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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 8, 1909)
1 THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, AUGUST 3, 1909. 6 &i)t &x:c$vmnn PORTLAND. ORfcM)N Entered t Portland. Oregon. Poatoffice a Eeeond-Clasa Matter. BnbcerlDttan Rates Invariably In Adynnce. (Br Mail Tr Jr. Sunday inciuded. on year Pally. Sunday included, six months -3 Iiailv.SundavlnrliKied.thre months... 2.-5 Dally! without Pndav.'or.a rear 0 Ia!!v. without uncav. six months 3 25 rally. without Sunday, one month - ? Weekly, one year Wn Sunday, one year ; r 5? Eocday and weekly, on year 3 50 By Carrier. ) TaMr. Fundir Included, one year 00 Dally. Sunday Included, one month.... 7S Mow to Kadi It Send postofflce money order, express order or personal check on your local bank, stamps, com or currency re at the sender rlsK. (Jive poetomce dress In full Inrltidlnc county and state. Postage Rates 10 to 14 paces. 1 cent; 16 to 2 rages. 2 cents: ao to 4i paces, i cents; 44 to 6o paces. 4 cents. Foreign postage double rates. Eastern Business Oft Ire The 8. C. Beck rtrh Special Afency New York, rooms 4H Bo Tribune building. Chicago, rooms 510-512 1 r.rune bulldlnc. PORTLAND. BINDAT. AUGUST . 1909. I fcUFRKMACY OF THE PEOPI.K THROUGH KKFRESfcNTATIVE INSTITUTION'S. What is most democratic is what makes most for the permanence of democracy that is, for its real wel fare. It Is the representative system, which alone will realize the actual su premacy of the people. Even In de mocracy there must be an aristocratic element. It must aim at government toy the best. By the best is meant not the most wealthy, or even the more wealthy, but tlu? most intelligent; that Is, the class of citizens who know- moat about the real principles of dem ocratic government and how to use and to apply them. Hence there is an aristocracy in democracy: and there must be a spirit In It that is ready to recognize that to be governed by its best is to be governed by itself. This is the basis -of the representative sys tem in democratic government. Upon It only, can democracy stand. As the primary selection Is the be ginning of representative government. so the representative system must be gin with the primary. An absolute democracy is Impossible. It will de stroy Itself, as Saturn devoured his own children. Government of the people, for the people and by the peo ple must be exercised as a trust; and the true policy of democracy Is to realize those conditions under which that trust will be most readily givn, because most thoroughly deserved. But under a democratic primary movement, which disregards the rep resentative principle, this never will be realized. Yet representative in- Btitutions are indispensable to the life and progress of democracy. The pri mary system, as we have attempted it In Oregon hitherto, rejects this prin ciple 'altogether. The thought and purpose and object is to exclude it, and to dissolve the sovereignty of the people into the original units: "as If" as we find it written in the Shakespearean way. each man were author of himself and knew no other kin." Now the primary, which lies at the bottom of all democratic, institutions, should and must itself be guided by some sort of conference, assembly or convention. Men must deliberate, in assembly: they must act in concert. Combination is the law of life. The efforts of men who pull apart come to nothing. Political selfishness leads to political disruption. All parts of the social fabric must be connected together. Through representative in stitutions alone can a way be found. The primary, without representative guidance, tends towards division and war of classes. This always will be its inevitable consequence. , The mixed constitution, based on the rule of all, can be maintained only through rep resentative institutions, which exclude no sort, or class, or description of citi zens, but invite co-operation of all; and the men who co-operate in the selection of their respresentatlves of this year will be themselves the repre sentatives of next. They are no friends of democracy -who do not accept, to the fullest, the doctrine and practice of representative institutions. But the direct primary, without guidance from representatives of peo ple and parties, supersedes this prin ciple, sets it aside and makes co-operation impossible. It is political chaos. The corrective remedy is the advisory council or assembly. It was the mistake of the dominant party in Oregon to try to get on without it. The minority party didn't make the mistake. It has accepted assembly nominations, and has gained extra ordinary success by use of the system. rONOITIONS AND THEORIES. If certain things were, and certain other things were not; if the effect of a theory were as potent as that of a condition, and if equivocal digressions were as valuable as plain facts, some explanation might be found for the Spokane Spokesman-Review's frequent complaint that The Oregonian is fight ing the Inland Empire. Headers of the Spokesman-Review who are not read ers of The Oregonian must be puzzled over the savage blows which that pa per is landing on a man of straw manufactured In the Spokane editorial rooms. Pressed by The Oregonian for an explanation of its inconsistency In denying the existence of water com petition at a time when it was taking advantage of that same competition and shipping Ink through Portland in carload lots, the Spokesman-Review again wanders off into a column of rambling generalities on the rate situ ation. It says The Oregonian .has been "worsted in the freight-rate con troversy." and finally decides that It U for the public rather than the Portland paper to sit In judgment on the Justice or Injustice, the reasonableness or unreasonableness, of this struggle by the great Interior to gain relief from long standing, excessive and discriminating frerrht rates. On this particular point The Orego nian is fuly In accord with the Spokesman-Review. This paper has made no attempt to "sit in Judgment" on the case. That the people should be Informed as to the facts of the case. The Oregonian has from time to time printed news and comment bearing on the controversy. It was for that rea son that we made brief mention of the fact that the Spokesman-Revlew was taking advantage of water com petition and shipping its ink through Portland, thus openly acknowledging that the Coast porjs have In their water route an economic advantage the existence of which Spokane has always denied. f the Spokesman-Review is sincere in its desire that the public should sit in Judgment on this matter, why does it remain strangely silent on - this transaction? Why continue to exploit theories w fic.n facta and conditions are more easily available? The Spokesman-Review says "the public can Judge if the Portland paper is con sistent when in one breath it affirms that water competition is all-controlling and with its next breath asserts that the granting of terminal rates to the Inland Empire would nullify the advantages of water transporta tion." . The Spokesman-Review dissembles. Under the natural, free and logical movement of traffic, water transporta tion is "all-controlling" in ratemaking in the territory between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific. By no other means than the substitution of unnatural, illogical methods can the advantages of this water competition be nullified, and it is against the sub stitution of such methods that The Oregonian enters a protest. The fact that these natural condi tions and advantages have been set aside, is clearly shown in the prefer ence which Spokane has for so long enjoyed in her 200-mile jobbing zone, for the existence of which no valid reason has ever been or ever can be offered. Neither the "public" at Portland, nor at Colfax, Walla Walla, Tekoa, nor any other point west of Spokane, cares to have this zone of preference widened by any further dis crimination against water competi tion. If the public is to "sit in judg ment" on this matter, as in the end it surely will, the Spokesman-Review should remove some of the spots of that ink transaction, in order that it may enter court with "clean hands." NO LONGER A PARTY ISSUE. One can neither easily see nor read ily conjecture how the tariff can be made an issue between parties in the next elections, nor for many years. The debates and the votes in Congress show that each and every part of the countrv want and will have protec tion for particular and special inter ests; and the representatives from one pat of the country and another will manage, by various and infinite com binations to get it. Disassociated now from the old debate between national and state sovereignty, protection, for the pres ent, is stronger than ever before. It Is a combination of Interests, supposed or real, of all parts of the United States-. Tet there must be compromise among them. The new tariff bill is an approximation to a compromise of the variant views of different parts of the country at the ' present time. Of course, everyone understands that the vote of the Democratic members of the Senate and House against the bill, on Its passage, was not an expression of the sentiment of their party. Tne Democratic members from various states and districts "stood in," while the bill was in course of formation, to get what their own localities wanted. Then they voted against the passage of the bill, to place the onus of it on their political opponents, for coming elections.. It is an ancient game of politics. But the recent special session has mt.de it more transparent than ever before. Every part o. the country has its peculiar industries, and all parts of the country desire protection for their specialties. What so natural as a combination of them all a com bination in -which all are to get, to preserve and to protect, all they can? No more can our Southern States be depended on for free trade, or for low tariff legislation. Formerly their Industry was agricultural, based on slave labor. Now they wisn 10 pru mote varied Industries. They insist on adjustment of tariff bills to this end. The old theory of state sover eignty, used as a prop for slavery, has been abandoned, and the South now will take the lead in the direction of Tmnerlal Democracy. Tariff for rev enue only, which is the right and only true principle, will become the de mand of the North, sooner man ui the South. But there will be no re sult, these many years. TOOtlSTS IN THE WEST. ortinH and other Pacific Coast cit ies have this year been favored with a much greater tourist travel than ever. Tk. nriitdnal cause of this increased number of visitors is. of course, the A.-Y.-P. Exposition: out, asiue num. the crowds drawn 10 tne iuust. i r., nnrl the attractions of V limy i the exposition, there is a muc'h greater ,,mK(.r than ever before for whom expositions and cheap fares are minor inducements. This class of tourist travel in many cases is taking its ini tial view of the West, because It has v,,,ctri the scenic list of natural attractions in other parts of the coun try. One of the surprises eurauiHcicu by the Pacific Coast traveler In Europe Is the number of Americans traveling abroad who have never been west of the Mississippi Ktver. The first thougnt regarding ui ,,i,o.-, who have failed to "see America first" is that they are some .v,. .ii:,-,va! to their own country; and in the" case of the Astors, Hydes and other mlsrepresenr.ar.ive Ainenu this is true. There is another class of American travelers, nowever. n v.o nid World in large numbers a , , da it i mm h more economical iitt y ,i ii ..-v i . and convenient than to visit the Fa- inc Coast. The New Kngiana man t i - Paris . npurer home 111 XjUMUUII v than he would be in Portlnad or i-an Francisco. He can also reach the Eu- onitai, in a week's travel on ruucou ii.j. ...... ... luxurious steamers on -which the cost of living, including passage money, is about the same as at a first-class hotel on shore. The Europeans, m.ro...s this continually increasing swarm oi . on. visit their shores, may perhaps be pardoned for arriving at the conclusion that mere is noi muwu orth seeing in this country, ana unm jite recently foreign tourists visiting ie United States, and especially the est, have been comparatively n.,n,Ki,r( Tka r- tYiA numher of European ,r-iat entering the United States is greater than ever. If the very relia kii tttctic of the immigration and customs service had failed to apprise . . , , 1 1 Ka an or mis ciianpc, ik " i ' i' i u " rtaeont In trie recent, appearance uimr first American "Baedeker," patterned after the celebrated guidebooks which have made the name of the German Baedeker famous tnrougnout tne rirl Raerieker condescended to place his name on an American guide book about rour years ngu, uui hardlv up to the "standard to which travelers had become accustomed. and it is only recently inai ne nas found the United States worthy or a detailed guidebook - such as tie Has supplied for European countries. In mMahiwk mav be found further reason why, European travel appeals to many people who hesitate about ma l.i -i tn tht Fur VVPKt. Baedeker is fair in his conclusions and strictly unprejudiced, and he is undoubtedly correct when he assures his readers that the coat of travel In the United States is 25 to 35 per cent higher than in Europe. ' He warns the traveler to avoid cab hire, which he alleges is exorbitant as viewed from the European standpoint. He says the service is not as good, and the sen-ants show much less deference than in the Old World. In a number of items he shows this country to dis advantage from the standpoint of ex pense. He notes, however, that there is a steady Improvement in these matters, and as his new and up-to-date book bears witness that there is alio an Improvement in the demand for accommodations and favors for European travelers. ' We have had so many Eastern vis itors on the Pacific Coast this Sum mer that the attractions which this part of the world can offer the tourist will be more widely exploited than ever, and in the future we shall un, doubtedly witness a steadily increasing number of both Eastern and European tourists. We have no ancient ruins to exhibit, but in lieu thereof we have the finfst collection of scenery to be found anywhere In the country. THE SUTTON INQUIRY. That young Sutton was killed by his own hand, by accident, In a scuffle with several of his fellows, is the prob able explanation of his death. There was fighting among them; he had a revolver; he was thrown to the ground and in the struggle to release himself the revolver in his hand was accident ally discharged, when Just in range with his head. , No one of his compan ions, it would seem, could have de sired to kill him. Can it be possible that the revolver had been wrested from him and then use deliberately to murder him? There was a "spree" of young roysterers, a drunken frolic, and fighting, and the death of Sut ton, by shooting, with his own re volver, was the consequence.. It seems there can be no actual mystery about it. The course pursued by the unfortu nate young man's mother is not unnat ural since she is the mother. But it can hardly be deemed wise. The son, clearly, was an irascibly and boisterous young man, who didn't get on well with his fellows, and seemed to be at variance with every member of the party. After the tragedy they natur ally wished to excuse themselves, as far as possible, and their testimony needs sifting. But there is so easy and so probable a way to account for the young man's death, in the cir cumstances as related by all the wit nesses, that there is" no need to sup pose he, was murdered, or that he in tentionally killed himself. THE CENTENARY OF STEAM NAVIGATION.- Although Robert Fulton ' did not take out a patent on the steamboat until 1809. he built one which actu ally ran as.early as 1S03. The experi ment was tried on the Seine River at Paris. Napoleon watched the action of the new contrivance with interest, hoping perhaps that it might make him master' of the seus. The control of the secret of steam power at that time would have carried with it mili tary advantage as great as the monop oly of aviation would now. A storm wrecked Fulton's boat before Napoleon was convinced of its success. The First Consul gave his attention to other subjects and Fulton returned to his native land to continue his ex periments on the Hudson at the ex pense of Robert R. Livingstone. Livingstone, who was Jefferson's Minister to France In 1803, seems to have had a prophetic confidence in steam navigation. Such was his faith in its future that he had obtained from the State Legislature before he set out for France the exclusive right to operate steamboats on the waters of New York. The monopoly had 20 years to run, but unless he had a""boat in operation within two years it was to lapse. We can easily imagine his Joy, therefore, when on his reaching Paris, Joel Barlow, his predecessor at the French court, made him acquaint ed with Fulton. It was a meeting of two of a kind. Livingstone had al ready wasted somemoney on more or less Incompetent mechanics, who pro fessed to be able to build a steam boat. One of them was an English man named Nesblt. But Fulton was the first span he found who could de sign a boat that would run, though he was not by any means the inventor of steam navigation. James Rumsey, who operated a steamboat on the Del aware River in 1790, preceded Fulton by at least 13 years. It was the latter, however, who made the invention com mercially successful. , Financed by Livingstone, whose ex periment in Paris had clinched his monopoly, Fulton had the Clermont ready for her trial trip on the Hudson in 1807. People along the banks gazed at the spectacle In wonder and amaze ment precisely as the savages 200 vears before had gazed at Hendrik Hudson's Half Moon, placidly sailing over the same course. In a similar state of mind all of us beheld the first' automobiles a dozen years ago. and very likely we shall be just as much excited over the first war vessel we see in the sky. Inventions which mark epochs in history are worth some ex citement. Within half a dozen years steam boats became common on the riers,of the Eastern States. Robert L. Stev ens' Phoenix was in operation only a few days later, than the Clermont, and others were built without much, de lay. Still it was predicted that steam boats could never cross the ocean. One scientist of great eminence dem onstrated that no vessel could carry coal enough to keep her engines run ning from New Tork to Liverpool. In the same way our scientists were demonstrating the other day that air ships never could carry passengers. Some of them continued to demon strate even after Zeppelin had navi gated the air with half a score of peo ple on board his vessel. As a rule, old theories are found to be pretty badly awry when we seek to test new inventions by them. The trial trip of Fulton's Clermont Introduced a new era in civilization. It was the first of a long train of me chanical triumphs which have changed the world more in the last century than it changed In the preceding 2000 years. Not only do we go about more swiftly, ship goodj faster and further and -do things at less cost of exertion, but our ways of thinking have been transformed. We have acquired the scientific tone of mind, and this is so little like the tone of a century ago that we may almost call ourselves different creatures from our grand parents. They believed that the great triumphs of the human race? were in the past. We believe they are in the future. Nature was their master. It is our slave. In their opinion man could do but little to alleviate his mis eries or enlarge his powers. In ours he can do away with most of bis -mia-JL erles if he will use his intelligence properly, and to the extension of his powers, by one contrivance or another.- there is no limit. To them every event they did not understand was a sacred mystery; to us it Is a problem whose solution is the key to new realms of thought and invention There are no mvsteries. at least no sacred ones, any more. Physical science and mechan ical Invention have taught the human race the great lesson of self-reliance. The eighteenth century was in char acter very much like the hero of the "Pilgrim's Progress," a miserable sin ner continually trembling for fear his soul would go to hell, and forever praving to keep it out. The nine teenth century was admirably typified bv Robinson Crusoe, another great prophetic figure of imagination. He was completely . adequate to the cir cumstances in which he found him self, master of his fate with no help from on high or from below. -Robert Fulton was himself almost as complete as the cfentury his inven tion introduced. In his versatility he reminds one of Leonardo da Vinci, who was a consummate genius both in art and engineering. Fulton was not a great artist any more than a great engineer, but he was skillful in both vocations. The pictures he paint ed in his youth were esteemed by the critics of the Rpyal Academy. The engineering devices he invented were numberless, but since they were first so lutions to the problems they attacked thev were necessarily crude, and sim pler ohes have replaced them. The submarine torpedo, for example, 1s no longer remembered, but It contained the germ from which the perfected nqissile has developed. - USE AND ABUSE OF THE AUTO. The accident which befell an auto mobile party on the Base Line road Friday evening, in which Mrs. Robert t ... I., a -oo ci-inii;lv iniured. may be termed one of the legitimate incidents that attend riding in tne norseiets carriage. The machine was being driven by a careful man at a moder ate rate of speed, the road was clear a nniAIitii anil the nartv was corn- aim BllllUllli . x posed of orderly and eminently re spectable people, it was a pieiuic outing, not a "Joy rifle." The always possible but never expected happened, however. A tire collapsed and the heavy machine lurched and turned turtle. The rest is told in bruises, broken bones, an anxious ride to the hospital or home and a hurry call to a surgeon. Fortunately, no fatality resulted and in this respect this legiti mate automobile accident differed from many of those that fall under this head. Given a good machine, a careful driver, a smooth road and a reason able speed, travel by automobile is not more perilous than that by any other modern method. It is the abuse, not the use, of the combination of human ingenuity and highly concen trated power, represented by the auto mobile, that has brought opprobrium upon it. Similar conditions sent hun dreds of thousands of bicycles to the scrap heap a few years ago and threw a number of expensively equipped plants for. their manufacture into bankruptcy. The automobile being more available for general and family use than the bicycle, may be expected to' survive the era of its abuse and to grow, rather than diminish in popular favor. But not until the speed mania has spent itself and the machine is run upon its merits as a convenient and reasonably safe agent for the pro motion of business, health and pleas ure, will the terror and resentment, that it has inspired In the public mind, give plade to approbation. BERATING THE COIAEGES. Professor Samuel Wendell Willis ton, of the University of Chicago, did not say In his recent address before the National Educational Association that the American college of lib eral arts had failed in all respects. What he did say was that it had "lamentably failed as a popular Institution," which is something very different from total failure. Perhaps as an unpopular institution it may have been a great success. This will depend, of course, upon what we mean by success. EYen the most ardent ad mirers of the conventional college must admit that it has never done what it set out to do. for example, its avowed mission was to teach young people the Latin language, among other things. Will anybody have the i ,i;Ti,iH trt rtretend that this has been done? Among all the graduates of any Oregon college or university, is there a single one who can take a Latin author and sit down 'neath an umbrageous willow and read him with enjoyment? Perhaps there are half a dozen, but they are rare excep tions; arid with other colleges it is the same. This point, however, is aside from our present purpose, which I onmrnont fin Professor Williston'8 criticisms of the colleges, rather than to make new ones ot our own. ltd flr-ot accusation is that the 11- liberality of the colleges has thrown valuable work which they mignt naTae done over to the correspondence v,i, rmsine.is and agricultural col leges, and so on, while they have clung to an arid programme oi worm less studies. By illiberality, the pro fessor means, of course, the narrow bigotry which used insistently to deny that anything except the classics and .it.., a Ho was worth learning dur ing one's college years. If anything else was admitted to tne curriculum it must be studied, not with any prac tical aim, but for pure culture. Busi ness colleges and their kind, on the other hand, have worked on the theory hot culture was a secondary and Inci dental consideration. If a young per son must get along either without a .ioi raft or without culture. these schools maintain, let the culture be sacrificed. The colleges say, "Sac rifice the useful ' craft." Since we live' in a world where most of us must either earn a living or go to jail, many very naturally prefer the teaching of those schools which make culture sub ordinate to the utilities. But it would have been a fine thing all the same if the colleges had risen to their oppor tunities when the demand for applied knowledge began to be Insistent and had enlarged their scope to take in the work of the business and agricultural colleges, and all that variety of schools. It would have saved a vast deal of money and avoided a great many mistakes. Education would have" been better- organized than it now is. Numerous petty wars would not have been fought, and a multitude of useless rivalries would have died unborn. There Is so sound reason why every species of education, from pure discipline in logic and Latin to the most impure training in dairying and horticulture, should not be" conducted under the Eame set of roofs and con trolled by the same faculty. In sev- , eral states it is actually done with brilliant success. Professor Williston proceeds to com plain of the colleges for debasing the value of the bachelor's degree. He says that graduates are not only less moral than they were aforetime, but, worse still, they are less fitted for what commencement orators call "the battle of life." That most of them enter the battle of life without any notable preparation is clear enough, but were their predecessors fifty years ago any better off? In some respects they were. Let us consider the young men who worked their way through college. They were no more numerous fifty years ago, proportionally, than rtow, probably, but they earned their money very differently. Today they obtain it by coaching lazy sons of plu tocrats, or by playing baseball, or star ring on the football team. Formerly they earned it by hard work in the field or shop or store before they ma triculated. This gave them a school ing in' practical life to which the col lege course made a' noble finish. Now the" finish is put on first, and little is built underneath It. In the olden days the young man obtained his prac tical training at the outset, and then adorned it with Greek and Latin in college. Now he is content with the adornment, so that his latter state is a good deal worse than his first. We are forced to agree with Professor Williston that the bachelor's degree does not in many cases indicate the same fitness for life as it did once. With his assault on the elective sys tem we must also agree. Not for a moment do we admit that it gives less discipline or culture than the wear! some old giund did; but, considered as a preparation for life, It is Just as much and no more of a failure. It Is a failure because it has no 'purpose, and leads to nothing. Just as Latin and Greek were formerly taught with out an aim. so now the student ranges through the vast -wilderness of the arts and sciences without an aim. The dissipation of energy and the destruc tion of character are as bad in one case as in the other. Nobody ought to be in college without knowing defi nitely what he is there for, and that being known, the college ought to hold him strictly to a line of studies which will attain his purpose. The college can decide what those studies are a great deal better than any youth, and it should haye the resolution .to put its ability to use. We agree with Pro fessor Williston that neither the old hortus siccus of classic blooms nor the modern hodge podge of electives solves the problem of educations They both fail because they are purposeless. The lethal fault in our schools from bottom to top is absence of purpose. Nobody knows why anything is done, for the excellent reason that nobody can know. The fury of the schools to shun the practical is a disease which they must get well of if they. do not wish to perish. They will never be come healthy until they learn to keep their eyes on the market place, and do everything with a view to direct util ity. Culture must become the second ary and higher product of education. It is the fruit, not the flower. Hith erto we have been trying to ripen edu cational peaches without permitting the trees to bud or blossom. RECREANT TO UCTY. An aged mother, helpless from par alysis for many months; a daughter, willing but overburdened with the care of the helpless paralytic; three able bodied, well-to-do sons, each andi all of whom refuse to contribute to the expense of caring for the helpless mother these are the statements that formed the basis for a fclea made last Monday before the County Court of Clackamas County for an order Com pelling these sons to do their duty by their crippled mother. What words, upon this showing, are sufficient to execrate these reprobates and set their ingratitude forth? The scorn and de testation of every manly man in the community may be visited in full mcKim nnon them. . But what care they for that? As well 'seek to pierce the hide of a rhinoceros wixn a cam bric needle as to reach with public iMrn thp sensibilities of men who are so utterly void of filial affection and gratitude as to refuse to Dear xneir 4, ,ct Ti-oTni-tinn in the care of an aged i t - and helpless mother, a patient servitor whose physical energies were perhaps spent in long years of arduous labor in their behalf during their own helpless ana no aouDt waytnu In his pathetic recital, "Over the Hill to the Poorhouse." Will Carleton expresses this idea and hints at the possible reason ror tne negieci oi an 00.01 mnihn in x nitiful Dlaint made by a woman who had been shifted about from child to child, nnaing neither rest nor welcome in any one of their homes. Taking her dreary way "over the hill to the poorhouse," this heartbroken mother, alas, but one of a multitude the best years of whose lives, have been given to maternal pains, perils and duties, ,says: 80 we worked for tho children. And raised 'em, every one. Worked for 'em Summer and Winter, Just as we ought to 'ave done. Only, perhaps, we humored 'em As some good folks condemn; But every couple's children Is a heap the best to them, iinrain Hoc the storv of simple, pa tient, unselfish parental love and care. Of work "Summer ana winter ; 01 a .hoorfni RcreDtance of parental obli gation and the suggestion of affec tionate indulgence tnat nore me omer fruit of arrogapce and neglect in after years. Perhaps this mother, lying helpless in the home of her daughter in Ore-o-nn rttv made the mistake indicated in the above lines in bringing up her sons. Perhaps she -numorea em when they refused to rise to her eall in the morning, and herself built the fires, split the kindling, carried in the wood and milked the cow excusing Via hn-a "hecatise thev were so sleepy." If so, her unselfishness is but reaping in selfish return tne customary and indeed the legitimate harvest, of unfeeling neglect in her age of those whom she carried when they should have walked in their childhood; of those whom she waited upon when they should have been taught to wait nnr. hr in their arrowine. formative years: of those whom she "humored" In their selfishness when this trait should have been exorcised in their hovhood (if milder measures iaiieaj by the birch well laid on.. However, while this hypothesis may Tniain it rlnpR not in the slightest de gree excuse these able-bodied, prosper ous men tor tne neglect or reiusai m provide for their mother in her age affliction The error indicated in their bringing up was one of mistaken kindness, of short-sighted affection, it bore its penalty, no doubt, day by day in their inconsiderate treatment of Uar. tviale I m miden cfl. their disobedi ence throughout their boyhood and youth. If it has not spent itself, it should for very shame be concealed. and response, even if unwilling, be given to the sister's appeal for help from them to take care of their stricken mother. Since, however, these men are mani festly impervious to shame and-utterly devoid of manly pride and filial affec tion, whose conduct reflects that of the Digger Indian, who abandons the use less old squaw his mother to die of starvation when she can no longer make herself useful to him it may be hoped that the law to' which appeal has been made in her pitiful behalf will order these sons to pay enough from their abundance to keep her in such comfort as is possible in her con dition as long as she lives, and when 'she dies to give' her body, worn out In arduous service, decent burial. An echo from the past in a realm that has almost ceased to send forth reverberations comes from Salt Lake City in the announcement of the death at the age of eighty-eight, years of one of the four surviving wives of Brlgham Young. This woman, evi dently of foreign birth, Maanah Kjct by name, was married to the great Mormon leader at Nauvoo, Illinois, before the Latter Day Saints began their pilgrimage to the West. One of the childless wives of President Young, and near the head of the long list of which his harem was conposed, this woman occupied an Inconspicuous place in his household and in the com munity. Keeping in the background, accepting her lot unquestioningly, she had perhaps few of the heartburnings and slights and marital miseries that made "Wife Number Nineteen" cry out through a volume of several hundred pages concerning her wrongs. Sharing the toils, the hardships and the trials of the pioneer women of the Mormon settlement in the desert, she lived in seclusion and worked In silence, thus performing her part ac cording to the Mormon creed of woman's place in nature, except that through some oversight (or was it through kindness?) In the Great Mother, she bore no children to her uxurious lord. If faithfulness and endurance have their reward in this world perhaps this woman enjoyed her well-earned recompense -as she mounted the rugged steps of the years. Or perhaps she has in some other sphere of existence entered into a heritage over which Brlgham Young, notwithstanding his earthly power and prideyls excluded. Who knows? A Coroner's Jury, after careful in quiry, has found that the wreck on the Spokane & Interurban Railway, near Coeur d'Alene a week ago, was caused by direct disregard of the rules of the company in the matter of the right of way of specials on the line, and a general lack of attention to de tails on the part of the company's employes. As thirteen deaths resulted from the collision, it would seem that something more than ' exemplary damages should be required of the company, as responsible agents in this disaster. The injured will receive sub stantial damages for the shock sus tained and the losses incurred in time, business and other considerations. A verdict for manslaughter against one or more who are directly responsible for the wreck would do more toward protecting the traveling public from a possible recurrence of such a disaster than would the prompt payment of the flat death rate fixed by law, to the heirs of each and every one of the dead thirteen passengers. Manslaugh ter is a hard verdict, but it is at best but a feeble recompense for wasted life. The police commissioners of Mobile have established a curfew regulation for negroes. Any of these people caught outside of their domiciles after 10 o'clock at night will be locked up. This action is due to an epidemic of holdups that has prevailed for some time in that city. If it does not put a stop to this species of crime, it will at least exonerate the negroes from the charge of being the perpetrators and thus be of great service to them. Children, in Instinct and practice, the blacks of the old slave belt, would save themselves aid others much trouble by going to bed early. A cur few ordinance will keep them out of nocturnal mischief and relieve them from suspicions and accusations that are often unjust. According to the Rev. A. C. Dixon, a Baptist minister of Chicago, Darwin was a faker and the theory of evolu tion is a back number. It is not sur prising after this outburst of eloquence to read further on in the report of the Rev. Mr. Dixon's address that he expressed implicit belief in the literal truth of the story ot Jonah and the whale. ' What Portland and' all Oregon want, most of all things, are railroads into Middle Oregon and throughout East ern Oregon. Two parties are contend ing for right of way in Deschutes Can yon. Construction of a' road there by either will serve the purpose. , But will they block each other? And is that the main purpose on either side? A gardeners' association in.Pasa v.oa ottomntprl. hv resolution, to stamp Luther Burbank as' a nature faker. This is baying at the moon, ir Burbank had never done anything than originate the potato which bears his name, he would be the world's creditor. If somebody should assemble forces for construction, of a railroad to Coos Bay it would be highly interesting to witness the stimulation of Harriman activity In that quarter. Grainhandlers at Portland insist on 40 cents an 'hour. At Puget Sound the rate is 30 cents an hour. The dif ference may send many cargoes to Puget Sound. t At the present rate of growth, it will be only a few years before there will be no vacant lots in Portland; then what will the billboard man do? As one means of reform, the City Council might restrict billboards to the grounds surrounding the new crematory. - Among Portland's blessings attrib utable to the weather, is the absence of forest fires with their annoying smoke. Rnrrinn- a violent j change in weather, it will not be out of place to wear straw hats today. The Lincoln cents appear Just in time for a popular subscription to the Osaka relief fund. It inarnman or uni sibub iui canyons to conquer, Oregon has 'em. Verses by John S. Reed The following poems are by John S. Bf'l. ton of C. J. Reed, ot Portland now In his senior year at Harvard. All o th'm' 'T cept the last.' were published in Haraia University masnsines: September" hs published In the Pacific Monthly. THE SKA.GU.li. Wet with the stinging spray he skims the deep. A livid gleam of life, and scans afar. Where the great breakers pound across tile bar Beneath the headland where his nestlings sleep. Above the light the keeper sees him sweep From fog to fog. and vanish like a star Down wliere the unknown ocean mon sters are, ' And hears his mournful crying on the steep. But when on Winter days he rises high Against the squall, and swift, on-coming night. Then are the sailors startled by his cry Darting spear-like athwart the darken ing main To ride the helmet of the hurricane! AXO VET Here do we part, you and the rest to stay In the red valley where the lotus weaves Glad pain with sleep; and up tho rugged way I go Rlotie. and wish I might forget And yet and yet The aim la on the upland sheavea And all the grass with atarry tears ia wet. Work! Work! Something to dull the ache Of petty friends and little souls ah vain, All vain the grief that yeu and you awake. Gone is the old unutterable .thrill, And srfill-and still I near from out the driving; maltha oi rain The bruwu thrush singing on the up land hill. TDK SWOUD DAXCE. Clash! Clash! Sing, old sword! t Sing the skirling pipes of battle! Once again the gleaming Forgael. Bed-haired, passion-throated, shouting. Leads his clan in reeling combat. Clash! Clash! Sing, old sword! Clash! Clash! We are old. Down the red-mailed sky at evening Floats the dust of warrior-princes; Down the steel-clad sky at evening Swings the battle-chant of Forgael. Clash! Clash! We are old. THE DANCING WOMEN". Who never see the Light of Life. Because their tortured spirits sleep. Who drift beyond the shallow bar And out upon the reckless deep. Are half the grief of this fair world That makes the weary angels weep. Gray ashes on the hearth of God B'orever scattered by His breath. See how they dance along a wind. Thronged with tho shapeless forms ot death. The garish lights their beacon-fire, The blasphemy their shibboleth. 1'SCHAIKOWSKY. Awake! Ye people of the North, arise! Tschnikowsky calls you from his moun tain height And, godlike, shakes his splendid spear of light Athwart the harpstrings of the sounding skies. List to the anthem; hearts and souls afire, The people march, and singing breast the steep . Invincible, a tide upon the deep. Storm-driven by his eagle-winged lyre. No looking back, no mourning in the past. But stern and brave the music sweeps along. Content to die. if this hour be the last. A river of imperishable song. O new Prometheus, spread your stolen fire And break the chains of darkness and of wrong! THE DESEltT. That solemn waste is hushed forevermore And nothing lives; but on the desert sand Lost souls trace, with imperishable hand. The secrets of their mystic, deathly lore. Like ruins of some great Titanic war. The shattered desert lies, nor wakes the land Save in the storm, when, at the god's command. The mailed lightning , shakes the rocky floor. All night the caravans of stars go by In silence. Still the somber wasteland keeps Its lonely watch while all the heaven sleeps, And the lone moon is drowsy in the sky. How delicate the trembling thrill that leaps From heart to heart, as the pale star tires die! MEI.ISANDB. All. white, still sister of the blossom-fire Your lips again! Across the twilight world The driving wraiths of mist are hurled To shroud tfs in alone with our desire. Torn by the silver talons of the rain. The wounded petals cover you less fair Than the wild fragrance of your hair. Less sweet than this sweet ecstacy of pain. White maid, there is no god but the red flame That burns so fiercely in your breast no bliss But the hot passion of your kiss, No music but the whisper of your name! A WINTER'S HUN. Out of the warmth and the light Into the frosty weather,. Into the teeth of a Winter s night. Running, we leapt together. , The icy silent daric leapt "up And struck us in the face; And the moon hung out her silver cup As trophy for the race. Our driving breath flung out behind Like some dim flying plume: , Our shadows on the snow outlined Sprang with us through the gloom. The long white road .the rhythmic beat. The wind-sword in our hair Ah. here's the spell of winged feet, The Joy of Winter air! Into the warmth and the light. Out of the biting weather, Out of the chill of ar Winter's night. Glowing, we sprang together! SEPTEMBER. Languorous with heavy haze Sinks the scarlet sun. A drowsy hush Hangs above the city ways And stills thejir rush. ' Smoky mist of forest fires Grayly palls the distance. Pines long dead Smoulder deep like dead desires v Their gaunt arms spread. Golden-red the honeyed moon Swarmed about with golden bees, hangs low. . ' Climbing to her silver noon With bloodlike glow. Weirdly Boats the echo down. Tom-toms faintly throbbing far away, . Through the mist from Chinatown Across the Ba$- ' ,
