TITE SUNDAY OREGONI AX. PORTLAND, NOVEMBER 2I, . imvo.
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l-ORTLANO. SUNDAY. NOV. S9
1908
DEPENDENCE OS GOVEBN JtENT".
The hearings before the Tariff Com
mittee are more or less a rarer mora
,,.H..r than lexs. It is certain that
the people of the United States mean
.,ih.. the riolicv of protection.
Hence they -vho are most active and
.-Uil.nt -ill ent most Ollt OI It.
It is the same in all the business of
human life. "Mens agitat molem. ai
thov mv at the University of Oregon
But "the other fellow" has a chance
the fellow who can rick flaws In
he avstem. anil in the argument that
Kiinnortx H. He contends, however,
.n academic basis. Yet his argu-
nient Is necessary, even if it doesn't
ii. ihrA must be a stop, or
jITaii. i". hi' " '
.Kd..L- cimAnhiTf.
It Is. certainly, no proper part of
the. business of government io
nv man or any set of men to make
Rut this idea, that govern
ment'must help, has become part of
the American system. It is Socialism
though many may not know it.
The Question is. Where Is the halt.
or check, to come? All the time
great numbers are demanding that
society, through government as lis
n cvrnii Ho more and more. It
nm.st suDDort higher education and
push it. build bridges and highways
to equalize the values or property,
supplv water and light and heat, and
maintain employment bureaus and
libraries and resorts and places for
comfort and amusement of those who
don't want to work or who find work
irksome.
The policy of protective tariff is in
this line of dependence on govern
ment the same in principle, but dif
fering in detail. What is the proper
function of government? To protect
and coddle and enrish some at the ex
pense of the whole? That certainly is
the drift of It oil.
BY BREAD ALONE.
That prolific author. H. G. Wells,
has published another hook. New
Worlds for Old." In which he reUrns
with xest Insatiate to the discussion of
social problems. Among other things
he recalls Karl Man' famous proph
ecy that modern Industry would
finally develop a class of workmen
entirely propertyless who would have
nothing to lose by revolution "but
their chains" and possibly a "world
to gain" by it. How dangerous such
a body of men might be to : ociety one
need not specify. No sane person
would think of denying that a clvill
yajon in which every person has a
substantial property stake is incom
parably more stable than one which
includes a poverty-stricken proleta
riat. It does not require much prop
erty to make a man a fritnd to law
nnd order, but it requires some, or at
least the prospect of some.
Granting this, one -would predict,
would he not. that all our captains of
Industry, our financiers, our million
aires, our corporatioi. magnates,
would bond their energies in season
and out to encourage thrift among
the masses? We naturally expect to
see them toiling with frenzied zeal to
put bank deposits beyond all peril, to
provide Impregnably secure ways to
Invest small savings, to make life and
accident Insurance as cheap as pos
sible and to discourage all efforts to
deceive and rob the small capitalist
and the wage earner. This is what
we should see if our great property
owners were men of reasonable fore
thought, because such measures are
the best and cheapest defense for
their own possessions. But what do
we actually see?
Mr. Wells remarks that the men of
millions seem almost to be In league,
not to make small property secure,
but to devour It. Of course he does
not Intimate that they have formed
a definite conspiracy; he means that
the financial system acts as if they
had diftie so. If this is true it In
volves a terrible danger to society. In
the long run people will not save un
less they can invest their savings
safely and the decay of thrift means
evidently the evolution of a property
less proletariat. Ix-t us face a few of
the facts. It is well krown. for ex
ample, that about 35 per cent of all
those who start small stores lose their
investments. We may explain this to
suit ourselves. We may say these men
are Incompetent, ignorant, foolhardy,
nd very likely many of them are; but
the significant fact remains that here
is a stream flowing In steady volume
Into the ocean of poverty. Is there
nny way to chock It?
Compared with the whole number
of banks in the country there are few
which fail. Still the absolute number
of faiiejres is pretty large and they
affect depositors by the hundred
thousand. Sometimes they lose part
of their savins, sometimes all. In
either case th.ir thrift is discouraged
and they are taught the poisonous les
ion of distrust and hatred toward the
government which professes to pro
tect progeny i.no et permits the man
of humble means to be ruthlessly de
spoiled. Is not the air full of shady
projects big "i:h faLse promise and
aimed directly at the thrift of the
Small capitalist? The government
which complao ntly allows such an
industry to Mourish is committing
slow suicide, though perhaps it is not
so very slow i:her. Think of the
measureless fatuity of the million
aires who oppose postal savings banks.
Whom I he gods w ould destroy they
lirst make mad. The tariff buccaneers
ere kindling conflagrations to con
sume tneir own spoil.
Mr. Wells points out how easily a
change in the price of securities may
sweep away the property of the poor.
The price of Knglish consols illus
trates his remark. These are sup
posed to be the most secure Invest
ment III tlio world. Before the Boer
War broke out they stood at 114 and
verjhody was urged to buy them.
Multitudes of little capitalists did buy
them, investing their all. During the
war they dropped to 86. a fall of 2 8
per cent, which annihilated a full
quarter of the savings of a great mul
titude of people. Other securities,
even the most stable, fluctuate still
more violently. It is nobody's fault,
perhaps it cannot be prevented. But
what is the use of preaching thrift
to the humble under a financial sys
tem which seems framed to sweep
away the fruits i f their thrift?
Idealistic doctrinaires try to min
imize the importance of this economic
problem. They tell us to point out the
heavenward wav to the poor and as
sure them that if they are patient
under their wrongs they will go when
they die to a world where banks do
not fail and stocks do not fluctuate.
The secret of the paralysis of the
chuches is their insistent preaching of
this transm lindane gospel which falls
like hitter irony upon the ears of the
multitude. A single one of Mr. Roose
velt's homilies, which call for clear
justice here on earth, is worth mil
lions of such empty preachments. We
cannot lie by bread alone, but we
must have bread before we can live
the life that transcends the material
and touches the spiritual. Give a man
economic safety and Independence
and you have taken the longest neces
sary step toward making him a good
citizen and a true Christian.
THE BEST I.EOISI.ATIRE.
There will be another session oi
the Legislature in January. There Is
no need of one, because it will not do
any of the things and the only things
that the legislature ought to do. to
x-lt reneal of manv of the laws
enacted during recent years.
Nobody can name or indicate a sin
gle new measure that ought to be
passed, or that there is any real de
mand for. that has the least chance
of enactment. There will be jobs of
all kinds and Irrational and foolish
propositions of all kinds; but nothing
that would be beneficial to the state.
It is an old saying that "the world
Is governed too much." Never was it
illustrated more clearly or fully than
in Oregon. The best Legislature this
state has had in recent times was the
one that refused to organize, quit, and
went home. But perhaps there will
be no imitation soon of this example.
Perhaps patriotism is on the decline.
THE r,AI.K)W9 XEEDED.
Isn't it getting time to hang some
body In Oregon, and somebody right
here In Portland some one of the
numerous murderers? It is, it is, in
deed. Yesterdav's murder was one of pe
culiar malignity and atrocity. Is hu
man life worth anything, when It en
counters such a condition as mat
which led up to this most abhorrent
murder?
There must be punishment for acts
of this kind. Leniency has pone be
yond the just limit. Tt steadily en
courages deeds of this description.
There is no sufficient fear ot tne
penalty of the law.
Without delay, this very ween, in
the criminal court this murderer
should be put on his trial, and after
the trial the shrift should be reason-
bly short.
Of course, there will be the defense
of irresponsibility probably through
alcoholism. But alcoholism is no ex
cuse. It is itself an offense. It is high
time juries should teach that men
can't use liquor for stimulation to
murder, and escape the penalty. Of
fensive a spectacle as the gallows is,
this community needs It still, and so
does many another.
THE FARMHAND AND HIS WAGES.
There are many indications, says
the St. Paul Pioneer Press, that the
last barrier that has hindered the
bright and capable man be he col
lege graduate or not from engaging
in agricultural pursuits, is crumbling
before the light of science and reason.
That barrier is the low rate of wages
that custom and tradition have pre
scribed for farm hands.
This may be true, but behind this
custom there was a real and vita!
cause. The low price of agricultural
products in many past years made it
impossible for the farmer to pay his
hired man a craftsman s wages ana
have anything left for himself and
family to live on from harvest to har
vest, to say nothing of taxes and farm
betterments. Behind this still was an
other reason a limited market; ana
yet farther back was poor tillage and
the Inability ot tho hired man and, in
deed, of the farmer himself, to im
prove it and so increase the yield.
A Job in a department store, con
tinues the journal quoted, "or In a
wholesale house or bank, demanding
an equivalent amount of energy and
ability to that of a ranch foreman
carries a salary of from $.'00 to Jau
month. Why the supremely able
griculturist should be rated lower
than these, it would be exceedingly
difficult to explain; also why the less
brilliant man worth J 1000 to $2000 In
city callings could not command half
as much on the farm."
The explanation is not at ail diffi
cult. Briefly stated, such wages In
rural industries in which board and
housing are always included, would
be simply to run the farm for the
benefit of the hired help. When
farming all along the line reaches the
status of a science; when all crops
yield well, and there is a clamorous
market waiting eagerly to absorb all
that is produced at prices that will
pay for the cost of production (includ
ing a city employe s income for the
hired man), then perhaps the farmer,
if taxes are not too high, can afford
to pay the salaries demanded as the
farm hand's Just due. and by apply
ing strict economy to personal and
family expenses, have a small surplus
for himself.
That new methods which the recent
farmers' demonstration train repre
sented are shortly to supersede the
wasteful methods so long in vogue
is certain. That a new era in agricul
ture will follow this change there can
be no doubt. A widening market will
give impetus to the new order of
things. In fact, without an ample
market, all this effort would be futile,
in a financial sense. The wages of
farm hands, based upon their intel
ligence and capability, in applying the
new methods to farming will un
doubtedly rise. But it will" be some
time before the small farmer can af
ford to pay more than $40 a month
and "found" to the man who works
beside him in field, orchard and gar
den throughout the year. Besides,
there are fevr men in the cities in any
Held of labor who earn better pay;
if raid more they have to spend more
to live. If. to quote the Pioneer Press,
"the graduate of one of our farm
schools shows that he can take the
farm whose owner, with cheap help,
clears only a beggarly $700 or J 1 000
a year, and make it net from two to
five times as much; if he doubles or
more than doubles his employer's in
come the latter has. or ought to have,
enough sense to see that this student
farmer is worth double or more than
double the wages he paid before. The
voung man who can extract from
$2000 to J6000 a year out of a small
farm Is going to inaugurate Is today
Inaugurating an era when brains
will be as fully recognized on the
farm as in any city employment. He
will not only earn as good pay, but he
will demonstrate that he can get in
finitely more out of life."
This is the roseate view; the one
with which we are all familiar is not
so highly colored and. indeed, it need
not be to make farming an attractive
and profitable vocation to the young
man who uses his brains in conjunc
tlon with his hands in plyingthls old
est of vocations.
THE GREAT MR. GOMPEKS.
Mr. Gompers says he will pay no
fine, but will go to jail if he is. de
ciared guilty by the Supreme Court of
violating the order or injunction re
straining him from pushing, by speech
and publication, his boycott policy.
Nor will he allow- others to pay his
fine. He will go to jail. This is
mock heroic. In tragedy it is called
King Cambyses' vein.
The Denver platform demanded
trial by jury in such cases. But peo
pie laughed. Never was the order of
a court subject to trial by jury. Bryan
said contempt of court could raise no
question of vital concern to business
men "because every man has a right
to-trial by jury." If that is so the
courts of the country have always
been densely ignorant; -for the. Su
preme Court itself has declared and
held that the power to make an order,
and the equal power to punish dis
obedience of that order, including in
quiring into the question of disobe
dience, "have been from time imme
morial the special function of the
court." Further: "To submit the
question of disobedience to another
tribunal, be It jury or another court,
would operate to deprive the proceed
ing of Its efficiency." Again, "If it
has ever been nnderstood that pro
ceedings according to the common
law for contempt of court have been
subject to the right of trial by .lury,
we have been unable to find any in
stance of it."
Therefore, in spite of all the stout
protests and defiant declarations of
Mr. Gompers, if he shall be adjudged
guilty and contumacious, on the final
appeal, he should prepare to accept
the penalty. It will probably be a
fine, but he can go to jail If he likes.
rORTUASD'S POSITION STRENGTHENED
The North Bank Railroad has in
augurated its regular train service to
Spokane, and with connections at
that city it is possible for Portland
travelers to go Kast over a new route.
With the completion of the new line
so that trains can reach Spokane over
its own tracks, it is announced that
a through fast service to the East will
be started. This will mean, for a
large amount of the travel over the
Hill lines, an abandonment of the
roundabout route to Puget Sound and
thence over the Cascade Mountains.
The Columbia River route not only
offers a much shorter mileage than
that by way of Puget Sound, but the
absence of grades and curves will re
sult in an enormous saving in the op
erating expenses alone. It was reali
zation of the fact that his most pow
erful competitor in the railroad busi
ness was enjoying a tremendous ad
vantage in mileage and operating ex
penses that first induced Mr. Hill to
build the North Baiic road. Having
at a very heavy expenditure secured
a short route of easy grades Into Port
land, it is but natural that all com
petitive business will be routed over it.
At the present time it is a physical
impossibility for the Northern Paciflc,-
wlth Its wide .detour by way of Puget
Sound, to land passengers in Chicago
and beyond in the same time that was
made by the Harriman luies. To this
handicap of distance was added the
enormous expense of bucking big
trains of heavy Pullmans over the
lofty Cascade Mountains. The aban
donment of that route with all busi
ness that can be diverted to the water-
level line down the Columbia River
will not be made for any sentimental
reasons or to favor Portland at the
expense of the Puget Sound cities. It
is a cold, hard business proposition, in
which the diversion of. the passenger
traffic is being made for the same rea
son that the wheat of Eastern Wash
ington and Idaho will be diverted
from the present expensive route over
the mountains. It is this somewhat
belated recognition of the economic
waste attendant on a continued at
tempt to set aside the laws of Nature
that has brought sir. Hill and his
great railway systems into Portland.
Now that he is at last through the
Cascade Mountains on even terms
with Mr. Harriman, the advantage
gained will undoubtedly be pushed
to the limit and Portland will be the
gainer by the change.
Occasional comment appears in
Washington newspapers to the effect
that the Chicago, Milwaukee & St.
Paul and the North Coast Railroad
will make their Pacific Coast termi
nals on Puget Sound, and will not en
ter Portland. As the natural advan
tages of location, the enormous
traffic originating here and the Im
possibility of securing much of it
without a direct line into Portland
eventually forced Mr. Hill to build to
this city, it is hardly probable that
any of the new roads will make the
mistake of not coming here. With
two big systems like the Hill and Har
riman roads making this city their
North Pacific terminals, this city can
get along very well without patroniz
ing any road that will not build here.
ONE ABSURD EtAI. KULE.
A well-established rule of law.
which is of very doubtful wisdom,
declares that if a defendant in a
criminal case does not take the wit
ness stand in his own behalf that
fact shall not be considered against
him. The rule conflicts with the
teachings of human experience, and
Is therefore but little regarded by
Jurors. even though particularly
called to their attention in every case
to which it is applicable. A man
accused of crime is very properly pre
sumed to be innocent, and every in
telligent jury is willing to give the
accused man the benefit of this pre
sumption. The mere tiling of a charge
against him should not put upon him
any burden of proof. But when a
trial has been had and the prosecu
tion has introduced evidence connect
ing the defendant with the crime
evidence sufficient to be submitted to
the ' Jury the circumstances have
changed. When the state has made
out a prima facie case against an ac
cused person, every reasonable man
knows that, if the defendant does not
ta-ke the witness stand In his own be
half, it is because he knows his tes
timony would tend to substantiate the
charge against him.
No honest man need fear to go
upon the witness stand and testify as
to his actions at any particular time
when he is charged with having done
wrong and the charge has been fairly
well proven. If he does not pursue
such a course, he cannot reasonably
complain if a presumption be raised
that his testimony would be against
him. This presumption is, in fact,
raised under such circumstances.
When a man is placed on trial for
theft and evidence has been Intro
duced showing that the stolen prop
erty was found in the defendant's
possession, if he does not attempt to
explain how he got the property his
failure in this respect creates an im
pression that he could not satisfac
torily give an account of his posses
sion of the stolen articles. It is ab
surd to tell a jury or anyone else
that the silence of the man against
whom the case has been thus far
proven shall not be considered against
him. Not to give weight to his re
fusal to teRtlfy for himself would be
to do violence to ordinary common
sense. An honest man may very
properly keep silent when there is
nothing against him but a mere
charge of wrong-doing. No man Is
called upon to prove his innocence of
a charge. But when the prosecution
has added proof to its charge, silence
is no longer consistent with inno
cence. Any rule of law which de
clares otherwise is a mere fiction. But
in fictions the law takes delight.
COUNTY UNIT SCHOOL PLAN.
The county unit plan of public school
management, as proposed by Super
intendent of Public Instruction J. H.
Ackerman, has much reason in its
favor and yet it is not likely that pub
lic sentiment will immediately ap
prove it. Under the present system,
each county is divided into a large
number of districts, each governed by
a board of directors composed of
three citizens chosen by the people of
the district. As a rule there is but one
school in each district, except in the
large cities where there may be three
or four. In Portland there are con
siderably more than that number.
Throughout the greater part of the
settled portion of the state these is a
school every three or four miles, with
a separate board to manage the fin
ancial affairs, employ teachers and
direct local educational policies. This
is the system prevailing in practic
ally all of the states. It is a plan of
management in harmony with the al
ways popular idea of local self-government.
The' county unit plan proposes that
the large city districts continue as at
present, but that all the other schools
of a county be placed under the con
trol of one county board which would
have the same powers over all the
schools that the city board exercises
over the numerous city schools. The
theory Is that one board could man
age fifty" schools with better results
than fifty boands can manage them.
In some respects they undoubtedly
could. It must be admitted that the
average school board in a rural dis
trict knows very little about the quali
fications of teachers. They have no
opportunity to learn of the success or
failure of any teachers other than
those employed by them or by ad
Joining districts. Since teachers are
continually shifting, it is not surpris
ing if incompetent teachers remain
long in the public service under the
present system. There is no oppor
tunity to weed them out, for if
dropped by one district they can
easily secure employment in another
district in the same county. Under
the county unit system, the board of
directors would soon learn which
teachers are Incompetent and wrould
not re-elect them.
The county tfnit plan would quite
likely save many a school from the
disastrous consequences of neighbor
hood rows. There is no other one
subject of controversy which so fre
quently divides a rural community
into factions as does the management
of the local school. Election of di
rectors, choice of teachers, and nu
merous other matters of school con
trol, furnish the basis for quarrels
that extend throughout a neighbor
hood and continue for years. Under
a system of county control these dif
ferences would be as rare as they are
In a city, where there is central rather
than local authority.
A system of county management
would enable the board to assign
teachers to districts where they can
do the best work. Those of most ex
perience could be sent to the schools
most difficult to handle. A system of
promotion couid be established under
which every teacher would be as
sured of retention in the public school
service as long as he or she "made
good" with promotion to better
schools and higher salaries whenever
opportunity and merit permitted.
Such a system would undoubtedly in
duce teachers to remain longer in
school work. Quite likely, too, there
would be a material saving in the
purchase of supplies, for a central
board would avoid many of the un
wise purchases which country boards
are induced to make. Lower prices
could be obtained by a board making
large purchases.
But opposed to the county unit plan
is the great American principle of
local self-government. We have come
to consider a public school a matter
for local control. Just as we have the
local affairs of a city. We may be
wrong in both particulars, but people
will be slow to admit it. There is no
likelihood that the" legislature iwill
soon adopt a county unit plan of man
aging the public schools, and yet It
Is well that the subject has been pre
sented for consideration. It is a good
subject for granges and local debating
societies to discuss, and if the pro
posed plan is the best, the people will
eventually come to that conclusion.
If the new plan should eventually be
adopted Superintendent Ackerman
will have the satisfaction of adding
one more improvement to the public
school system.
Among the many conflicting opin
ions in regard to incorrigible children
one thing stands out clear and indis
putable: parents who cannot devise
ways and means whereby they can
control a son of eleven years, to the
extent at least of keeping him at
home at night, committed a crime
against the child and against nature
and society when they assumed the
duties and responsibilities of parent
age. Think of a wretched little urchin
of that tender age standing discon
solate in the rain, on the street at
night, having lived up to his home
training, or lack of it, by running
away from the home of the Boys'
and Girls' Aid Society and his
parents being notified of his pitiable
plight refusing to take him in! Truly
there are crimes against humanity
that are not catalogued in the code.
Chief of these is irresponsible parent
age. Delinquent children follow in
its train, a menace to society, a tax
upon thrift and a burden upon char
ity. Uow a man can hold up his head
and tell his name in a community
who has refused to give shelter from
the storm to- his eleven-year-old son
on the plea that the boy is Incorrigi
ble, or, indeed, upon any other plea,
passes the comprehension of decent,
self-respecting people.
MENTAL HEALING.
Professor Dickinson S. Miller, of
Columbia University, New York, has
written a letter to the Times
on mental healing. Professor Miller
believes in the reality of mental
healing. and bids the cause
godspeed. Moreover, he does the
cause a substantial service by remark
ing that the cures are effected by
physical energy set free in the brain.
The distinction between physical afld
mental energy is one of those baseless
illusions which persist in the world in
spite of fact and reason, and this par
ticular one has done a great deal of
harm. The only possible criticism
upon Professor Miller's instructive
and urbane letter relates to the opin
ion it expresses that mental healing is
effected through suggestion. The
htruth seems to be quite the opposite
of this. The healing is done, not by
suggestion, but by the solution of
some suggestion already existing.
In other words, those diseases
which yield to mental therapy are
themselves modes of suggestion, and
what is really accomplished in order
to cure them is to break the spell
which the mind Is held under. The
philosopher Max Stlrner would call
such diseases "spooks." The cure
consists in annihilating the spook and
setting the mind free fronr- its pre
possession. Mental therapy is not
the imposition of new chains upon
the mind, but the breaking; of old
ones. This distinction Is important,
although it is not well understood
even among mental healers them
selves. So far as one can discern, the
Christian Scientists seem to be the only
large body of mental practitioners at
present who thoroughly grasp the
truth that in extirpating disease t,ney
are performing an act of emancipa
tion instead of subjecting the individ
ual to further domination. This view
of the case is not only more whole
some than the "suggestion" theory,
but it is much nearer the truth.
IF SHEEP, WHY NOT FRUIT?
We are told that the sheep indus
try of the state has suffered the loss of
a million dollars during th,e year
through depredations of the coyote.
If this is true, then are the flockmas
ters the most pareless and wasteful
of all captains of industry. They are
willing, however, according to a Pen
dleton correspondent of The Orego
nian, to pay half of an assessed bounty
of $1.50 on every coyote scalp brought
In, if the state will pay the other half.
This is, indeed, exceedingly generous.
Perhaps if they were consulted upon
this point the orchardists of the state
would be willing to pay half the ex
pense, instead of all, as now, of spray
ing their trees in order to kill the
predaceous codling moth and the pro
lific San Jose scale, which must be
done to protect the fruit industry from
heavy loss.
Jf it is just and equitable for the or
chardists of the Willamette Valley,
Hood River and Southern Oregon to
be taxed- to protect the sheep Indus
try of Eastern Oregon from being
preyed upon by its specific, enemy, it
is no less Just and equitable for the
fiockmasters of Eastern Oregon to put
up money to fight the specific enemies
of the fruit industry. Then 'there is
the hopgrower, who must fight the
specific enemy of his Industry If he
would have a clean yard and a mar
ketable crop ; and the wheatgrower,
who must incur certain expense every
year if he would insure against loss
through the predaceous enemies of his
specific industry.
Before a board of naval officers at
Newport, R. I., Wednesday, a torpedo
fired from a Davis torpedo gun pierced
a network of steel w:hich had proved
impenetrable for Whitehead torpedoes
and passed on through a steel hulk
inside the net. The feat was accom
plished with a reduced charge of pow
der, and proves that the new weapon
can, in short order, put out of com
mission any craft which it is sent
against. The invention is in keeping
with other similar . improvements
which are being made in facilities for
warfare. No sooner does the very lat
est thing in warships appear than the
keel goes down for something which
will be built expressly with a view to
conquering its immediate predecessor.
If necessity is the mother of inven
tion, we will probably soon learn of a
new type of torpedo net made to catch
and hold the Davis torpedo, which
seems to menace the security of $5,-
000,000 battleships.
Any community that sends a su
perior lot of fruit to an Eastern mar
ket is entitled to all the benefit that
can be derived from the advertising
feature, incident to the exhibition of
the fruit. More than that, such a
community is entitled to the gratitude
of the whole state, for to a large ex
tent the whole state- gets credit for
the excellent products of any portion
of It. On the other hand, any com
munity that puts upon the market an
inferior or discreditable lot of fruit
should suffer the condemnation of all
the rest of the state for all the state
must, to a large extent, feel the loss
of reputation which the marketing of
poor fruit entails. Whether a horti
cultural district wins prizes at local
fairs or at state fairs is of much less
importance than the winning of high
est prices in the markets of the coun
try. The importance of the city election
in Milwaukie is equaled, in the sub
urban life contingent to this city, only
by that of St. John. The people in
both towns are wide awake to their
interests and strenuous in advocating
them from their different points of
view, as becomes good citizens. All
is quiet in St. John at present, but in
Milwaukie the municipal official pot
is boiling merrily, as is seemly when
matters of vital concern to the tax
payers are at stake. The Mayor and
Municipal Board to be elected in &
short time will have to deal with the
important qustion of allowing the
Southern Pacific Railway, a franchise
for twenty-five years, covering the
principal street of the city. Obvi
ously there is need of men of the best
Judgment and business sagacity at the
head of municipal affairs in -the little
pioneer city.
After one week of persistent, syste
matic work the soliciting committee
of the Y. M. C. A. of Eugene secured
pledges aggregating $51,250 for a
building fund for their organization
in that city. This sum represents an
average of $25 for every man in Eu
gene. Those who couid not give large
gave small sums and those who were
financially able " to do so gave gener
ously of their means. The keenest
appreciation Is felt for these dona
tions, great and small. The stake set
at the beginning of the canvass was
$50,000. The effort occupied exaetly
seven days and ended with $1250 in
excess of that sum. The result shows
that the people of Eugene not only
appreciate the help which comes to
their city through the substantial
state appropriation for the University
of Oregon, located in their city, but
that they believe In and practice the
doctrine of self-help in their local
undertakings.
The proposal of the Bar Associa
tion that judges be required to give
their instructions to the jury in writ
ing and inform the lawyers what the
instructions will be before the case is
argued to the Jury, will, if enacted into
law, compel the Judges to do some
pretty fast thinking. During the trial
of a case the judge must listen to the
testimony in order to make correct
rulings and To determine what instruc
tions are appropriate. Under the
present practice, the judge prepares
the instructions while the lawyers are
addrssing the jury. Under the pro
posed plan the Judge must be ready
with his instructions as soon as the
testimony has been completed or must
keep the Jury and lawyers waiting
while he puts his views in writing.
But, notwithstanding this inconven
ience, it Is probably better that the
lawyers be told what the law Is be
fore they begin their arguments, in
stead of waiting till afterwards.
The announcements that the Chi
nese hive rembved the boycott
against Japan are exceeded in num
ber only by those which state that the
boycott has not been removed. Late
advices from Hongkong report an
anti-Japanese riot a few weeks ago,
In which one of the offending trades
men who desired to withdraw from
the boycott society had a portion of
one ear clipped off, while a number
of others were roughly handled. The
Japanese are famous for their patri
otism, and their trait of working to
gether on any proposition for the gen
eral good. In this respect they have
apparently learned that the Chinese,
when properly aroused, as they were
by the Tatsu Maru outrage, can also
develop strong powers of cohesion in
a good cause. The immediate settle
ment of the Tatsu Maru controversy
would leave Japan loser by a vast
amount, and the longer the settlement
Is postponed the greater will be the
ultimate loss.
Rear Admiral Russell, U. S. N., re
tired, is dead at his home in Phila
delphia, aged 84 years. .The period
covered by his long life was one of
national struggle, growth and great
ness. From the old sloop-of-war Sar
atoga, upon which he went to sea in
his early youth, to the Dreadnaughts
of the modern navy, is a large step in
naval architecture and flgtiting abil
ity. This interval was covered by the
life of Admiral Russell and until the
last score of his four score and four
years, by his personal services, afloat
and ashore. He died naturally, as die
the aged, of "heart failure" a term
meaningless and greatly overworked
In m,odern mortuary reports.
Connecticut and Utah, states widely
separated in location and community
characteristics, come in touch upon
one great social and domestic point.
They are the only states in the Amer
ican Union that show a decrease in
the divorce rate in the past twenty
years. In all others there has been
a steady increase in divorces during
that period. According to a late bulle
tin of the Census Bureau there is one
divorce in every twelve marriages
throughout the country.
There are a lot of farmers these
days who cannot go to a good roads
convention because they are afraid
their vehicles will get stuck in the
mud on the way to town. Then there
are others who can attend road con
ventions day or night and travel back
and forth In carriages, on bicycles or
In automobiles. There are roads and
roads.
The new Oregon institute for the
feeble-minded has been completed.
Quite likely Eastern people think such
an institution very appropriate in a
state that gives 25,000 plurality for a
Republican President and content
plates sending a Democrat to the Uni
ted States Senate.
The crime of "Jim" "Finch ends the
next to the last chapter, of a life of
unthrift, worthlessness, drunkenness.
and general unsavoriness, in the call
ing of a politician, lobbyist, news
paperman and lawyer. The last chap
ter will be written by the jury.
The Castellane family linen was foul
enough before the De Sagan family
wash was thrown into the tub. The
jouncing and sudsing and airing of
the combined noisome dump causes
an odor to arise that vexes the nostrils
of decency in two continents.
Moral anasthesia is the name given
a new disease to which rich or influ
ential criminals are subject. Now we
need a statute prescribing punishment
for those who commit crimes while
laboring under the influence of this
dread malady.
What do Eastern people, reveling
in 25 below, think of the Oregon
Country, where light-draft boats run
on the dew in Summer and the small
boy has to get along with a, heavy
frost for coasting in Win tar?
An evangelist working in Heppner
had for his themes "Oregon for Christ"
in the morning and "A Prayer From
Hell" in the evening, which covered
the ground of a rather long Sabbath
day Journey.
If there is no law in Oregon com
pelling Republican Legislators to vote
Jor Chamberlain, how can they com
mit perjury by voting for what the
state needs a Republican?
Now if some of the lawyers, who
defend from the gallows the too nu
merous insane murderers should fall
victims there would be some compen
sation. Now, after beholding those fine
apples at the several shows, we should
like to see them growing on the trees.
If Anna Gould will but listen to her
two husbands, they will tell her a
whole lot about each other.
Aftar tt,. tnrirpv Is paid for. every
body can begin ' saving for Christmas
tree decorations.
We are all thankful that our appe
tite is coming -back for Christmas
turkey. ,
SILHOUETTES
BI ARTHUR A. GREnNH.
Success that comes in Installments
costs too much.
e a e
Although sealskins are quoted much
cheaper this Winter than usual, most
of the dear women will continue to
worry along with rabbit and house
cat. e e
It isn't the pains and aches that dis
turb a woman when she's ill in bed; it's
her complexion and touseled hair.
Optlmiam.
Maybe things look mighty gloomy;
Can't see a single thing
To make the world look brighter
And you hear no minstrels sing;
But just take a look around you
And you'll see so much that's good
That you'll wonder why you navsr
understood.
Some of us it seems must carry
Burdens for the other ones;
Some must feel the weight of sorrow
and the woe.
There is much to do that's merry
In the helping of a friend.
And its fun to be unselfish and to ro
Through the valley where the shadows
Lengthen out towards Happyland,
Which we reach by being cheerful.
While we lend a helping hand,
e e
Even a blind man may see his finish,
e e e
There is no redress for the woman
with only one gown.
e '
Perhaps if you were all that you
should be you'd be where you should
be Instead of a "would-be."
see
An after-dinner speech that lasts too
long is a cheerless affair.
To Yon.
Dear heart, no matter how the winds
may blow.
No matter how the weather may be
have; It's always Spring and sunshine when I
think of you.
A memory of you makes me brava
As ancient heroes and their deeds to do.
I feel full ready, when I think of you.
When the wolf Is at tho door it's no
time to kick the watch-dog.
It is easy for a self-satlsfled acro
bat to pat himself on the back.
9
My Idea of an optimist is the man
who believes the Southern Pacific will
get off of Fourth street.
Every girl from 16 to 20 cherishes
the secret hope that man in a Gains
borough hat and a black clonk will ride
along on a charger and kidnap her.
.
Every man lies about the amount of
money he makes.
VERSE
i
Knock Dor Kaiser.
New York World.
Knock er Kaiser! Was 1st los?
Hand him out a pood hot dose:
Show him that he's not the cheese
In such freedom days as these.
When they who wish to do as they pleaael
Knock der Kaiser!
Knock dcr Kaiser! Wacht am Rhelnl
Pass It down the German line;
Show hfm uo for what he Is,
Rex Tmperator, Pazsiz!
Hutting In where he Is not
Quite the Willie-on-the-spot
That he might have been when kings
Had a cinch on earthly things.
Knock der Kaiser!
Knock der Kaiser! Ausgesplel!
Spank him till he has to squeal:
Chase him round the royal Plats;
Punch him in th' imperial slats;
Put a muzzle on his face
A a means of silent grace;
Slap the lid down good and hard!
Tie him up in his back yard;
Aa a tribute of repard.
Knock der Kaiser!
Knock der Kaiser! Was man thut!
Knock der Kaiser! That's the root
Which the uncrowned land of ours
Hands to all the kingly power..
The Land of Liberty, by heck!
Bangs every tyrant in the neck.
Except a few that we produce
For public and for private use;
However
Knock der Kaiser!
The Unpdejudieed Rain.
Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch
The gentle rain falls down to earth.
As it was meant to do
(If rain fell upward, oh my mirth
Would be Intense. And you?)
But to return, the rain comes down
Note "come" instead of "fall"
Upon the meadow, hill and town.
Or anywhere at all.
It drops on ladies, men and rents,
It drops on street and crop.
Indeed it drops with confidence
Where It desires to drop.
It falls on Rome, it falls on Ghent,
If falls on Brussels sprout
And most it falls on those who"va lent
Their own umbrellas out
It knows no party laws or ties.
No whys or wheres or whens.
It loves to fall and Hauldlza.
"Distinguished citizens."
The rain cares not for ua below.
It recks not any man.
It's near the only thlni I know
That Is non-partisan.
Smitty.
New York Sun.
My name Is Smith, I'd have you know.
But no one calls me that
A bit too embonpoint I grow
The vulgar say I'm fat;
I have a smile and hearty grip.
I'm always on the street.
My nickname hangs upon the Up
Of everyone I greet.
Hello there, Smitty how is Smitty T
pot a cold? Well, that's a pity;
Theer up- Smttty!"
That's the ditty
Through the city
Every witty
Foolish It, he
Calls me Smitty
Like that;
Bmitty.
Where others draw the term "old man,-
Or "John" or Mike" or "Bill.
Since this sad life of mine b'ean
Thewve put me. through the mill
With '".Smitty" this and "Smitty that
And "Smitty" .so and so.
Until I question where I'm at
Me. with a real name. Joe.
When Kgcs Are Eire".
' Indianapolis News.
At this time eggs are eggs, or well.
One might say they are more or less sn.
For sometimes when therTe In the shell
It seems to be a case of guess so.
However. egs:s are eggs, we ll say.
Just for the sake of Illustration.
And take no hee4f what they may
Become from u long preservation.
Well, eggs are eggs, a pleasant fornix
Of most nutritious human forage.
Unless, perchance, they get too warm
While they are waiting In cold storage.
So eggs are eggs, and we delight
To have tnetn serveu v u-
When they are just exactly right,
And not raaied out with well-meant
warnings.
But eggs as eggs at thirty-five
Per dcz., all guaranteed not shad
Do not appeal unto our thrlv-
Ing flrst-claas tamo Duaruiiig