The Sunday Oregonian., December 13, 1908, SECTION THREE, Page 6, Image 30

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PORTLAND, SIXDAY, DEC. IS,
BIG STICK IX TARIFF REVISION.
Mr. Taft gave unmistakable signs
last week that, as President, he will
be a controlling force, like his prede
cessor, and that the foes of tariff re
vision and of Roosevelt policies, who
hoped the Big Stick would be laid on
the shelf, will be sorely disappointed.
Already Taft has made a revisionist
out of Standpat Cannon, and extracted
from the House committee on ways
and means a promise to prepare for
an "honest and thorough revision";
also to admit Philippine sugar and to
bacco Into the United States free of
duty up to a certain limited quantity.
The sugar limit will be 300.000 tons
a year and the tobacco limit is yet to
be" determined. Such are the advices
of the conference of last Friday be
tween Taft. Cannon and the House
committee on ways and means. In
due time the Senate will also feel the
influence of the Big Stick.
The House committee's Investigation
thus fartias been a superficial, farcical
gabfest of interests urging that their
benefits be untouched or enhanced, or
that new benefits be created. There
has been no faithful probing of cost of
production and of business, as is need
ed to put the committee in possession
of essential facts. But after the con
ference with Taft. the committee Is
ready to go to work in earnest.
Whereupon Taft made this public
announcement: "I have every reason
to be confident that they . . . are
going to make additional and Inde
pendent effort to get at the evidence
themselves, by the use of the subpena
and under oath, with a view to reach
ing the differences In the cost of pro
duction of the various articles brought
within the tariff, here and abroad. .
. The plan Is to prepare a bill on
such evidence as they have and will
have in the course of hearings, and
then to call for additional evidence
as to the Items, whenever It would
seem necessary. . . . Not only
from conversation with the members
together, but with the members indi
vidually. I am quite convinced that
they are In good faith going to pre
pare a bill which shall be a thorough
revision, on the basis of the Repub
lican platform."
Revision is getting on. then, since It
was takon up by the strong hand" of
the President-elect. Perhaps even yet
complete free trade with the Philip
pines can be secured. It is interest
ing to note that the Big Stick Is to
be kept in good working order dur
ing the next four years.
TAVI.OR-STREET (IRII.
The annals of Methodism in the
Pacific Northwest, dating from "De
cember 1848. have been opened and
spread before the people of this city
during the week ending today. It Is
a bulky volume, wherein is written
the history of Taylor-Street Church
covering six decades of earnest, un
flagging endeavor.
What lovely landscapes on the margin
shine.
What sweet, angelic facet, what divine
And lovely Images of love and trust,
Undlmmed by age, unsoited by damp or
dual! l
Six decades ago the site whereon has
risen the City of Portland was covered
. with a dense forest. Here and there
the undergrowth had been cleared
away, great trees had been felled, and
after prodigious labor in disposing of
the branches and stumps, modest little
dwelling-houses of logs, or of rough
boards, whlpsawed from the trunks of
the fallen trees, had - been built.
Methodism had before this sent Its ad
vance guard into the wilderness; mis
sions had been established at Salem
' and gospel tidings had been carried
from these to scattered settlements
by hardy, zealous men who rode or
walked the circuit to which they were
' assigned.
But at length a city was projected.
The small commerce of that far-away
tim"e languished, and a shipping point
with facilities adequate to the simple
needs of the settlers became necessary.
A densely wooded slope, backed by
precipitous hills, was chosen for the
tsite of the coming city. The toss of a
coin gave It its name and "Portland"
. was written upon the western verge of
the vast, dim a-nd mysterious area
known as the "Oregon Country." The
missionary ministers, ever alert, decid
ed that a church a Metohdist Church
was an immediate necessity in the
new city, which was as yet scarcely
more than a name, and the organiza
tion of Taylor-Street. Church followed.
A small building quickly rose among
the blackened stumps and logs upon
the site chosen, and from December.
1848. until December. 1908, Taylor
Street Church, In name, in endeavor
and in influence, has stood for right
eousness in the community.
This church has been served during
this long interval in accordance with
the itinerant policy distinctive of
Methodism, by twenty-six pastors.
Four f this number were returned to
the charge, after the Interval pre
ncribed by the rules of Methodism had
elapsed, for a second pastorate. Full
half of the entire number have finished
their work and passed on. Of those
still living. Rev. C. C. Stratton. who
was the thirteenth pastor of Taylor
Street Church in order of service. Is.
with the exception of the present in
cumbent. Rev. Benjamin Young, the
only one who is still within the limits
of the original Oregon conference.
The names of many of the pastors
of Taylor-Street recall Incidents and
events of their day and work. Who
among us, for example, whose mem
ories cover a period extending back
to the second or third decade of this
church, can see In print the name of
Rev. William Roberts without recall
ing scenes and incidents of the camp
meetings? Or the name of Isaac
Dillon. without in memory un
folding the Pacific Christian Advocate
and perhaps recalling some message
pt love and hope sent out by him
through Its columns? Or the names
of J. L. Parrlsh and H. K. Hines with
out recalling the genial presence of the
patriarchs who bore them at many
successive reunions of the Oregon Pio
neer Association ? Or the name of
George V. Izer without seeing through
the shifting kaleidoscope of memory
the women of the temperance crusade
marching with sacred songs upon their
lips through the streets, or kneeling
in prayer on the curbstone? Or the
name of C. C. Stratton without blng
stirred by the far-away echoes of his
persuasive eloquence?
These men and their co-laborers,
were church-builders and ministers of
religion in their days. and. in accord
ance with the needs of their genera
tion. There were among them edu
cators faithful to duty and patriots
Ioval to the Government. Does not
the name of C. S. Kingsley recall les
sons learned in the o7d Portland Acad
emy, that stood among blackened logs
and stumps, the ruins of the - forest
primeval, a little way out on Jeffer
son street? And does not the name
of J. H. Acton awaken memories of
the time when rebellion menaced the
life of the Nation?
Taylor-Street Church was organized
with seven members. Its first pastor
was Rev. J. H. Wilbur, who died in
1887. Its membership is now over
one thousand. Hundreds of thousands
have passed in and out through its
doors seeking and receiving the gospel
message from Its pulpit. Many of the
greatest preachers and most renowned
lecturers of the country have spoken
from its platform. From its choir loft
the sweet words of gospel hymns have
carried on the breath of music peace
and comfort to myriads of waiting
souls. From its fold young men have
gone out into the ministry, and into
honorable walks of business and in
dustry, and young women have passed
from thence Into orderly homes and
useful lives.
Still loyal to the best interests of
the community, and eager to serve
them, strong In purpose and In power,
Taylor-Street Church has passed the
sixtieth milestone on its -eventful jour
ney. Looking back without regret and
forward without fear, it enters its sev
enth decade full of courage and of
hope.
SCENERY AS AN ASSET.
The Boston Transcript In a recent
issue criticised sharply the action of
the Secretary of the Interior in grant
ing to San Francisco the water rights
of the Yosemite National Park. Ac
cording to the terms of the grant the
voters of San Francisco were required
to express themselves on the proposal
to convey these rights. This they did
at the recent election with the result
that the conveyance was ratified by
an overwhelming majority.
Having received this much, the peo
ple of San Francisco, following all
precedent in such cases, want more.
The city is required by the terms of
the transfer to develop to Its fullest
extent the Lake Eleanor basin, look
ing to a city water supply, before any
thing is done toward utilizing the
Hetch Hetchy Valley. This valley is
known to tourists as one of the chief
scenic features of the Yosemite Na
tional Park, second only to the Yo
semite Valley proper. The purpose of
San Franciscans Is to appeal to Con
gress for such modification of the
grant, given and accepted as will
enable them to flood this valley, at
once, thereby, destroying one of the
chief camping grounds of the park
and practically cutting off another
great meadow camp Soda Springs,
which is located on the watershed of
this basin.
This case, as the Transcript sug
gests, is of interest to the country
because it so vitally affects one of
the principal National parks and be
cause It Is at variance with the funda
mental Idea upon which National
parks have been established.
It has been generally supposed that
a National park once established
belonged exclusively to the people,
whose rights therein were and would
be amply protected by the Govern
ment. In these segregations of scenic
beauty, the whole people have a.
vested right right to enjoy, but not
to mar or to destroy. The lands
embraced in these parks are valueless.
In the main, except for their scenic
grandeur. This destroyed in a single
park, whether for purposes of private
gain or public utility, the whole
scheme of the National park is
sfiaken and in a greater or less de
gree undermined.
This is to some extent the senti
mental view. The economic view is
wider, and appeals more strongly to
the American people as a whole than
does the other. Switzerland, it is cited
in this connection, has long reaped a
harvest in golden shekels from her
Alpine, scenery. Practically indestruc
tible, the scenic beauties of the Swiss
Alps are yet Jealously guarded from
defacement. The Matterhorn is in
deed one of the chief assets of the
little mountain republic. With us the
question is not so restricted. Our do
mains are broad and they abound in
scenic beauty that rivals in grandenr
and surpasses In magnitude and vari
ety the wonders of Switzerland. The
Transcript speaks of "what we have
left in beautiful National scenery."
We have practically everything left in
this line, or, if any scenic beauties
have been marred or detracted from
by the eager hand of civilization, so
much remains that the trespass has
not been taken into serious account.
As well seek "to bind the sweet in
fluences of the Pleiades or loose the
bands of Orion." as utterly to efface
or seriously deface the scenic beauties
of the United States. Our Alps
abound, and under one name and an
other stand out against the sky. sep
arating into widely differing scenes
and sections our vast areas. Our
waterfalls reflect in their sun-kissed
mists the hues of the rainbow, from
the awe-inspiring fajls and thunderous
gorge of Niagara to the lesser falls
but not less inspiring gorges of the
Missouri, the Yellowstone, the Snake
and the Columbia. Our lakes, from
the great inland seas that form our
northern boundary to the Great Salt
Lake, that unexplained and unexplain
able body of water that is encircled
by the Wasatch Mountains, In Utah;
from the chain of lakes that lie, cup
like. In the hollaws of Central New
York and Northern Minnesota, to our
own Crater Lake, the wonder of geolo
gists, that tops the mountains of
Southeastern Oregon; from the Missis
sippi River, that rises In the wintry re
gions of the Middle Northwest, and.
wandering 3000 miles, loses itself In
the Gulf of Mexico, to the mighty Co
lumbia, that makes its way
Through deep ravines, through burning.
barren plains.
Through wild and rocky straits.
Through forests dark and mountains cleft
In twain.
Toward the sunset gate.
From the wonderland called Yellow
stone Park to that other wonderland
called Yosemite Valley all is grand,
magnificent, exhaustless.
Characterized by magnitude, giving
the instant Impression of a power
above man, grandeur that defies de
cay, antiquity that tells of ages un
numbered, beauty that the touch of
time makes only more beautiful, use
exhaustless for the service of man,
strength imperishable as the globe,
our people have In the scenery that
Is their heritage from Mother Nature,
herself an asset which is practically
indestructible and which makes them
rich indeed.
TROUBLE IX THE BALKAN'S.
The war cloud in the Balkans is
still threatening, according to the
latest dispatches from Turkey, Servia
and Austria. For more than two
months a clash has been impending
between Turkey, Servia and Monte
negro on the one side and Austria on
the other, on account of Austria's an
nexation, in October, of Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Slav provinces, whose
government thaticountry has Deen ad
ministering since the treaty of Berlin,
30 years ago. Bosnia and Herzegovina
have been seized against the protests
of themselves and their kinsmen in
Servia and Montenegro, thus dashing
the dreams of Servla's expansion to
the west and southwest.
Coincldently with Austria's seizure,
Bulgaria declared Its independence of
Turkey, which has hold but a nominal
sovereignty over that country since
1878. Austria and Bulgaria evidently
acted in concert, but Bulgaria is on
the road to a peaceable agreement
with Turkey, whereby Bulgaria will
pay the Sultan for loss of his $600,000
annual tribute from Rumclia and for
the Rumelian railroad. The latest
dispatches say Bulgaria is willing to
pay J16.500.000, but. as Turkey de
mands much more, the settlement is
likely to be left to International con
ference. The only threat of strife
between Turkey and Bulgaria i; on
account of political maltreatment of
Bulgarians in Turkey's Macedonia.
The Turks have been conducting a
severe boycott against Austrian goods
and have succeeded in causing a big
trade loss to the Austrians. Last
Tuesday at Constantinople, boats
bringing ashore luggage from an Aus
trian steamer were sunk, by order of
the Turkish boycott committee. The
Austrian Ambassador, Marquis Polla
vicini. has made unsuccessful protests
agaisnt the boycott, and the Turkish
government has ordered its customs
officers not to discriminate against
Austrian goods. But this order docs
not stop the popular ban put on Aus
trian wares in Turkey. Austrian mer
chants feel their loss keenly and their
government has asked the French
government to intervene In their be
half, but France has refused, one of
the strong reasons being that Fren :h
merchants have gained a large part
of the trade.
From both sides of the disputants
comes steady news of warlike prep
arations. Turkey has been negotiat
ing in Germany for purchase of nearly
$2,000,000 worth of shrapnel and in
fantry ammunition and the small-arms
factories of Berlin are unusually busy
with the manufacture of army rilles.
Both Montenegro and Servia are
strengthening their military forces
and their frontiers. ' Several days ago
a Vienna dispatch to the London
Times said that the feeling is growing
Jn Austria that that country is drift
ing toward war. although neither the
Emperor nor the people desire it.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, over
which the dispute hangs, contain
about 20.000 square miles area the
combined size of New Hampshire and
Vermont, and about one-fifth the size
of Oregon. Their combined popula
tion is 1,750,000.
Bulgaria would be eager to join the
conflict, but is deterred hy Russia,
which has informed that country that
it would not tolerate any territorial
expansion of Bulgaria. The Balkan
states have had a period of awaken
ing and progress in the last 30 years,
and have come to feel themselves im
portant in the political affairs of their
part of Europe.
SHIFTING TK.VOK CENTERS.
Annals of commerce from the days
of the Phoenicians are replete with
instances showing the rise and fall of
great cities. The spirit of conquest is
ever restless and ever seeking new
fields for exploitation. This commer
cial conquest, while bliodloss, is fully
as effective In shifting trade centers as
was that of Alexander the Great in
transferring the prestige of Babylon
to ports on the Red Sea and Persian
Gulf. History has repeated itself
through all the changing years since
the Meets of Ulysses plowed the
Aegean Sea. With so much in the
past as a guide to what the future
may bring forth, there can be nothing
far-fetched in the prophecy that some
of the greatest commercial marts on
earth are nearing the limit of their
expansion, and in the near future
must give way to newer and more
fortunately situated ports, to which
"Commerce shapes the trail."
These thoughts are suggested by a
remarkable editorial which recently
appeared in the New York Sun. There
is much in this prophecy, warning,
or review, that is of interest to Port
land. The article : opens with the
statement, "There are stages in the
development of every great city, when
further growth is dependent upon the
foresight of its inhabitants rather
than upon gratuitous advantages of
location. New York entered upon a
stage of this character early in the
last century, and now again its posi
tion with reference to the future, de
mands wise counsel."
The Sun says that the opening of
the Erie Canal in 1825 decided the
prosperity of New York from that
time to this. It reviews the immense
water-borne traffic, and in noting the
transition from water carriage to rail
roads, says:
When railway building began. It inevi
tably followed the existing highway of com
merce. In 1S.M the Hudson Klvcr Railroad
completed the first rail connection between
the Atlantic seaboard and Lake Krle. Two
years later, rail connection between New
York and I'hu-ago was established, and the
era of railway transportation was intro
duced. In 1S."2 throuKh freight east on the
Krle canal was twenty-six times that car
ried by the Central and Erie Railways, but
a year later whs only fifteen times greater.
The generation following comple
tion of the railroad to the West, wit
nessed practically the entire West and
Northwest, including the vast lake
regions, paying full tribute to New
York. Recently there has been a di
version of this traffic, the change be
ing credited by the Sun to this fact:
"The heavy railway building ,of the
day is southward toward the Gulf
ports, which will before long benefit
also from traffic through the Panama
Canal." With Galveston, Baltimore,
New Orleans and other Southern ports
cutting in on the traffic which for
merly passed through New York, '
there is abundant cause for alarm
over the decline in prestige. The Sun
thinks that some of the advantages
offered by rival ports could be offset
by greater economy and efficiency in
business, that the cost of trans-shipping
goods within the city may h
lowered, fire insurance reduced, bet
ter public service rendered, rent cut
down, and other economies largely
within the control of the taxpayers
effected in such a manhtr that the
port will seem more attractive to
shipping.
There fs a striking similarity be
tween Portland and New York in re
gard to the necessity for lessening the
cost of handling business after it
reaches tide-water. With two of the
finest water-level railroads In the
world leading down to this port, the
position of this city would be impreg
nable were it not for the fact that the
bar and river below Portland are not
yet in keeping with our railroad facili
ties. This disability can be remedied
if we center our efforts on that por
tion of the river most in need of im
provements. If we fail to do this, all
the advantages which should accrue
from our matchless railroad facilities
may be lost, and the railroads be
forced to seek deep water elsewhere.
WHAT IS TRUTH?
Every candid person knows that
what we call "belief" Is a good deal
more an affair of emotion than of
logic. Where one man believes or
denies a proposition purely because of
the evidence in the case, a dozen will
do the same thing because of their
likes and dislikes. Our attitude
toward truth is very largely a matter
of feeling,, and reason has little to do
with it. There is a vast body of al
leged truth which most people believe
without a vestige of proof because they
think it is their duty. Professor
James, of Harvard, has written a book
on "The Will to Believe" in which he
shows clearly enough that we can ac
cept any proposition whatever if we
resolutely set about it. The persons
who say that it is impossible to be
lieve this or that because it is unrea
sonable are much mistaken. The most
absurd and contradictory things can
be believed if one really wishes to do
so. Not only that, a man can throw
overboard his whole cargo of beilefs
in' a single night and take on a new
one. Emerson expatiated on the great
desirability of changing one's religion
occasionally to avoid becoming hide
bound. More people follow his coun
sel than one would suspect.
Who has not seen a man of liberal
ideas and popular ways of feeling
suddenly change to a pompous pluto
crat, with all the narrowness of that
conceited tribe, when he made a lucky
stroke in the market or fell heir to a
fortune? Our whoie outfit of polit
ical beilefs and many of our religious
opinions are, in reality, but functions
of our economic condition. Change
the way a man makes his living and
you change his whole outlook upon
the world. One who earns his bread
in a factory where his teeth are loos
ened and his nerves destroyed by mer
cury fumes cannot possibly have the
same concept of the Almighty as a
man who dwells leisurely in whole
some surroundings. Optimism and
pessimism flow naturally from the way
the world treats us. if we have all
we want and can do everything we de
sire, of course we think this Is the best
of all possible worlds. If our lives
are cramped and our bodies ruined by
lethal toil, we can probably discern
many things which might be bettered.
Very likely there are no two persons
on earth to whom the word vtruth"
means precisely ' the same, because
there are no two whose emotions are
identical. Taking account of this
fact and some others of a like charac
ter, a new school of philosophers have
been revising their notions of truth.
"What Is truth?" they inquire with
"jesting Pilate," and, unlike that im
patient ruler, they not only wait for
an answer, but actually lind one.
The Idea that we human beings
could manufacture truth or in any
way change it -would be appalling to
many every-day human beings. They
look upon truth as something outside
themselves with which their minds get
into relations more or less close; but
if they should all die and the-universe
should pass away like a scroll, that
would not affect the truth at all. It
is something fixed, immutable, eternal
and independent of all finite thinking.
The finite mind can discover truth, but
not create it. Now the new philoso
phers of whom we spoke look upon
the matter differently. To their way
of thinking truth is something that
grows and changes from one day to
another. They put it in this way:
"Any belief wl ich works well is true
to that extent." The test of truth to
them is the way in which it jibes with
life. If a proposition adds to the com
fort, happiness or ease of life, they
say it has truth. In other words,
"worth" or value in promoting life is
the standard of truth, and we must
believe everything which does us good.
"HOW absurd," cries the logician;
"ought we to believe a proposition
that we cannot prove?" There's the
rub. Our new philosophers say we can
prove whatever is to our advantage.
Of course they do not mean quite
the same thing by proof that the stern
rationalist does. They invert the ques
tion and thus play a pretty trick upon
the enemy which cannot help but dis
concert him if it does not rout him.
"Ought we not to believo what it is
better for us to believe?" This is the
way the pragmatisms put it. Pragmat
ism Is the name of this new and dis
tressingly heretical philosophy. Of
course we ought to believe what it is
better for us to believe. Who could
expect us to accept propositions
which work for the injury of the in
dividual or tiie race? K there is a
benevolent deity, would he create
truth which works badly for his be
loved humanity? No, Indeed, he would
not. The fact, therefore, that a be
lief works well in practice is proof that
it Is true and no other proof 1s needed.
In fact, the only reality there is about
anything whatever is what it does to
us. If a thing does nothing to us it
does not exist so far as we are con
cerned. Hence the only reality a
proposition can possibly have lies in
its effects upon men. If it does them
good, we call it true. If it injures
thein, we call it false. Thus truth
becomes pretty nearly the same thing
as goodness, and we slip round to Tol
stoi's famous heresy that the true is
the useful. Since we can devise things
which are good for us, we can create
new truth. Mind, we create it, we do
not necessarily discover it. A propo
sition remains true as long as it works
well, and when it ceases to do so it be
comes false.
Thus the old views of the astrono
mers, Ptolemy and the rest, were, true
for hundreds of years, because they
served every purpose of life; but the
time came when they ceased to be use
ful, and then they became false and
something better took their place.
Men invented a new truth to supplant
the outworn one. This has happened
all the way down the history of sci
ence. Dozens of beliefs have been
true for one year or twenty, and then
they became false. It was that way
with Newton's corpuscle theory of
light and Spinoza's distinction be
la.ee n substance and attribute And.
Dalton's theory of the atoms.. All
these were true for a time, but now all
of them are false.' This Is the so
called pragmatic view of truth. Per
haps no reader of this has ever heard
of it before or guesses that a furious
fight is raging over it among the
philosophers. Metaphysical warfare
does not often attract much attention
from the world, but in the end it
turns the course of history more
j powerfully than gunpowder does.
FEDERAL CONTROL OF SALMON?
When Ashmen control salmon legis
lation of the Columbia River and dis
agree on the remedies that should be
applied and on the method of enforc
ing the law, the devil take the salmon
industry. That has been the situation
on the Columbia River always, and it
ruled in the conference in Portland
last Friday, at the hearing conducted
by the subcommittee of the Washing
ton State Fish Commission. At that
conference the Interests centered in
wheels, seines and traps put through
resolutions for a closed Sunday and
for shortening the catching season in
the Spring and in August. The gill
netters fought the resolutions and
served notice that they would oppose
any of the protective measures pro
posed until wheels shall be abolished.
There is no improvement, then, in
the old-time interstate salmon mess
of Oregon and Washington. The, fish
rivals of the two states will not work
together for adequate concurrent leg
islation in the two states. As one ele
ment puts through a remedy In one
house of one Legislature, the other will
seek to defeat it in the other house;
or, failing in that, will resort to the
Legislature of the other state to de
feat it. The story is very old and the
chances of its being acted again this
Winter in two Legislatures are prom
ising. Now, you gentlemen of the fish in
dustry, whet your knives good and
sharp, get ready for the old fight, say
that the other fellow is exhausting the
salmon, grab all the fish in reach, and
care not whether there shall be salmon
ten or twenty years hence. President
Roosevelt says the proper recourse
will be National control of the fish
eries, under the Federal power over
interstate commerce. In his latest
message to Congress he makes a spe
cial reference to the Columbia River
and urges that remedy, as follows:
But the problem is quite as pressing in
the interstate waters of the United States.
The salmon fisheries of the Columbia River
are now but a fraction of what they were
25 vears ago, and what they would be now
If the United States Oovernmept had taken
complete charge of them by intervening be
tween OreRon and Washington. During
these 25 years the fisherm?n of each state
have naturally tried to take all they could
set. anrl the two Legislatures have never
bven able to npree on joint action of any
kind adequate in degree for the protection
of the fisheries. At the moment the fish
ins on the Oregon side is practically closed,
while there is no limit on the Washington
side of any kind, and no one can tell what
the courts will decide as to the very stat
utes undor which this action and nonaction
result. Meanwhile very few salmon reach
the spawning grounds, and probably four
years hence the fisheries will amount to
nothing: and this comes from a struggle
between the associated, or gill-net. fisher
men on the one hand, and the owners of
the fishing wheels up the rivr. The fisheries
of the Mississippi, the Ohio and the Potomac
are also in a bad way. For this there la
no remedy except for the United States
to contral and legislate for the interstate
fisheries as part of the business of Interstate
commerce. In this case the machinery for
scientific investigation and for control al
ready exists in the United States Bureau of
Fisheries. In' this as in similar problems
the obvious and simple rule should be fol
lowed by having those matters which no
particular state can manage taken in hand
by the United States; problems which In
the seesaw of conflicting State Legislatures
are absolutely unsolvabie are easy enough
for the Congress to control.
Of course the fish interests oppose
this plan. It would put them on rigid
discipline, and that's what they have
been resisting these many years. They
desire the "whole say" about the fish
industry, and declare that they are the
only individuals possessing sufficient
knowledge to deal with salmon protec
tion. So long as they shall be per
mitted to rule the salmon of the Co
lumbia, their strife will prevent the
right kind of protection. Matters have
gone far enough to show that direction
of legislation should be taken out of
their hands. Legislatures have proved
themselves unable or unwilling to look
above the fish factions to the public
interest. This they must do, or the
Federal Government must do, or the
salmon supply will dwindle to nothing.
LATEST IN WEIIINtiS.
The latest idea in weddings is to
give the happy couple a tract when
the mystic incantation Is recited. It
originated in Los Angeles, the city of
sunshine, oranges and sympsycog
raphy. The sympsycograph was in
vented for the Angelenos by Dr. David
Starr Jordan; the wedding tract they
invented for themselves. The symp
sycograph presents to the material
vision a picture of harmoniously
united souls. The wedding tract aims
to fortify and prolong the union in
perennial pulchritude.
What the contents of the connubial
tract may be the accounts do not state,
but it must be something ineffably
precious. Perhaps it is a message
from the evergreen shore received
through a tin horn. "Such messages
are common in Los Angeles, and as
full of wisdom as the horn is of
money. To many couples about to
marry the best possible advice is
Punch's famous "Don't," but, of
course they would not follow it. The
next best is "Go ahead and fight the
battle bravely to the end." The trag
edy of marriage is that so many begin
courageously, but give up before the
race is over. There is no happiness
in the world like that of a man and
wife who have lived down all their
sorrows and come out into the blessed
Beulah land of a serene old age to
gether. VtHKRE REFORM IS OVEIIKUE.
The numerous Secretaries of the
Navy who have adorned that impor
tant cabinet position since Mr. Roose
velt became President, whether re
garded individually or collectively,
have failed to get results that are at
all satisfactory to the people. The
Saturday Evening Post in a summary
of what these seven troubled years in
the Navy Department have brought
forth, finds that Mr. Roosevelt has
had six Secretaries of the Navy ir the
seven years and that the expenditures
of the department in that period have
been nearly $700,000,000 an amount
which is said to be within 3 per cent
of as much money as was spent on the
Navy in the thirty-two fiscal years be
tween the close of the Civil War and
the beginning -of the Spanish-American
War. With the spirit of conquest
at flood' tide in the country and a po
sition as a world power being forced
upon us, there would be no disposition
on the part of the people to find fault
with the enormous expenditure which
has been made under the direction of
this half dozen Scretaries. had the re
sults attained proved satisfactory.
Nothing serious has happened as yet
through the alleged faulty construc
tion of our ships but they have not
yet been put to the crucial test that
will come only in actual warfare. Per
haps all of the complaint made by ex-J
perts on construction, gunnery and
navigation may not be warranted, but
it has been admitted that much of this
criticism is well-founded. And yet It
is not altogether clear that we should
expect any better results so long as
the present antiquated bureaucratic
methods prevail. Viewed from an im
partial business standpoint. there
seems to be no good reason why the
Government should not secure for the
head of the departments, men with
some special qualification for the po
sition they are expected to fill. The
business of the Navy Department has
been the construction, repair and
operation of steam war vessels.
From the figures shown It will be
seen that In this work there has been
expended an average of about $100,
000,000 per year for the past seven
years. A private firm engaged in the
work of building and operating ships
to the extent of one-half or one tenth
of that carried on by the Government,
would secure as the head of the indus
try, a high-priced expert, trained for
the position and in every way quali
fied to determine whether his depart
ment was being conducted on modern
methods, or along the fossilized dines
of a half century ago. What show, for
example, would Attorney-Metcalf of
California have of securing a position
at the head of a shipping concern that
expended . $100,000,000 per year for
construction and operating expenses?
What the Navy needs instead of
lawyers at Its head and fossilized indi
viduals throughout the different bu
reaus, is a high-priced expert thor
oughly familiar with the work to be
placed in full charge. To accomplish
this It might be necessary to sweep
into the discard an army of political
appointees who now aid the various
bureaus in getting rid of the money,
but the Navy is becoming such an im
portant branch of our Government
that it seems as though It were enti
tled to more consideration.
If a reform of this nature can be
effected in the Navy Department, it
would be almost certain to spread to
other departments. In time it might
even reach the Quartermaster's De
partment of the U. S. A. and when it
does, the officials of that department
would be obliged to buy lumber, hay
and other supplies where they could
buy them to the best advantage.
Perhaps, through the continued vig
ilance of his wife and his physicians,
political pot-hunters may be kept at
bay while Governor-elect Cosgrove, of
Washington, gets on his feet again,
and is able to stand their onset without
danger of physical collapse. The true
reason of Mr. Cosgrove's flight on a
stretcher is disclosed by the presence
about his retreat of eager politicians
who have followed him to Paso Ro
bles. It was not that the climate of
the Evergreen State was unfavorable
to his recovery, but that rest and
freedom from anxiety were impossible
for him there. Proper defenses hav
ing been put up and maintained,
cheerful reports are coming from the
sick bed of Mr. Cosgrove, which give
promise that he may yet be inaugu
rated Governor of Washington.
To be sure the old and wornout ani
mals owned by the city should be
provided against the vicissitudes of
age. What good is there in civil
service for man that Is not of equal
benefit to the beast? They give up
the best part of their lives in honest
work and under the system cannot
save anything any more than their
two-legged compeers. They should
be put on a farm where the grass is
always juicy and where the sun
shines all the time when it does not
rain. Then, in time. If the plan works
well, who knows but an asylum may
be found for the normal jobholders
when Time and the increasing inertia
of doing nothing a few hours a day
shall have demonstrated their use
lessness? A news item from Chicago tells of
a former society girl, lately divorced
from a very wealthy husband, having
gone to work to support herself. Her
family offered to aid her financially,
but she declined, with thanks. That
this young woman had just grounds
for a divorce cannot be doubted. A
woman who prefers honest work to
dependence upon relatives is not one
to move lightly in any serious mat
ter. Self-respect is an asset of far
greater value to her than grudged ali
mony wrung by legal process from a
roue who proved impossible as a hus
band. Hereafter when that Tacoma lover
gives his prospective bride any pres
ents, he will require her to give him a
bill of sale and a written guarantee
that she will marry him. No man
who lives in Tacoma can be too cau
tious when experimenting with Port
land nurses.
An Oakland cashier i3 in jail and
$20,000 behind in his accounts from
betting on the Seattle races. Who
got the money? Some other cashier
or the racetrack touts and gamblers?
Harper's Weekly has given a full
page write-up to Rabbi Stephen S.
Wise as the "man from Portland."
For a "narrow old man" of 36, Dr.
Wise seems to be spreading out a lot.
The most Interesting thing about the
story that Castro has grabbed $60,
000,000 and left Venezuela forever is
the violent assumption that Venezuela
has $60,000,000 to grab.
A Chicago man got drunk, and was
drawn into a foolish real estate in
vestment, and thereby made a fortune.
That accounts for the way some other
people make money.
The President ought to apologize
and declare that under no circum
stances should Congress be exempted
from secret service inquiry; and then
all will be lovely.
If there were Federal Jobs for all
to be gotten out of Statement One. it
would be a more abiding principle
with several members of the Legis
lature. How many members of the State
Dairy Association have invited milk
consumers to visit the dairies and be
convinced that the filth tales are false ?
The weather Is not so much to
blame for the dark days as is the
shortness of the days. The days will
begin to lengthen next week.
According to Mr. Taft, the way to
revise the tariff is to revise the tariff.
Congress will please stick a pin here.
Every drop of Oregon rain brings
warmth from the South. Better an
Oregon rain than an Eastern blizzard.
It's easier to take your time buy
ing presents nW than to hurry the
day before. Cturiatmas.
SILHOUETTES
BY ARTHUIt A. UHKK.NE.
The Panama Canal should at least yield
one good scandal.
Heroism's Test.
(The press dispatches announce that a
young man In Kansas escaped from a foot
pad by biting him on the cheek.)
Did you ever bite a bandit?
Did you ever tame a thief?
Did you ever slap a robber on the wrist?
Did you ever hold a holdup?
Did you ever pinch a pirate?
Did you ever strike a striker with your
fist?
If you never did you cannot be a hero;
Your percentages are far below the zero
And the moral of this tattle
Suggests a tale of battle
Or the merry, merry prattle of a big
four-flush.
Mcnrorlum.
A cheer and a tear and a glass of wine
For the days that will come no more.
A boast and a toaet to the scattered hot
Of the days of Auld Lang Syne.
That is the way, come work or play,
To pledge them our faith anew;
It Is better to sing than to grieve today
For the joys of an older time.
For Sorrow's a changeling creature
And Grief is of no avail;
It is better to laugh and be merry
Than to echo a mourner's wail.
A Sorry Fate. - j
Mazie was a palmist
Who might have been a psalmist
If she hadn't met a literary feller
Who in the calmest kind of manner
And the very beet of grammar
Sang a love aong that was very, very
meller.
Then by way of digression
Of his lucrative profession,
He proceeded very soon a yarn to land;
She was interested at once,
(Mazie was a silly dunce,)
And she promised to go with him hand I
hand. -
They were married that-a-way
And the neighbors now all say
When pointers to young palmists they
are giving;
"If you marry literary you will find you
haven't ary
A thing to live on but a sonnet or a lay,
Mazie met up with a psalmist.
Whose demeanor was the calmest,
And, honest, she's a palmist to this day."
A Little Remembrance.
A gentle and a good man died the
other day; died as a gentleman should,
standing up. They had warned him that
he couldn't live long and that he should
lie down and rest for a little while be
fore he went away to take the longer
rest that is in store for thorn who are
weary and heavy laden. But George
Jones, my friend who died heroically,
was not of the quitting breed and be
cause of his courage and his love for
those to whom he was beholden, he kept
at the day's task until the soft-footed
messenger, whose name Is Death, came
to him and touched him upon the shoul
der. And my friend did not wince nor
blanch in the presence of his new-found
friend; but he paused, as one should do
in courtesy, and having no peace to make
with his God, but only to change his
garments, he went, smilingly. To the
Palace he went, a new courtier, come, un
afraid into the presence of the Just. And
as he had lived "in simploness and gen
tleness and honor and clean mirth." so
my good old friend George F. Jones
answered "adsum" and went his way.
And for us who knew and loved lilm; it
were well If we might find his way.
Ask the Pnst.
How long ago was this old world young?
How many years since the morning stars
sang
And what was the hour the solemn belle
rang
The death-knell of youth and the race
begun,
To look to the East and to hark back
always
And tell us brave tales of "the good old
days?"
If you take the magazine "ads" for it
about all the human race needs now-a-daye
is union underwear and automobiles.
.
Life comprehends three phases: regret
for what is past, worry over the present
and fear for the future.
To the woman who hanown love,
mere friendship is as dull and uninter
esting as a treatise on anthropology.
The Soul of the House.
Burgess Johnson.
Locust timbers, brick and atones
Are Its bones;
And I saw them wrought together
In the keen Autumnal weather.
Joint by Joint and bone by bone to fit a
plan.
As sages build of fossil forms some unie
membeied man.
Lath and shingles for a skin
Clad It In;
And tti took on form and feature
As of some familiar creature.
Standing silently in dull, repellent guise.
And soullessly It looked on me from star
ing; window eyes.
My own soul seed, deep in earth
At my birth
Lay a lifeless and as hidden
llv the sun and rain unbidden.
Until Love had fed It smiles and tears and
toll
Then green and gracious buds of it came
forcing through the soul.
Po my house there reared Its head.
Cold and dead.
With a chill to linger always
Till Love breathed along its hallways.
Laughed and wept there, tolled and dreamt
there In the gloain;
Now those window eyes are brimming with
the wakened soul of Home.
Before the tiospel Were.
Edwin Markham In the Woman's Home Com
Ian ion.
Long noons and evenings after he was gone,
Mary the mother, Matthew, Luke and John.
Aad all those who loved him to the last.
Went over all the marvel of the pa.t
Went over all the old familiar ways
With tender talk of dear remembert 1 daye.
They walked the roads that never gave him
retrt
Paat Jordan's ford, past Krdron's bridge.
Up Olivet, up Hermon's ridge.
To that latt road, the one they loved the
best.
(The climax of the poem is reached In the
last verse, which sums up all the thoughts
that have been expressed in the preceding
lines)
Po huddling often by the chimney blaze.
Or going down the old remembered waye
On many a lingering walk.
They held their wonder-talk.
Minding each other of some pacred spot.
Minding each other of a word forgot:
Fo gathering up till all the whispered words
Went to the four winds like a flight of
birds!