5
REGARDING PORTLAND'S FUTURE GOVERNMENT
Kinship of the Homes Is the Underlying' Spirit Which Must Decide All Questions That May Arise.
GARLAND GAS RANGES
THE SUXDAT OREGONIAX. PORTLAND, 3IAV 2, 1909.
BY GEORGE A. THACHER.
THE philosophy which underlie
politics has one great advantage
over philosophy In its broader
cense;, it rests on concrete facts which
ere capable of being understood. The
difficulty is that facts are so numerous
end their relations to each other are so
hard to understand. And even that Is
riot all. With a perfect grasp of the
facts of experience, there must be a
fair estimate of the future and the
new problems which are certain to
rise before a safe plan can be made.
So keenly was that realized by some
of the old school of political economists
that John Stuart Mill remarked: "No
political conclusion of any value for
practice can be arrived at by direct ex
perience." . That was written in the
days when politics was chiefly a sub
ject for history, and before it was rec
ognized as a subject for science. Of
course, the science is a tentative one
and always must be a branch of the
new science of sociology. To be sure,
;"the knowing;" of the social needs and
the aspirations of individuals as the
first step in the development of cities
is very imperfect, and many people are
apt to regard It with impatience, but
it is a. tremendous factor, perhaps the
greatest of all.
The protection of life and property
has been achieved in rough fashion.
"What else is necessary? And yet con
ditions In cities may cause roclal degen
eration which will utterly destroy that
hard-won protection.
The people of Portland are familiar
"with a few facts which may have a
destructive tendency, but the general
Idea Is that a few new laws are neces
sary and the evils will right them
selves. That is perhaps the worst ten
dency of all, but some of the more
otv1ous ones are more instructive. The
(Question of pure milk for the people of
'i-ortland, and especially for the chil
dren, has been talked about. The Leg
islature did not take any action this
Winter probably because there was no
overwhelming sentiment requiring it.
and because the men who furnish milk
objected to being Interfered with.
Haven't we got along very well all
these years without any examination of
glairy barns and cows? The babies that
die are doubtless weaklings, and they
go to heaven, where all are happy.
The liberty of the American citizen to
keep any kind of a cow in any kind of
barn and to sell any kind of filthy
milk is not to be lightly disregarded.
If you don't believe it. read some of
the virtuous letters of protest from
farmers that have been printed in The
Oregonlan during the past year.
-
Then there Is the question of Belling
damaged fruit to the people of Port
land. There has been more than one
letter In . The Oregonlan, written in
good style and in the most forcible
manner, declaring tnat me state nas
no right to destroy a diseased orchard
or to compel the owner to spray it and
keep It in healthy condition. The fact
that fruit pests will contaminate
healthy orchards is - not admitted as
having any bearing. That is a point
which the people in the city can get
Indignant about, .for in their crowded
tiusrters they have learned that neigh
bors must regard each other's rights.
In matters not so obvious, they are
s careless as people out of town. Take
the saloon question. With due regard
for all thirsty souls, everyone knows
that there are twice as many saloons
In Portland as are needed. The saloon
keepers know it. Witness the testl-
mony yi n " ' -
who admitted that, he could not live
while the bridge was closed unless he
violated the law and allowed women
In his saloon. He actually made that
plea to save his license.
Snma fiendish thlna-s have happened
within BO feet of the City Hall from
allowing women in saloons, but just
now the whole war Is centered on the
"question of how many square feet a
saloon must have to sell liquor with
meals to women.
This is not a jest; it is a fact. The
great American principle of fair play
is at stake, and some of the City Coun
cil are anxious that no virtuous sa
loonkeeper shall suffer tf he has not
got a place as hlg as the dining-room
of Mie Portland Hotel.
, Everyone knows that In the case of
from SO to 75 per cent of the saloons
their licenses, through power of at
torney, are. In the hands of the brew
' pries 'to transfer, if necessary. So the
'Councilman's appeal for fair play bene
fits whom? The breweries, of course.
who, adopting the laudable principle or
making two blades of grass grow
.where but one grew before, plant a sa
loon occasionally.
And the people? Yes. the people are
interested in their homes first, in their
churches and lodges next, and in city
politics not at all. except occasionally
to curse the incompetence at the City
Hall. They are like the man with a
diseased orchard or a tilthy dairy in a
little wider sense.
.
Suppose . for example. that they
should regard the city as their home in
a personal sense and should in con
venient basements throughout the city,
construct public toilets. Kvery man
that hundreds, perhaps thou
sands of men. every day would not en
ter a saloon but for the toilet privi
leges. The drink at the bar on the
way out Is almost Inevitable, and the
habit once established, continues it
self. But that would be spending pub
lie money and that would Increase tax
ation and if the principle is once ad
mitted as proper, where will it stop?
There might be public theaters next
and perhaps a public circus. It Is true
that some of the saloon theaters with
"near beer" for a beverage are not
elevating, but whose business is It?
Is It collectively the business of the
people of the city, or are their home
duties their only business In the so
cial side of life?
What Is the most undesirable part
of Portland? The strip along the river,
of course. It Is unsavory to sight and
smell, and people who travel on the
steamers regard It as detestable. Sup
pose that the city owned a hundred
feet on the' river bank from the Steel
bridge to Madison street and that there
were stone quays with grass plats and
flowers and shrubs. Is there any doubt
that it would be the most popular
promenade in the city? Washington
street would be almost deserted on
Summer venings for the river prome
nade. Of course. 1t would cost enor
mously and a boulevard for automo
biles (provided for. at the last election)
is decidedly preferable. Such a plan
would not be business, it would smack
of socialism; yet It might have its ben
efit on business and most certainly It
would on the morals of the river dis
trict. Supposing that all the streets were
regarded as the people's home In an
artistic, sense and to be used by them
a- . - - - anlrU mm th.v , a tk.l.
lawns and shade trees about their
houses, and that all advertising signs
were abolished and all buildings had
to comply with certain canons of archi
tectural style, would that be Intoler
able invasion of the property rights
of the individual? It would not, if It
secured safety from fire, any more
than the river bank Improvement
would be considered impossible if a
new and highly improved system of
transportation required 'it.
Then there Is the question of street
car transportation, both In the matter
of crowded cars and tickets at four
cents apiece, when purchased in quan
tity. The matter of a streetcar fender
is probably beyond the wisdom of man,
and so until the superman .arrives,
we can be ground to death occasion
ally, almost by "the act of God" as'
the law -terms 4he destruction from,
lightning or earthquake.
There is also the question of fuel In
Portland, wUich a year ago bore so
hard, on the poor people. Supposing
that it - were possible for the people,
collectively, to manage the manufac
ture of gas and sell it for cooking
purposes at about the cost of manu
facture. What might it not mean for
better cooked food, with the Inevitable
Improvement In health and strength,
to say nothing of the good morals in
spired by good digestion? Of course,
it is not so serious a problem now as
it will be 10 years from now, but 10
years "pass quickly.
To be sure,' there is no thought of
advocating any such wild plans as have
been mentioned, but they illustrate
the need of a city spirit in any change
of conducting public affairs. Perhaps
the most remarkable side of the social
spirit in the United States is the home
spirit. The family is the basis of our
civilization. The family virtues seem
to us the most important. There Is
no offense for which a criminal .may
not hope for escape, so long as he is
a good family man.
On the other hand, no man can be con
victed of murder even when he admits
the killing when he has done the act be
cause of the violation of his home. Wfl
call it the "unwritten law." So much for
our home spirit; but our civic spirit,
where is it? It is undoubtedly in pro
cess of development, but it is only fairly
started. It is very possible if not prob
able that the home spirit strangles it.
The great majority of men and perhaps
all the women consider that when a
man's day's work is done he should give
the remainder of his time to his family
In the home. That feeling is not only
universal, but it is considered virtuous.
Women do not like to have their hus
bands interested in politics if It is going
to take them away from home. It is not
many years since young men were
warned to keep out of politics as they
were warned against gambling. That has
a curious sound for a people living in a
democracy, and who claim tluit it Is the
best form of government known among
men. Kvery sort of reproach has been
urged against politics, and so it has be
come disreputable, and the character of
the men who have made it a profession
has fixed the stigma.
Of course, men are expected to vote
once a year or once in two years and
to choose a form of government with as
many checks and balances as can be de
vised with short terms of office so that
no officeholder can steal very much or
for a very long time. That is the poli
tics of the home spirit, and many an
able man can be found to grow eloquent
over a system which prevents one agency
of government from doing anything until
the reluctant consent of another agency
can be obtained. Its chief glory is that
it is automatic that It runs itself. The
voters wind up the machine once in two
years and then return to their business
and their homes and leave the public
service corporations, the saloons and
their hangers-on of prostitutes and loaf
ers), with the breweries holding licenses
by power of attorney, to see what they
can obtain from the politicians, for whom
the virtuous home-dwellers have a good
natured contempt. That is a fair de
scription of the actual situation, as every
candid person must admit.
Since the day when Adam ate forbid
den fruit it has been recognized that the
woman was to blame. It does not aound
very chivalrous for a barbarian or a
2th . century dweller in cities to say,
"The woman whom thou gavest me, she
tempted me," etc., but maybe there is
something in it. The women of Oregon
doubtless feel that," as they have tried
four times unsuccessfully to secure the
right to vote, their political aspirations
are not subject to reproach. Perhaps it
would be something of a shock to them
to learn that they have possibly blun
dered in the way they went about it.
And yet they have simply demanded that
they, too, should be permitted to help
wind the political ' machine once in two
years. The net result so far has been
that many of the sex oppose the move
ment because of the character of politics,
and an increasing majority of men re
fuse the ballot to their home com
panions. It is a curious Nemesis to overtake tho
women, but Nemesis generally arrives
In a subtle way. The women have de
manded an unfaltering allegiance to the
home on the part of the men. Tn fact,
their strongest argument for the suf
frage has been that they would legislate
the aaloops out of- existence, thus de
stroying a deadly rival to the attractive
ness of the home. The men In secret, and
openly, object to the contaminating in
fluence of politics on women and pro
pose to save them from unpleasant asso
ciations at the polls, and thus far they
have succesded. What the results would
be If women encouraged their husbands,
sons and .brothers, year in and year out.
to neglect the home a little and to give
some of their time and money to inves
tigating politics and making a healthful
business of it is Impossible to predict
with certainty.
But if, in addition, women generally
took an intelligent interest themselves
In all the problems of city politics and
state politics and discussed them with
their relatives and friends, not with a
view to devise a machine that would run
Itself, but in the same fashion that the
women of Portland discuss the details
of the annual Rose Festival in June,
there can be no question but that city
politics would be established on a new
level and that honest and successful pol
iticians would have the highest rank in
the community. The aid of the women
would be simply invaluable and many a
problem that is regarded as hopeless now
would .be solved and solved successfully.
The effect, too. on the rising genera
tion would be something that no man
could calculate, and it would be all for
good and not for evil. If in that happy
day the women should decide that they
w anted to vote, we should all feel sorry
for the man who opposed a natural and
legitimate wish. A desert Island would
be a paradise for hjm after that exhi
bition of folly. At the present time,
however, 'the women keep the men out of
politics and the men prevent the women
from voting. This -is probably a brutal
statement of an actual fact.
We may seem to have traveled a long
way from the original .question, but the
fact is we. have just reached "it. If the
people of Portland want a better city
government, whether under the present
charter or any other charter, the first and
the indispensable thing is to sacrifice
some of the devotion to the home and
give it to their home city, not alone on
election day, but all the year round. -The
problems are numerous and will Increase
with, the city's growth. They are not
simple questions, either, but that does
..not mean that they cannot be answered.
On the other hand, some problems are
simple. In the best written news dis
patch which has been printed In The
Oregonlan this year, there was told the
story of how the legislature at Salem
passed a law requiring all public build
ings to have their doors open outwards.
The hill had received scant attention and
was- doomed to certain . defeat both
through indifference and -, the common
willingness to leave things conservative
ly alone. . But when a member of the
Legislature got the floor and described
in broken words and with the tears
dripping from his face how. because a
certain public. building did not have the
doors open outwards, there is today a
monument in his part of the sta.te in
scribed with the names of over 50 per
sons, then indifference changed to inter
est. The kinship of homes was, recog
nized. The kinship of homes in Portland is
the underlying spirit which must decide
all questions concerning the future gov
ernment of the city. In natural ad
vantages and beauties Portland is sur
passed by no city in the United States,
and her future rests with her people.
What will they do with it?
Chicago Is Stirred by Cost of Living and Politics
Windy City Has Much to Think and Talk About, Includ ing Big Hats, Banking Scandals and Zion City Changes.
BY JONATHAN PALMER.
CHICAGO. May 1. (Special.) In the
dust that has been kicked up by the Pat
ten wheat deal, and in the attacks that
have been made and are still being made
on the so-called trusts, two things have
been lost sight of in popular discussion.
One 1. that table foods of many kinds
m addition to flour have gone up in price.
Another is that the consumer Is not pay
ing"!! ' his ' tribute to the beef-barons,
but iy being "soaked" by his butcher
and his grocer.
The packers have been the recipients
of a lot of kicks that should have been
delivered to the retailer and the whole
saler of dressed meats. Considering the
prices paid for livestock, dressed beef
ought to be cheaper now than it was a
year ago, but it isn't. A little canvass
of the situation among the retailers
demonstrates that exactly the same kind
and quality of beef sells for 4 to 6 cents
a pound higher In one store than In an
other not three blocks away. The same
is true of eggs. A gradual but sure
awakening is coming to the fact that the
packers are not the only offenders with
which the consumer has to reckon.
Indicating how prices of table articles
have increased, the following Jobbing
figures, for this year and a year ago are
clte.d:
1909. 1908.
Potatoes, per bushel
Cabhajte, per rrate o.H.I 2.00
Parsnips, per nat-k.i 1.2.i 1.0O
Carrots, per sack Mill .80
Pie plant, per box 1.7r
Apple, per barrel 6 00 3.0O
Spinach, per- bushel Tr .M
Grvi,e fruit X.75 3.25
; The consumer pays correspondingly
larger prices. - He is getting his oranges,
lettuce, onions, green peas and tomatoes
for about the same, but he is paying 4
cents a dozen more for eggs. 4 cents
more a pound for dressed poultry, 6
cents more for turkeys and 6 "cents more
for butter. South Water street commis
sion merchants put the blame for the
increased cost upon "under-production.'
Whatever the explanation, the household
er's expenses have gone Tip ruinously
and a new light has been thrown upon
the efforts of workingmen for higher
wages. With farm and orchard products
high and hogs at $7.30. the farmer is not
suffering.
History or Hat Bill.
Offering a bill in the Legislature to
limit the diameter and the overlapp'ing
I adornments of women's hats sounds like
WEDDING BELLS HAVE NO JOYFUL SOUND FOB THIS
CHORUS GIRL.
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EDITH KELLY IX "HATASA."
NEW YORK. May 1. (Special .) No wedding bells for Edith Kelly.
Judith Is one of the broilers of the Havana" company at the Casino. She
was engaged to a song writer named Jerome until a few days ago. Now
she announces that the joys of married life have ceased to have any
attraction for her. Edith has appeared before King Edward twice and
has met Queen Alexandra. She has been In this country about six
months and is at present singing a song called "Ptnsacola" to the great
delirfht of the New York Johnnies. . -
a solon's jest, and the law-makers will
so treat it. but in Chicago the question
has Its serious' side, as it has in' other
cities where crowds are constantly en
countered In the streets, in cars and in
elevators. Introduction of the bill was
prompted by the fact that Anton J. Cer
mak. who presented It. was stabbed se
verely in the hand by the projecting pin
of a woman's hat in an elevator at the
statehouse.
Mr. Cermak was chivalrously in the act
of removing his hat in the presence of
the woman, when his hand came In con
tact with the pin. The puncture was
followed by an ugly swelling, which
seemed to menace blood-poisoning. Only
a few days before David E. Shanahan,
Representative, was struck in one eye
with the brim of a hat and suffered with
a sore optic for days.
Recently a streetcar conductor paid' the
tribute of a perfectly good eye to the
gaiety of the "Merry Widow" chapeau.
He had helped the wearer upon his car
and began collecting fares, when the car
lurched In going around a corner. The
conductor lost his balance and was top
pled over against the stiff brim of the
hat. The eye was so badly- injured that
it was found necessary, to remove it. In
the excitement attending the man's suf
fering the woman left the car and 'dis
appeared. It is a sober fact that some women are
obliged to twist their heads at a 45-de-
gree ungle to enter the rather narrow
doors of the new pay-as-you enter cars.
Once inside it is almost a necessity that
they be allowed to sjit in the seats next
the windows, otherwise the hat brims
project too far Into -the aisles to permit
passage. On entering a streetcar the
Chicago woman who dresses a la mode
seeks out a seat with a man in It. not
because he Is a man. but because he
wears a man's hat. and gives freer scope
for her own headgear. .
Harrison in Umelight.
Carter Harrison, the. elder, was five
times Mayor of Chicago. Carter Harri
son, the younger, has been Mayor four
times. He is ambitious at least to equal
the " record of his distinguished father,
and he is coming back from California
to take up the threads of his political
career wJiere he was obliged to drop
them four years ago when 4he craze for
municipal ownership elevated Edward F.
Donne to the executive chair.
Carter Harrison has been playing a
shrewd game the last four years'. It has
TWO
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FOURTH AND ALDER STS, PORTLAND, OR.
been a game of silence and noninterfer
ence, with just enough coming into the
limelight now -and then to avert his be
ing forgotten. Carter Harrison was not
a figure in the last state convention,
hence he did not stir up any old rows
with Roger Sullivan and John P. Hop
kins. He was not in evidence at the
Denver convention where Bryan was
nominated. He has been a negative fac
tor in recent primary fights, letting the
other factions of the local Democracy
settle- their scores among themselves.'
He has seen Mayor. Dunne squelched
for re-election on his traction record. He
has seen hint further sat upon by the
Iroquois Club for ; protesting against the
banquet of that Democratic organization
to Secretary Dickinson. Mr. .Harrison
believes he foresees and he has plenty of
fellow-seers a condition- which will com
pel the party to unite on him for its
-Mayoralty .candidate. With that idea he
Is coming back from the land of lemons.
Zion City Disappearing.
Slowly but irresistibly the old Zion'
City is pariffing 'away. Thus is in process
of fulfillment the prophecy of many ob
servers of the North Shore religious com
munity that when John Alexander DoWie
died there would be none to fill his place
in influence and power. Wilbur dlenn
"VoIIva dreamed of a mastery like his
predecessor's and in these dreams he saw
visions of a city transcending that for
which Dowie hoped. He has failed to
"make good." In bluster and bifterne'ss
of speech he has ' been the equal of
Dowie. In results he has fallen far short.
Vollva's party has been overthrown,
and Zion City is in the hands of a more
progressive and liberal element. So long
as Dowie was strong physically and men
tally he made his '-practical successes
square with his peculiar ideas of what a
religious community should bei He de
livered the goods to himself and to his
people. Then his health failed, the de
nominating personality lost its grasp
and death did the rest. -
Under the new regime Zion City is to
have- its church and its' business life
divorced the one .from the .other. Out
side capital may come In and run ex
isting plants or build-new ones. It was
bread and butter against fanaticism, and
the former won. It is wrong, however,
to say the way has been opened for sa
loons. There is little likelihood that Zion
City will have groggerics for many years
to come, if ever. -
With Paul O. Stensland trying to get
out of the Joliet Penitentiary by the par
don route: with John R. Walsh seeking
to run across a technicality which will
save him from prison walls; with Gustav
F. Sorrow of the wrecked Bank of
America voluntarily foregoing his appeal
and beginning his sentence; with Judge
Abner Smith of the same institution
jockeying for time and liberty, and with
Peter Van Vlissengen coming out of his
cell to , help straighten out the tangle
wrought by his million-dollar mortgage
forgery, Chicago's wealthy financial der
elicts are making things lively for the
old town. The Polish Alliance, repre
senting 60,000 citizens, threatens a politi
cal upheaval if Stensland is let out.
There is a chance, for something more
sensational than that if he does come
back here. Many Poles lost the savings
of years through Stensland's peculations.
Half a dozen committed suicide and
more worried themselves into the grave.
Their friends are in no kindly mood to
ward the banker convict and they are
not backward about saying so.
It is a fair prophecy that the Illinois
Legislature will end its regular 'biennial
session without having elected a United
States Senator and that Senator Cullom
will continue to represent the state alone
in the Upper House of Congress. -Nearly
fourscore ballots have been taken in the
last four months and A. J. Hopkins does
not succeed in making any net progress
in his stubborn fight for re-election. The
fight probably will go over to a special
Dcsnmii in a l rail. t
Meantime the political atmosphere may
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Trust him. Do exactly as he says. '
AyefsSi
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