determine
by vote what laws shall be enacted.
The history of civilization and gov
ernment has shown that whenever at
tempt has been made to extend this
form of government to the adminis
tration of the atTalrs of a larger com
munity the effort has failed and has
resulted In the downfall of the gov
ernment Itself. Greece, Rome, France
and other nations all suffered because
r the difficulties and dangers attend--
' exercise. At the close of our
Revolution was the critical period of
uur history. It was Impossible to do
anything through the local democra
cies. Hence the convention of 17S7
was called, and this preceding system
whs discarded as unsuitable for ad
ministering the affairs of a great na
tion. We shall have an historical ex
position of all this, when any one of
the cases that Involve the question of
direct legislation by the states shall
bring the subject up In a form that
requires It to be directly handled by
tb Supreme Court of the United States.
The Initiative is a. form of demo
cratic government. Intended to super
sede to an Important extent repre
sentative government. We may sup
pose the Supreme Court will be little
Inclined to deal with It In matters
purely of state concern; but where
any Federal question Is Involved it
will assert Jurisdiction. The question
will arise In cases as to the Jurisdic
tion of the United States Courts, con
cerning the property rights of the cit
izens of any state, as affected by the
Jaws of another state, enacted by this
method; and. moreover, under the
provisions of the great blanket ordi
nance known as the . Fourteenth
Amendment. Growing out of this
method of legislation we shall have
controversies that will recall our peo
ple to fundamental principles of poli
tics and government, and in the long
run we shall gain knowledge and
strength from the experience. For
The Oregonlan fully believes that. In
time, the State of Oregon, recovering
its balance of Judgment, will correct
all these absurdities.
The explosion of a r main that
occurred last Friday when sxcavatiaa;
a Brooklyn street was frightful and
sudden, but it can hardly be said to
have been surprising, since It repre
sents the always possible result of
burrowing under busy streets that are
threaded with gas mains and over
topped by massive buildings. Human
life, with its needs and demands, liter
ally packs the area covered by Brook
lyn. Over much of this space .men
are at work tearing down the old and
substituting the new In buildings, sur
face railways, subways, elevated rail
ways, water mains and sewers. The
wonder Is not that an explosion
caused by a spark (no doubt from a
laborer's pipe) dropping upon a leaK
In a gaspipe. burled twenty-five men
In the awful fissure made, but that a
single day passes without some disas
ter to human life In its contention
against the great forces that have
been enfisted in the building of mod
ern cities.
Pt.-I.LtNG THE WEEDS.
It is encouraging to read that the
Los Angeles School Superintendent
has at last plucked up courage to or
der the children under his charge to
rive UD their "fraternities. The
weeding out of these pernicious socle-
ties proceeds apace. A fatal hin
d ranee to study, a foe to discipline, de
structive to morality and good man
ners. It Is a wonder that school author
ities tolerate these pests anywhere.
Usually when they are stamped out
there will be half a dozen bad children
who appeal to the courts to uphold
them In disobeying their teachers, but
the American Judge Is yet to be discov
ered who will do such a foolish thing.
The persistence of the fraternities in
the face of good sense and sound edu
cation Is more the parents fault than
the children's. Doubtless the true un.
derlylng cause of the support they re
ceive Is flunkeylsm and snobbishness.
Many parents would let their boys and
girls go to their graves as ignorant as
a Hottentot for the sake of one gra
cious smile from a "social superior.'
Others would crawl to Jerusalem- on
their stomachs If the same superior
but bade them do it. Hence the fra
ternlties. To extirpate these silly so
defies Is the first duty of the school
authorities wherever they have sprung
up.
MB. CANNON'S THEORY.
'Do you consider the cost of pro
duction as fundamental In fixing tariff
schedules?" An Interviewer propound
ed this question to Mr. Joseph G. Can
non the other day. "Absolutely, was
his reply. He meant, of course, that
the duty ought to be so high that
when It was added to the cost of pro
duction abroad the sum would equal
the cost of riroductlon here. An im
mediate deduction from this Is that
there ought to be a negative duty, or
import bounty, upon all articles not
produced In this country, since there
is no other way to carry out Mr. Can
non's theory as far as they are con
cerned. If we punish the Importer for
bringing In goods which are pro
duced here, we certainly ought to re
ward him for bringing those we do
not produce.
Mr. Cannon, as might be expected.
looks at the tariff entirely from the
seller's standpoint. The ultimate pur
chaser he Ignores. To this purchaser
the cost of production is increased
by whatever amount the tariff adds
to the selling price. If the tariff adds
nothing to the selling price, then
clearly It protects nobody. If it does
cause higher prices, then It takes the
consumer's money and gives It to the
protected producer. This ls the
dilemma which the standpatters have
to face. So long as the consumer Is
willing to be robbed, they can solve
the difficulty by empty palaver and
vague generalizations. The Instant he
really begins to understand what the
tariff does, the standpatters will be
frightened Into an honest movement
for reduction. In respect to the tariff,
as to most other things, the people will
get from the Government favors In
strict proportion to their Intelligent
demands. All other favors will go to
the privileged Interests.
COMMERCIAL AMBITION OF THE WEST.
"In the East few of us really under
stand why the West .la so self-conscious,
self-reliant and self-sufficient."
This admission from the New York
Sun gave somewhat of a surprise until
it was learned from what followed the
admission that the writer had been
reading a paper In a recent number of
the North American Review, by Mr.
J. B. Case, president of the Trans
Mississippi Commercial Congress,
which turned on the light In many
dark places.
The theme of Mr. Case is the future
of Western trade and, as the Sun ad
mits, he tells the East some things
It ought to know, "for the East is
very well satisfied with itself, too, and
not as well Informed about the ex
pansion and aspirations of the West
as it should be for its own interests."
Of course, no single section of the
country Is Independent of the others.
There is an Interdependence In trade
that cannot be ignored. The West
goes to the great commercial centers
of the East to buy merchandise, hav
ing got the money to pay the bills
from Eastern buyers of the products
of vast Western fields. This Is a mat
ter of record in transportation offices,
where the returns from the great
trains that go from the West to the
East laden with range and dairy prod
ucts, fruits, breadstuffs, lumber, etc.,
are made up.
Mr. Case shows that the West has
developed so many resources In the
good times of the last decade that If
a dividing wall were to be built along
the -Mississippi River the West could
live and thrive without the aid and
countenance of the East.
But this would not be an ideal con
dition. Co-operation in a large sense
is characteristic of the new West. All
of Its people are pulling together In
larger matters. It is only In smaller
concrns thta It gives way to local and
sectional Jealousy. It is cited In sup
port of this statement that three
bodies Interested In mining. Irrigation
and commerce meet every year to
compare notes and take stock so to
peak, in progress. "The direct object
of the organizations." we are told.
"is to build up the struggling enter
prises of the West; to unite In one
effort the politicians, the capitalists
and the business workers who live be
tween the. Mississippi and the ? iclflc."
The spirit of co-operation extends
to the agricultural and horticultural
Interests. Farmers, dairymen and or
chardlsts, like the miners, lumbermen
and manufacturers, are interested in
cheap transportation, since In that way
lie the possibilities of expansion.
Hence, the movement to construct
branch railways and develop available
water routes Is general throughout
the West and Is backed by a power
ful public opinion. Mr. Case predicts
that the "Increase in shipping from
Galveston, Port Arthur and New Or
leans during the next ten years will
be greater than from any other ports
In the United States."
What the opening of the Panama
Canal will mean to the West it is Im
possible to estimate. Its possibilities,
however, fill the dreams of a multitude
of active, energetic men of business
fTre-slght and financial attainment.
That the West will continue to grow
Is certain. In ' pursuance of this
growth It will reach out to the mar
kets across the Pacific as well as A
the North, East and South, making
a place for the products of its teem
ing fields, abounding pastures, mag
nificent forests, exhaustless mines and
bountiful orchards.
For the Illuminating paper In which
all of this and much more Is
succinctly set forth, the people of the
great West, the "New West," are most
grateful to Mr. Case, who. In his ca
pacity as president of the Trans-Mississippi
Commercial Congress was able
to speak with authority on the future
of Western trade and to compel the
attention of at least one powerful New
York Journal to the commercial
growth and trade possibilities of tha
great and abounding est.
THE TRUE SATAN.
Matthew Arnold in a famous pas
sage declared his belief that there
was In the universe a power, not our
selves, which makes for righteous
ness. Who or what the power might
be he did not pretend to say very defi
nitely, but he was convinced that It
existed. History is full of remarka
ble events which some persons call
coincidences, but which others main
tain are clear evidences of a provlden
tlal watchfulness for the success of
good causes and righteous men. Such,
for example, was the terrible storm
which arose as the Persian fleet, bent
on the destruction of Hellas, sailed
along the Island of Euboea. The
vessels were broken on the rocky
shores and the crews drowned In such
numbers that the mighty armament
no longer surpassed the power of
Greece to meet and vanquish. Other
men contemplating the strange series
of events which ended' in" the total
wreck of the Spanish armada seem,
In the Incompetence of Philip's com
manders, the fatuous course of their
voyage and the storms which arose so
opportunely for Elizabeth and her
realm and strewed the Scotch and
Irish coasts with the fragments of the
sea power of Spain, to perceive the
hand of Providence working for the
triumph of liberty and intellectual
light over tyranny and superstition.
It appears certain, however, that if
there Is a power working in the world
for righteousness there must be an
other which works for unrighteous
ness. The reason for this will In
stantly occur to everybody. If there
had been a power working for right
eousness from the beginning of time.
no matter how feeble itmlght have
been, It would long ago have annihil
ated all the evil of the world if it had
not been opposed. Even an Infinltesl
mally small force acting for an irf
finlte period must accomplish great
results. But it is Impossible for an
unprejudiced observer of human af
fairs to convince himself that the
power working for righteousness has
actually effected anything like a com
plete extirpation of evil. Wherever
we look we behold Injustice and
wrong. Perhaps there is less of them
than in former times, but they still
exist and very often they are victori
ous in human affairs. Hence we
cannot avoid the conclusion that the
power not ourselves which works for
righteousness has been actively op
posed by another power which works
for unrighteousness and which thus
far has continually thwarted the be
neficent purposes of the former.
Thus we are forced back upon the
ancient belief that the universe is the
battleground for two hostile deities,
Ormuzd and Ahriman, Light and
Darkness, Jehovah and Satan, Good
and Evil, as they have been variously
named, who are In perpetual strife.
So far as human experience goes, the
day .when the good deity will win his
final triumph seems to be far away
In the mysterious tide of time. Doubt
less it sweeps toward us athwart the
abysmal darkness and some day it
will surely come, but It has not come
yet. A curious evidence of the hand
of an evil deity in human affairs is
the persistent trick our experiments
have of turning out badly. No mat
ter how good the Intention may be,
no matter how lofty, or holy the in
dwelling ideal may be, our schemes,
our customs, our Institutions, seem
lnveterately to produce a harvest of
misery and wrong. So true is this
dreadful rule that men have learned
to sneer at such words as "love,"
"brotherhood," "non-resistance," "op
timism," and It '. ..s become a mark of
sound prudence In conduct to shun
every project which promises Ideal
good or even very much material
good. The little communities which
have been organized here and there
on the principles of unselfishness and
mutual help have uniformly failed.
Worse still, their final outcome has
been anything but kindliness and love.
On the contrary, it has usually been
hate. Friends who try to live to
gether In the same household become
enemies. Good laws, or laws with
good intent, like the Sherman anti
trust act, turn out In practice to be
the opposite of what their- authors
thought they were. Nobody ever
dreamed in the beginning that the
Sherman law would prove a powerful
weapon against the elementary rights
of man; but that Is what it has come
to be, while against the unrighteous
monopolies at which it was aimed it
has effected nothing. Nay. It has
taught them a more subtle method of
combination which very likely no law
can ever reach. The transformation
from the loose union of corporations
to the holding company is like a
change from a rope of sand to chemi
cal combination, and that change is
the effect of the Sherman act upon
the trusts It was meant to destroy.
But the least admirable of Satan's
deeds is his perversion of the Joy of
Christmas and Thanksgiving into ab
ject misery for thousands of human
creatures. The way he has gone
about to do It Illustrates how subtle
he is, and how efficient. He has
wrought boundless evil by urging us
to overdo obedience to a good Im
pulse. This in truth is his habitual
method. To show our thankfulness
to Jehovah we spread a bountiful
feast at the end of November. Satan
ars It all by turning our feast to
gluttony and our drinking to drunk
enness, so that Thanksgiving becomes
really an orgy to the glory of Dark
ness Instead of a festival to the god of
light. Likewise, but much worse. Is
his capture of Christmas. The day
when we ought to celebrate the birth
of the Prince of Peace has been trans
formed Into a saturnalia of Mammon-
worship. It has become a senseless
competition In waste and vanity, and
in that competition we ' Inflict un
speakable misery upon the poor servi
tors who are compelled to cater to
our sin and folly. The spirit who so ;
uniformly turns our good deeds and
our high Intent to evil Is the true
Satan. Some people say that he la
dead, but It does not take much or
close observation to convince one
that he Is very actively alive.
OLD COMPANY O. O. N. O.
It Is well for Portland to take spe
cial note of the twenty-fifth anniver
sary of the beginnings of Company G,
Oregon National Guard, -whose veter
ans on Friday night commemorated
that event by a feast, and by forming
a new social organization to keep
alive the sentiment and the memories
that gather arouid It. Company G
was the first body of well-equipped,
well-officered, well-drilled young men
of Oregon.
To Company G's credit be It said;
that It pioneered a genuine military
spirit in the citizen soldiery, not only
of Portland, but the entire state. It
-was made up of men who had pride,
martial aspirations and high Ideals of
duty. Officers and privates became
skilled In arms. As citizens, the
members hewed to a straight line.
Company G inspired the later compa
nies with something of its own enthu
siasm and technical excellence. Its
impress Is manifest to this day and is
likely to continue.
Company G is -entitled to a place In
the annals of Oregon on account of
the great service It rendered this state
In the anti-Chinese demonstrations
twenty-three years ago. Lawless im
ported agitators who had driven all
the Chinese out of Tacoma and then
burned their habitations Invaded
Portland and attempted to repeat the
outrage here. Company G was the
one armed force strong enough and
willing to subdue a mob. Night after
night it slept on Its arms. Riotous
leaders, convinced that Company G
would do Its duty, quailed and slunk
out of town. The debt to this fine or
ganization Is the deeper because vic
tory for law and order was won with
out bloodshed.
AWAKENING OF CHINA.
Evidence is accumulating that the
awakening of China is something more
than a figure of speech. The ancient
Empire which boasts of a civilization
that was 2000 years old before Cau
casian civilization began making an
impression on mankind, seems to have
turned over in Its sleep and yawned,
preparatory to sitting up and taking
notice. Of course, for ,a nation that
has been asleep for 2000 years, the
awakening Is a slow process. There
is an old story of the imaginative
school teacher who, desirous of illus
trating his point, would inform his
pupils that a certain star was so far
distant that If an abnormally gifted
human being had a finger long enough
to touch the blazing spark, it would
be numberless years before the pain
of the burn would be felt. So, to a
certain extent, with China. She has
quickened and moved on the surface
by the application of the heat of mod
ern civilization; but the sensation Is
slow In penetrating and It may be
some years yet before the inoculation
becomes complete.
But for all that, China Is making
frequent demonstrations of late which
denote that the rest of the world must
no longer regard her as a huge foot
ball to be carelessly kicked around
by any nation which feels so Inclined.
This modern elixir of life, which seems
to be working in the Chinese system,
was first Injected simultaneously with
the discovery, during the war with
Japan, that the stinkpots of old were
less successful In deadly warfare than
the Mauser rifles used by the Japanese.
China's latest exploit, which indi
cates a tendency towards modern civi
lization. Is the seizure of the Portu
guese Island of Macao, the scene of
the Tatsu Maru trouble which brought
on the boycott against Japan. At the
time of the Tatsu Maru seizure, Port
ugal, in an effort to avoid the ensu
ing complications, contended .that the
seizure was made In Chinese waters.
China Is now determined to call the
bluff, and has raised the Chinese flag
over Macao and Is levying taxes. The
outcome of the strange situation will
be awaited with considerable interest.
If Portugal should protest against this
act of China, the ancient Empire
would then be in position to establish
its original contention, that the act
of the Japanese in landing munitions
of war in Macao was a violation of the
treaty.
China may be slightly handicapped
with a three-year-old ruler, but there
Is evidence that there are plenty of
pig-tailed Von Buelows. close at hand
to prevent the nation from getting the
worst of any kind of a bargain.
"THE CHRISTMAS RUSH."
As often as the Christmas holiday
season approaches, a strenuous plea is
made to women, who do the bulk of
the Christmas shopping, to make
their purchases early, and as far as
possible complete their buying two
weeks before Christmas. W hlle some
women, largely for thefr own conven
ience, have become forehanded in
holiday buying, this plea, though
strongly and even pathetically urged,
receives scant attention. The chief
reason for delay In Christmas shop
ping comes from the fact that the
question "What shall I give?" has
grown to be a momentous one and one
difficult to decide. Gift-giving at
Christmas has become a matter of
anxious deliberation and calculation.
More than that. It has become a bore
to many men and a burden to thou
sands of women.
The universal expression In regard
to the Christmas season is that of
dread at Its coming and of relief when
It has passed. Lacking In the spon
taneity that in former times ruled In
the giving of Christmas gifts, the pur
chase drags and Is postponed until the
last day or days, when, spurred on by
desperation, Christmas. shoppers crowd
the stores and tread each others heels
In the supreme effort to get off their
minds the thing that has perplexed
them for weeks. Precedent to any
change In the manner of Christmas
shopping, its rush and roar and the
physical exhaustion that Is insepara
ble from It, there must be a change in
the spirit that prompts the giving of
gifts upon this occasion.- We must
come again to regard Christmas as the
family festival as pre-emlenntly the
children's day. Then will its burdens.
Including late and frenzied shopping.
with Its attendant weariness, roll away.
Of the strain and stress, the fever
ish anxiety, the fatigue and the suffer
ing, incident to the "Christmas rush"
nothing re'mains to be said. Every
body acknowledges the weariness that
It imposes, the cruelty of long hours
and strenuous labor that belong to it.
But as long as conditions are as they
are, it Is Idle to exhort Christmas buy
ers to apply the remedy. It Is not
possible to compass a reform by deal
ing with an effect. The cause in this
Instance Is not far to seek. Every
woman who anxiously scans her "list"
of Christmas beneficiaries to see If
there is not soma name that aha can
drop without seeming to disregard an
obligation; who is troubled about what
to get this one, and undecided as to
what will be suitable for that one. Is
face to face and wrestling with the
cause of the "Christmas rush."
MAKING THINGS EASY" FOR PCTILS.
The delinquency of colleges in that
they fail or to the extent that they
fail to Inculcate and fix the virtue of
nArsnnfl 1 t-osnnnslhllitv in students. Is
I In like manner the delinquency of the
publio schools. The underlying tenet
of the public school system in its
present elaborate form is, "make
everything as easy and as pleasant as
possible for the children." This Is in
direct opposition to the old and well-establls-hed
fact that there Is no royal
road to learning. The Idea embodied
in the declaration or command, how
ever, runs through the entire public
school course. The results are not
far to seek. They are manifest In the
faces of harried, anxious, weary teach
ers who are charged with the task of
carrying, dragging and pushing a
heavy, unprofitable load up the hill of
knowledge. What wonder that the
boys and girls who compose the load,
after they are dropped upon the
summit, and when it comes to prac
tical application of the precepts that
fell along the way from the lips of
the struggling burden-bearers, repre
sent an Inert, helpless mass?
Those who have been pushed and
pulled and dragged through the pub
lic schools by the sheer force of per
sistence on the part of their teachers
enter college without knowing how
they got there. It Is enough for them
that they have scraped together cred
its enough to be allowed to register.
They are Ignorant of the first princi
ples of study, and they either become
adepts, in the art of cheating, or they
soon "flunk out."
But perhaps the goal of their own
and their parents' ambition Is reached
when the public school course Is com
pleted, and the teacher, o'er-wearled,
drops them to take up another load.
The idea of self-dependence Is wholly
new to them; persistence is an un
known quantity in their make-up.
They "got along" through school and
In a vague way they expect to "get
along" In the business vocations of
life. Having thus far been carried,
they do not know how to walk. But
the sharp spur of necessity Is behind
them, -and they plunge or stumble or
blunder along, ,
Happy If their feet be found
Never on forbidden ground;
Happy If they sink not In
Quick and treacheroua Band of ln.
The story Is simple; its moral is
plain. Require children to get their
lessons; do not expect teachers to
pump knowledge into careless, happy-go-lucky
pupils. Never mind about
"making things easy" for them. Hard
study, when it comes to the higher
grades, will not hurt them; but quite
the contrary, if they are in good
health. If they axe puny, they should
quit school until their physical
strength Is renewed.
A boy who is made responsible and
held responsible will grow into' a re
sponsible man, while he who is carried
along and coddled by the way will
naturally look for some one upon
whom to lean when man's estate Is
reached. Fate Is likely to take many
a hard fall out of him before he over
comes th habit of letting some one
else look out for him and do his
thinking for him, as his teachers were
expected and even required to do In
his school days.
MISTAKES IN ORCHARD-GROWING.
Notwithstanding the large increase
in acreage of land set to fruit In the
last year or two, persons now enter
ing this industry need have no fear of
overproduction which will make their
undertaking unprofitable. If there
should be overproduction, the owners
of the old orchards will be the first
to feel the effect, and they, if any, will
be the ones driven to the wall. The
man who engages In fruitgrowing at
this time has many advantages over
his earlier rival, and if he gives Intelli
gent attention to his orchard he will
be able to succeed in accordance with
the principle of the survival of the fit
test. The new orchardlst has the ad
vantage of all the mistakes his prede
cessors have made, and if he wisely
profits by them he will secure larger
results from his orchard with a
smaller expense. The owner of the
old orchard planted during the experi
mental stage of fruitgrowing In Ore
gon Is In no position to compete with
his modern rival.
It was a common mistake ten, fif
teen and twenty years ago to plant
many varieties of trees, upon the the
ory that some of them would bear
every year, and that there would be
enough different kinds of fruit to sat
isfy the tastes or whims of all kinds
of consumers. The result was that
few of the orchards had enough fruit
of any one kind to make them pro
ducers of commercial fruit. They
yielded too much fruit to place upon
the local market, and not enough of
one kind to make shipping possible.
The modern orchardlst knows that
this mistake must be avoided, and that
ho must produce enough fruit of one
kind to make his output attractive to
the commercial buyer. The 'modern
orchard is not a mixture of several
varieties of cherries, pears, apples,
plums and peaches.
Profiting by the experience of
others, the modern .orchardlst avoids
shallow soils. Before buying his land
he procures a long-handled auger,
bores down to find out what there is
under the surface, and then sends
samples of the soil .to the Agricultural
Experiment Station with a request for
information as to the fitness of the
soil for the purposes he has In mind.
The modern orchardist avoids lands
with poor air drainage where frost
is likely to catch his fruit buds in the
Spring. He doesn't plant trees on soil
that is water-logged all Winter. He
doesn't expeot wornout soil that has
been washed by Winter rains for half
a century to produce thrifty fruit
trees. Observation has taught him that
these unfavorable conditions must be
avoided, and he escapes the dear les
sons that others have learned by ex
perience. Then, too, the modern orchardist
plants his trees far enough apart so
that the roots and branches will not
Interlace when the trees have attained
their growth. As a consequence, his
trees are thriftier, they produce as
much fruit of a better quality and the
expense of production is less. Instead
of proceeding upon the theory that
land can produce hay or garden crops
at the same time that It is producing
trees, the modern orchardist gives his
trees the advantage of all the nourish
ment the soil contains, thereby hasten
ing growth and securing better trees.
He knows that to neglect cultivation
of young trees for even a single sea
son will mean . naitea growtn ana
stunted trees which subsequent atten
tion cannot bring to first-class con
dition. He recognizes the fact that
as a fruit-producing machine a trea
is the handiwork of man nearly as
much as the product of nature. The
modern orchardlst does not let na
ture shape the tree he shapes it him
self with a view to bringing the fruit
near the ground, letting in the sun
shine and maintaining an even bal
ance. He keeps his trees free from
disease through the growing period,
and does not depend upon eradicating
diseases after the trees begin bear
ing. The modern orchardlst arranges his
buildings, his curing plant, his packing-house
and his harvesting ap
pliances with a view to handling his
crop economically and putting the
fruit on the market in a first-class
condition. In this respect he has a
very decided advantage over his old
fashioned competitor. He can find
the readier market and get the higher
price. He reduces his loss of fruit
to the minimum and raises his quality
to the maximum. He conducts all his
operations in a systematic manner,
whereas the owner of the old mixed
orchard must do most of his work In
an irregular and spasmodic manner.
The conditions and circumstances In
favor of the beginner in fruit-growing
account largely for the numerous sales
of land that have been made recently
in Willamette Valley to men who in
tend to plant fruit trees. Notwith
standing the higher prices of land and
labor and nursery stock, the planter
of fruit trees at this time has a de
cided advantage over the grower of
ten, fifteen or twenty years ago. Quits
likely many of those who are now
planting trees will make mistakes,
but if they do, they have only their
own carelessness or stupidity to blame.
In these days of experiment stations
and horticultural commissions, there
is no excuse for any man going far
wrong in choosing land for an orchard,
selecting his trees or caring for his
orchard.
There are wonderful possibilities In
the new transportation route by way
of the Isthmus of Tehwtntepec. A
shipment of freight received in Port
land on the American liner Nebraskan
last week came through from Antwerp
with but two rehandlings between the
Belgian port and Portland. With an
efficient rail service across the isth
mus, It would not be impossible to
land European freight in Portland
within thirty days after It is Bhipped
This is a service that it would make
the railroads hustle to equal. It will
be a number of years before the Pan
ama Canal Is completed and shipments
can come through without breaking
bulk. Meanwhile, with such a service
as Is provided by the American-Ha
waiian line, interior points which can
not be reached by ocean carriers will
experience great difficulty in meeting
ocean competition of the kind that can
land European freight in Portland in
thirty days.
- Mrs. Fannie Clayton Plummer, who
died at her daughter's home on the
East Side last week, was a pioneer In
years and in all good works. Fifty
five of her seventy-one years were
spent among the young people In
school, Sunday school, .church and
mission. She left thereby ah impress
for good that will far outlast her day
and generation. A lover of flowers
and of all that was beautiful in Na
ture and in art, she got the very es
sence of beauty out of life and en-
Joyed it correspondingly.- She was, in
her gentle, womanly way, an advocate
of woman suffrage and of temperance
and was widely known in all womanly
endeavor in the community in which
she had lived for nearly a third of a
century.
An alfalfa mill in Eastern Oregon
has turned out 200 carloads of meal
this season. Grinding the hay does
not add to its feeding value, but it
saves waste of the stems and gives
the nutritive element the necessary
roughage. The alfalfa mill Is a ne
cessity In making Oregon a thirty-million-dollar
dairy state, and there
should be one in every settlement
where the hay is made.
Bryan gets in Nebraska a plurality
of 422 8. The vote for Bryan was
130,837; for Taft, 126,609. Neighbors
of Bryan, who wanted to "honor Ne
braska," and feared they never would
have another chance, gave him the
little plurality. But his plurality in
the state, in 1896, when so many peo
ple were carried off their feet by the
silver craze, was much greater.
In a total vote of 714,656 in Mis
souri, Taft received a plurality of
1026. .This result is one ef the won
ders of election day first that the
majority was for Taft and again that
the contest was so close.
A large number of Portland people
learned for the first time yesterday
that Oregon has two Important and
well-attended institutions of higher
education, one at Corvallls and the
other at Eugene.
U. of O. has beaten O. A. C. Well,
there's no disgrace, for U. of O. got
the larger appropriation and could
better develop educational work.
Money makes the school go.
"The . tariff," says the Honorable
Champ Clark, of Missouri, "is a uni
versal grab game." Can it be that
the eminent gentleman imagines this
a new idea or discovery?
The day is coming when the con
stant attendant on moving picture
shows will see the details of whole
sale hog-killlng and hear the noises
by graphophone.
Increase of 59 per cent in Port
land's bank clearings last week fairly
registers the difference between busi
ness conditions today and one year
ago.
As an active verb, the latest word,
"Oregonlze," used in what Noah Web
ster would call a political sense, con
fers debatable glory.
Now you see what Multnomah
County had in view when its vote
saved the university appropriation.
Thank heaven, the championship
remains at home, for it was an Ore
gon team that won yesterday.
An Albany girl Is one of the trained
nurses caring for Heney. No more
doubt of his recovery.
tia fruit- fnsncrtnr raises the value
of land from 1100 to 500 an acre.
Good mornine: Have you ordered
your Thanksgiving turkey?
The starch trust naturally would
prefer a stiff tariff.
SILHOUETTES
BY AKTHl'R A. GREENE.
The iiiTfiifijI auctioneer Is the most
affaeilve orator.
a a
I often won4r when a woman who
has both a husband and a baby gets
any sleep, Phe teems always to be sit
ting up waltinit for her liege lord to
come home or doalng the baby with
colic medicine.
e a
Very amall kindnesses console us
after great cruelties have afflicted us.
a
The remembrance of a love often sur
vives the love itself. Just as twilight
follows the day.
a
Now that Mra. Tsl An. of China, has
passed on, the world seems a little shy
on International shrewish mothers-in-law.
a a a
What with assassinations In Ten
nessee, murderous lawlessness In San
Francisco and race riots In Oklahoma,
one begins to wonder If. after all, our
vaunted civilization is not a myth.
m a
Since the Invention of pads, figures
have frequently lied.
a a a
The next census of the United States
will embrace more than 40,000,000 wom
an. Lucky census.
a a a
Keep your hand on your pocketbook
when In the company of a man who
boasts of his honesty.
a a a
Most people consult their prejudloas
when they seek wisdom.
a a
A faith, to endure, must have its
martyrs.
a a a
If we have one happy day In a year,
we have not lived that year In vain,
a a a
Fane" were originally Invented for
society women who can no longer
blush.
a a a
Time' and adversity are the great
levelers.
a a a
HOT SPRINGS, Va Today. (Special
Wireless.) President-elect Taft au
thorizes the announcement that the fol
lowing more or less desirable citizens
will not be members of his Cabinet:
Samuel Gompers, Governor "Oklahoma"
Haskell, Eugene V. Debs, Joseph B.
Foraker, John-D. Archbold, Joseph Sib
ley and Senator Bailey, of Texas.
a a a
It Is much the easier task for one to
accomplish his own damnation than to
work out his own salvation.
a a a
A man can never be sure of his love
for a woman until he sees her before
breakfast.
-
When we are victims of the incon
stancy of women, we censure woman
kind; but when we are the objects, we
find womankind "perfectly delight
ful." a a a
Here's hoping that Bryan may go to
the Senate from Nebraska, but not by
the Chamberlain route
a a a
A headline, "Hogs as Money-Makers,"
suggests the thought that while ail
hogs may not be money-makers, the
latter are frequently hogs.
a a a
It Is difficult to become enthusiastio
over the telegraphic reports that the
complete election returns from Nevada
give Bryan a plurality when one re
members that Nevada Is merely our Na
tional vermiform appendix."
a a
The most fluent conversationalist
beoomes tongue-tied when he tries to
tell his love.
a a a
Only Ignorance Is presumptuous,
a a a
There seems to be no Immediate dan
ger of the country becoming over-populated
so long as the gay and festive
automobile continues to get in its
work.
a a a
Some people seem to consider that
the best evidence of our advancement
in civilization lies in the new vices we
acquire.
TROUSERS-WITHOUT ANY POCKETS
Sack Garments Symbolize a Further
Advance of Humanity.
Philadelphia Record.
A valuable suggestion to the South
Is afforded by the style of nether In
teguments affected by Governor Pat
terson, of Tennessee. As a Southern
man he understands the danger of the
hin nocket. It Is almost lmposlble for
a Southern man to go around with an
empty one. He feels perhaps that he
could not resist the temptation to fill
his full of "shooting Irons, or possiDiy
he Is seeking to set a fashion In his
section of the country. He baa his
trousers built without pockets, either
hip or side.
Trousers tremseivea represent, xne
advance of democracy. Covering the
entire leg, they render it Impossible to
distinguish a "silk stocking" on sight.
They came In with the guillotine and
other leveling devices of the French
Revolution. Without pockets they are
capable of symbolizing a further ad
vanoe of humanity, progress from tho
rilana of nrivate vengeance to that or
legal protection and punishment by the
state.
If tha Southern states, which are
wearying of duels and assassinations
and vendettas, would enact laws im
posing heavy penalties upon the ad
dition of pockets to trousers and would
appoint Inspectors or tauorsnops to
see that the law was obeyed, much
would be done to discourage the carry
ing of arms.
In Kansas.
Kansas City Star.
Tha Presidential vote of Kansas has
shown remarkable fluctuationa In the last
twelve years. It is rather surprising to
find, for example, that Mr. Bryan'a lost
vote was the smallest he has ever re
ceived in the state. Twelve years ago h
received 173.000. eight years ago lw.uuu
and this year 161,000. But four years ago.
when Parker was the .Democratic nomi
nee, the party vote dropped to $5,000,
whiln the Roosevelt vote reached 211.000.
Taft's vote la larger than either of tha
McKinley votes, and the xoiai voce or
this va.r is an Increase of 10,000 over
the highest previous Presidential record.
Offers Chicken for Carfare.
New York World.
Lfamei oiruu.u -- - -
offered a conductor a chicken for his
fare. An argument ensued and Siebold
was' arrested for blockading traffic.
Broken IB. Four Times In a Year.
Baltimore News.
George B. Llnsay, a lawyer in Phil
adelphia, has suffered one of his legs
to be broken four times in a year. .