The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current, November 21, 1909, SECTION THREE, Page 6, Image 30

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THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, NOVEMBER 21, 1909.
6
PORTLAND. OBECOM.
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PORTLAND, 8TXD.4Y. OV. tl. 1909.
LAW AND JTSTICE.
Substantial justice is, or should be.
the object or purpose of the law. But
the methods of defense continuaily
pervert it. Who doubts that Ruef
end Sehmitz (in San Francisco) were
guilty? It was proven positively
against Sehmitz: and Ruef found him
self so far Involved that he confessed
to the main charges. But the Su
preme Court, on appeal, held that the
proceeding bad been irregular, or
. not in form; so the course of Justice
was arrested, and both culprits are to
go free though that still may be de
nied. Proceedings of this description
make a scarecrow of the law, till of
fenders become so accustomed to It
as no longer to regard it; but, like
crows in e. cornfield, they "make it
their perch,, and not their terror."
Who hasn't seen the like, In all; fields
and gardens?
Herein lie the reasons why The Ore
gonian dissents from some of the main
postulates and arguments of Senator
Fulton's address, delivered before the
Oregon Bar Association on Tuesday
last, published in full In the fifth sec
tion of this paper today. The familiar
argument that It Is not for any partic
ular scoundrel that the contention Is
made, but for maintenance of a prin
ciple, for defense of Innocence, lest
terrible floods of Injustice and evils
should "rush into the state," often is
but an additional abuse both of justice
and reason. In no other country is
this fetich of the law used for protec
tion of the criminal against the rights
of society, to such extent as in ours.
In San Francisco it has beaten the
prosecution of the robber gang. In
Oregon It often turns criminals loose;
and criminals are instructed by their
counsel to rely upon It. But this
surely should not be necessary to the
honorable and successful practice of
the law, which professes so many high
and holy maxims. Tet you will hear
a lawyer, defending a common and no
torious thief or crook, appealing for
the "rights" of the defendant, on the
ground that law and Justice have their
throne In the bosom of God! - But it's
pretty tiresome.
So we have Judge "Webster, making
an address before the Civic Institute
of Portland, in the course of which
he asserts that it is wrong to interro
gate a person accused of crime, with
a view to ascertainment of the facts.
"We ought," he says, "to have a law
which will keep the questioning of
prisoners out of the hands of men who
have a direct interest In their convic
tion." It Is equivalent to saying on
the one hand that society has no right
to protect itself against crime, and on
the other that it has no right to use
means to discover, when a crime is
committed, whether a suspected per
son is the criminal and who are his
accomplices. The innocent person
never fears "the sweat box," or "the
third degree." But guilty conduct or
guilty knowledge always does.
It is most unfortunate that lawyers
are so often in league against the wel
fare of society. This remark, of . course,
does not apply to all lawyers; but it
"may apply, and it does apply, to too
many. All will deny it that may be
expected and they will urge the va
rious maxims of the law, devised for
or growing out of cases where the
accusation may be doubtful, to protect
the most odious, vulgar and heinous
crimes. Even Juries may be hood
winked by this display of sophisticated
learning. Some maxims in law are
sacred, as other maxims in theology
are sacred; but both may be perverted
to Injustice and wrong, and often are.
What is law? Wha is theology ? Was
man made for them, or were they
made for man? And if man was not
made for them, but they were made
for man, then were they made chiefly
for the use and protection of wrong
doers and oppressors? That doubt
less, as Bishop Butler, author of the
famous "Analogy," would say, "is con
trary to the supposition." So there Is a
right of protest against these perver
sions of opinion and practice which
la The Oregonian's excuse and de
fense. If It needed .any. The analysis
presented In the address of David Dud
ley Foulke. of the Indiana bar, re
printed in The Oregonlan of Wednes
day last, ought to be read over and
over, and thought on every time, by
every citizen of this country of demo
cratic liberty and justice.
RAILROADS FIRST ALWAYS.
Concerning criticism of Secretary
Ballinger, past, present and future,
for approving maps of the Hill and
Harriman lines along the Deschutes
River, it may be asked, what has pre
vented development of this water
power? There has been no increase
in the power and its latent possibilities
during all the years the turbulent
stream has been roaring and dashing
through the rocky gorge that was cut
for it by an ages-old convulsion of Na
ture. If railroads are to be shut out
from the great region that it drains:
if no means of transportation is to be
provided whereby the products of this
undeveloped area may reach the mar
kets of the world, of what use will
be this water power? It has been
runnning to waste for centuries; it
will continue to run to waste unless
the country about its sources can be
brought In touch with the markets
from which It has thus far been ut
terly isolated.
A country of varied resources and
unguessed possibilities, what Is there
to commend it to the homeseeker, the
agriculturist and the tradesman? To
get into it means a long Journey by the
lumbering stagecoach and creaking
freight-wagon and to get out of It with
the products of Industry upon a pay
ing basis is impossible. .
Secretary Ballinger Is of the great
Northwest. He understands the needs
of its development and is In. close
touch with public sentiment that has
demanded railroad construction in
Southeastern Oregon.
PEACE AN'D nisARMAMENT WHY Or
TtEAUZABLE. To every editor's table there is com
ing a body of literature that advocates
international peace. The idea is phil
anthropic, but'.It does not appear that
the discussion tends to disarmament
of nations, or reduction of the dan
ger or likelihood of war. Among the
pamphlets Is one' by Representative
Bartholdt, of St. Louis, member of
Congress, who has places on -.certain
harmless committees of the House;
another by President Butler, of Co
lumbia University; another' by Andrew
Carnegie; and so on. Mr. Bartholdt
tells us that "a crisis Is upon us," and
that "the nations, in wild alarm, are
taking counsel of fear, since a suicidal
rivalry in armaments is exhausting the
resources of all." President Butler
tells us that "national existence does
not depend on military or naval
force"; and cites such countries as
Holland and Portugal to prove it. Mr.
Carnegie, whose enormous fortune was
accumulated by methods as relentless
as war, now argues for peace. In a .pa
thetic manner; and the Nautilus, a
monthly magazine published at Hol
yoke, Mass., by Elizabeth Towne, says:
"We want our disarmed war vessels
and battleships turned into a white
fleet, a public university of travel that
will, tour the world every year. We
want these ships manned by the best
Instructors in foreign art, literature,
travel, sociology, human nature and
universal brotherhood. We want the
students selected by all-around merit
from the graduates of public high
schools and Industrial high schools of
all states. We want this post-graduate
year of travel given at the expense
of the Nation, the students co-operating
systematically in all the work done
aboard ship." The Towne programme
seems to us to lead all the rest.
Of all these, and more, whose essays
are floating around the land, the name
of President Butler ought to give, or
might give, consideration to'a subject
or theme; for President Butler is a
man who has wide range qf historical
knowledge. Tet 'he ignores both his
torical' experience and human nature.
The Idea of nationality never so strong
as at this day, precludes the idea of
settled international peace. The small
nations are the almost negligible
pawns on the chessboard. They need
not arm. So perhaps they are more
happily situated than the great nations
that have reason to fear each other.
Only those nations whose competitive
strength is not great enough to occa
sion alarm can be free from the weight
of armaments. Not so with the great
competitive nations. Each one knows
it must take care of itself, and must
be prepared for the possible emer
gency. 1
Universal peace has always been a
dream of poets and philosophers; but
in the national spirit and in the com
petition of nations there are always
causes of war. Neither the spirit nor the
competition is eradlcable. In private
life men are one thing; In their polit
ical, national and racial character quite
another. Men collectively are different
from men Individually; and fhis'differ
ence is emphasized rather than minim
ized In recent times. The national in
stinct leads the individual to uphold
the cause of his own country; and the
spark of belligerency will be struck
out always, by any important incident,
as when the watchword of our own
latest war was the cry, "Remember the
Maine!" One may be friendly to every
native, of a country; and yet towards
that country he may entertain the
most hostile and warlike spirit. This
is national feeling. It will not-, be
eradicated. The dream, therefore, of
universal peace is notlikely ever to be
realized.
THE FAMILY OF HEKOD.
The family of Herod Antipas, or
Herod the Great, as he' is usually
called, more by accident than for any
assignable reason, has attained a good
deal of importance In recent litera
ture. Oscar Wilde chose for one of his
singular heroines Salome, who was
Herod's granddaughter. Her mother,
Herodias, was the daughter of Arlfito
bulus. and this worthy was the second
son -of Herod's second wife Mariamme.
The Salome whom the peculiar pref
erence of Oscar Wilde and Richard
Strauss has exalted to dramatic and
operatic poetry must be accurately
distinguished from another equally
gory but less psychopathic Salome,
who was Herod's sister. The previous
pair, Herod and Salome, were the chil
dren of Cypros. an Arabian woman,
by Antipater, the first man of eminence
in the family history. Stephen Phillips
has taken Herod himself for the hero
of a play which turns on a plot of
his sister Salome against nis wife Ma
riamme. In the catastrophe he slew
his wife. William Faversham is now
playing this character at the Lyric
Theater in New York. Still another
production dealing with the Herod
family is Massenet's opera, "Herod
lade," which Oscar Hammerstein has
on his programme at the Manhattan
Opera-House.
To keep one's wits clear in such a
wilderness of axamatlc presentations.
It Is worth while to pay some atten
tion to the story of Herod's family.
His father, Antipater, may have been
an Idumean Prince, as Mr. Faversham
seems to believe, but It is not certain.
At any rate, the Idumeans had em
braced Judaism at that time, about
70 B. C and the hatred of a Jewish
faction for the Herodlari dynasty was
neither racial nor religious. It arose
from the fact that Antipater helped
the Roman Pompey overthrow the
Maecabaean dynasty in Judea and
then supplanted this national stock as
governor under Rome. The Sadducee
nobles among the Jews clung to the
Maecabaean house and made trouble
for Herod all his life long. His pub
lic career began when his father, An
tipater, made him governor of Gall
lee about 48 B. C. Josephus says he
was then 15 years old, but this makes
him too much of a. youthful phenom
enon. Better authorities fix his age
at 25. His life was passed In constant
turmoil, varied with intrigue and mur
der, until he died of a loathsome dis
ease in 4 B. C.
Herod had many of the qualities of
a statesman, but it was as a politician
that he shone. He had an extraordi
nary genius for changing sides just in
the nick of time. He never betrayed
a falling master a moment too soon
for his fortune, nor went over to a
rising one a moment too late. When
Julius Caesar was assassinated by- the
aristocratic cabal at Rome, Herod gave
his allegiance 'to Cassius, vwho com
manded for the conspirators In Asia,
Cassius-rewarded his fidelity by mak
ing him governor of Coele-Syria. After
the. battle of Phillip!, which made
Mark Antony ruler of the East, Herod
transferred his loyalty with such a
satisfactory celerity that he was raised
to the rank of tetrarch. His enejnies,
the Sadducees, did their best to poison
Antony's mind against him, but he
outwitted them as he constantly did
all hi3 antagonists. Soon afterward
the Parthlans overran Herod's domin
ions. In his flight from them he took
along'his mother Cypros and Salome,
his sister, as well as Mariamme, to
whom he waB betrothed. These im
pediments he deposited for safe'keep
ing In the castle of Masada by the
Dead Sea, while he made his fugitive
way on to Rome. . AJ the capital of
the world both Augustus Caesar and
Mark Antony welcomed Herod. The
two magistrates had not yet quarreled
and they consented to restore his pow
er. By their gentle persuasion the
Roman Senate was moved to declare
him King of Judea. He returned to
Palestine armed with the power of the
Empire and, after some difficulties had
been overcome,, took Jerusalem from
the Parthlans.
It was at this point in his career
that he married Mariamme, to whom
he had been betrothed five years. The
wedding was celebrated in Samaria, a
province which had been loyal to
Herod In all his troubles. Mariamme
was of the Maecabaean race." Perhaps
in marrying her Iferod thought to
conciliate his enemies, but he reckoned
without his mother-in-law, Alexandra.
As a mischief-maker she was second
only to his stater Salome His family
life must have been exciting to the
last degree. .His mother, Cypros, kept
a row going with Alexandra. Salome
attended to Mariamme, while Mariam
me herself stirred up the Sadducees
with the, able assistance of her mother.
Of Marlamme's three sons, one died
at Rome and two others were hanged
through Salome's pious efforts. The
lovely tale reaches Its climax In the
execution of Mariamme herself.
COST OF NAVIES.
With raw material, more' ' plentiful
and cheaper than it can be found any
where else in the world, and with the
fastest and best workmen in the world
to use it; the United States should be
a world-beater In production of steel,
Iron and their products, as well as lrt
manufactures in which they are large
ly used. That we do not enjoy any
such reputation is too well known to
all Americans, although the, foreign
ers who buy from our manufacturers
generally secure rare bargains, for it
Is not at all difficult for our steel mills
to undersell the foreign factories en
gaged in the same line of production.
Our Infant industries, in- full enjoy
ment of high tariff letters of marque,
do not confine their plundering of pri
vate citizens, but also take fat tribute
from the Government.
This is noticeable in the difference
In the cost of our battleship fleet as
compared with the fleets of some less
favorably situated countries. Accord
ing to Mr. Archibald Hurd, a writer
in the Fortnightly Review, the war
ships built in this country this cen
tury have cost an 'average of $547
per ton, while in Germany, also a
protected country, the. cost was but
$505 per ton and in Great Britain the
average was $475 per ton. In France,
the cost per ton was $678, the highest
anywhere in the world. The numer
ous naval scandals reported in France
account for some of the Increased cost
of the' vessels, and the lack of knowl
edge' of the sea, or anything connected
with It, which is so characteristic of
the French people, is also undoubtedly
a factor In increasing the cost of the
warships.
Mr. Hurd also points out that the
cost per capita of maintenance for of
ficers and men In the the United States
Navy is much greater than in any
other country, the 34,000 officers and
men being paid at the rate of $605
per capita'per annum. In Great Brit
ain the pay averages $319, and in
France about $200. In fixing the rela
tive standard of the cost of naval
power, Mr. Hurd places the United
States at the head, with a unit of $800.
France is next in naval extravagance
with a "unit of $625. Great Britain
and Italy are estimated' at $500, Ger
many at $490, while Japan escapes
more lightly than any, with $475.
While we may feel some satisfaction
in paying our officers and men higher
salaries than are paid by other na
tions. f is a decided reflection on our
ability to make the most of our great
natural resources when we are unable
to turn out a war vessel except at an
enormously greater cost than the cost
at which other world-powers are se
curing their navies.
SHIFTING COMMISSIONERS' POWERS.
Washington advices report the Na
tional Association of Railroad. Com
missioners in revolt against extension
of the powers of the Interstate Com
merce Commission. It is not very
clear that either the State Railroad
Commissioners or the Interstate Com
merce Commission has ever accom
plished much good that could not
have been accomplished more eco
nomically and satisfactorily by other
methods. It is also true that their
rulings have at times caused consider
able needless trouble and expense for
shippers whom they were supposed to
aid and protect For all that, when
there arises a conflict be'tween the In
terstate Commerce Commission and a
State Railroad Commission, it would
seem that the interests' of the people
would be best safeguarded by the lat
ter. The highest salaries attached to the
office of State Railroad Commissioner
are too low to attract experts compe
tent to -deal Intelligently with all of
the vexed problems that arise between
the transportation lines and the people
they serve. It is obvious, however,
that a State Railroad Commissioner,
although somewhat lacking in ability,
would' possess advantages in the local
field over an Interstate Commerce
Commissioned dwelling thousands of
miles away and having no opportunity
for the study of local conditions. The
State Commissioners, now meeting in
Washington, are undoubtedly correct
in their assumption that the granting
of further power to the Interstate
Commerce Commission will render
state commissions practically useless.
It is "difficult to understand how the
functions of the State Railroad Com
mission in purely local affairs-could be
.satisfactorily exercised by the Na
tional Interstate Commission. The
Impossibility of the National body be
coming thoroughly familiar with local
conditions throughout the United
States would necessitate rulings based
to a degree on that old principle that
"a pint's a pound the world around."
Tet there is a vast difference in the
making of aa equitable freight rate
when a given commodity is hauled 100
miles In the Far West, or In the East,
In the North, or In the South. The
conditions responsibly for the natural
difference that . should be made in
these rates cannot be thoroughly un
derstood by Interstate Commerce
Commissioners,- whose study at the
most will be confined to a hearing last
ing a few days. The local or state
commissions, on the contrary, are here
on the ground. They have continued
opportunity to study the cases at close
range and at all times. They can
make public and private Investigations
and get a broader and clearer view
than an Interstate Commissioner could
secure in many months' residence in
the field directly concerned.
There are so many reasons 'why
there should be no further encroach
ment of the power of the Interstate
Commerce Commission on that of
the State Commissions that the
members of the National association
are not in any immediate danger of
losing their positions.
8CAXDAL IJf DIVORCE. "
Judging from the newspapers, which
are a 'pretty safe criterion, the East
has been thoroughly scandalized by
the way Mrs. John Jacob Astor ob
tained her decree of divorce from her
husband. The wealth and social stand
ing of the parties seem to have ' im
pressed the court' profqrundly. The
testimony was taken by a referee with
discreet precautions against publicity.
Judgment was entered hurriedly and
almost secretly 'in a little backwoods
village. In deference to the exalted
station of the parties, the court took
all possible pains to conceal from the
public why the divorce was granted
and Indeed that It had . been granted
at all.
Leaving out of the question the
abominable toadyism of the affair. It
is clearly contrary to public morality.
Births, deaths, marriages and divorces
are matters of high public concern.
The sanctions which fortify the fam
ily have a social value so great that
anything which tends to Impair them
affects every . citizen injuriously. It
follows that every citizen of New
Y.ork was wronged by the manner of
granting the Astor divorce, for. noth
ing could weaken the marriage bond
more fatally than secrecy and snobbish
compliance in. severing it for wealthy
suitors. If matrimony is nothing more
than a temporary arrangement for the
rich, to be dissolved by a furtive .stroke
of a judge's pen, how can it be of
sacred obligation for the poor? The
New York Times pointedly says that
a divorce of the Astor sort "could not
be obtained by the poor and humble."
Such luxuries are reserved for million
aires; but there is no married couple
in the United States too poor or too
humble to learn both the lesson? which
this divorce teaches. The first is that
the law hag 'one aspect for the poor
and another vastly more accommo
dating for the rich. The second and
deadlier lesson is that all the saered
ness we have hedged the family with
Is sheer humbuggery. In the glare of
social splendor it vanishes like the
dew of morn. !
EUGENICS AVI) DRINK.
Under the pen of Dr. C. E. Saleeby,
the temperance question acquires
phases of importance which have often
escaped the reformers we are familiar
with in this country. Dr. Saleeby is
an English physician prominent in the
movement for prompting eugenics, or
the hereditary improvement of the
human race. He has treated this sub
ject with luminous power in his book,
on "Parenthood and Race Culture,''
and the articles which he la now con
tributing to the New York Times agree
in substance and often In language
with the contents of that work. Dr.
Saleeby does not combat the opinion
of those who believe that alcohol pro
motes eugenics by eliminating degen
erates. He accepts it. The victim of
alcoholism Is usually born with some
mental defect which urges him to his
cups. He does not become a drunkard
of his own free will, bur because his
tferedity dooms him-to. that fate. To
point out to him the consequences of
his habit is useless, for he cannot
help himself. It is idle to think of re
forming him, because the inborn na
ture of a human being cannot be al
tered. The redemption of a true alco
holic patient would be equivalent to
removing part of his nervous system
and replacing it with fresh substance.
The mental deficiency which causes
alcoholism is closely allied to Insanity
and idiocy. On. the physical side it
shows itself in the form of epilepsy
and other abhorent disorders. Like
other traits which are inherent and
not acquired by the individual, it
passes on. to the drunkard's children,
so that the living offspring of true
alcoholics are almost certain to be
come drunkards. In many cases, as
'Dr. Saleeby shows, such children are
born dead, or else they are idiots or
epileptics. It is easy to see, there
fore, how alcoholism tends to obliter
ate Itself by killing the breed in which
it is found.
In regard to men and women who
have this taint, the eugenlsts contend
that the present conduct of society is
radically wrong. When they scan
dalize the public or make an uproar
in their cups, they are arrested and
fined or Jailed for a brief period. In
the intervals between their" arrests,
they are left alone. Nothing whatever
is done to prevent their becoming par
ents and passing their misery on to the
next generation. Obviously this is
irrational. It is expensive and it does
harm rather than good. From the
eugenic point of view, the only proper
procedure with alcoholics is to shut
them up permanently. Detention
should be our method, and Instead of
aiming at reform which is utterly
hopeless, we should seek to prevent
their becoming parents. " This plan
may appear harsh to people who will
not use their intelligence, but In reali
ty it is merciful. It confines the mis
ery of alcoholism to one generation
instead of letting It run on from par
ent to child until the slow process of
Nature has wiped out the breed. It
would eliminate a large fraction of the
lees at the bottom of society which
are the shame and plague of Chris
tian nations.
Still, If one Is cruel enough to bear
the spectacle with equanimity, he may
rest assured that alcoholism does
tend to cure itself by killing its vic
tim with all his offspring. The sight
of grim death hounding its prey
through five or six generations of
deepening woe is not very agreeable,
and the show is expensive. These de
generates are the main feeders of
Jails, the principal population of the
slums, and most of pur habitual crim
inals are supplied by. them. It is a
great deal more costly to maintain
them while they are rotting out of the
world than. It would be. to prevent
J them from being born, and yet, if we
are patient enough to wait for it. their
disappearance is predestined. We see,
therefore, that the temperance problem
is one which tends to solve -4tself.
Humanity might prompt us to take
active measured to hasten the consum
mation, but it will come of itself, even
If we sit calmly by and do nothing.
The trouble is' that the solution will
not be complete. Confirmed drunk
ards are not the only persons who use
alcohol, nor are , they the only ones
who are Injured by it.' The drug is
one of the racial poisons. Used by
a man even In. moderate quantities
it affects more or less harmfully all
the tissues of his body. ' Especially,
according to Dr. Saleeby, does it af
fect that mysterious structure called
by . scientists the germiplasm upon
whose integrity the welfare of the race
depends. Alcohol poisons the germ
plasm in men and womenboth, and
for that' reason it tends steadily to
create a new swarm of degenerates.
It does not matter If parents have
themselves no hereditary alcoholic
taint. If they "consume the drug, their
children are. liable to be born degen
erate, because their lives are poisoned
at the source. Thus the tendency of
Nature to eliminate drunkenness,
which looked so promising a moment
ago, is seen to be continually thwarted
by the creation' of a new army of sots
which takes the place of the one she
has slain with infinite pain and wretch
edness. In the language of one eugenicphy
sician, "if alcohol is a great destroyer"
of human weeds, it-is a still greater
breeder of new weeds." Here, then,
as everywhere else, the policy of let
ting things alone will not work. To
the problem of alcohol, as to our ofher
problems, we must apply enlightened
intelligence or it, will never be solved.
That it needs solving and needs it
badly nobody will deny who has
glanced . at the facts. Drunkenness
among women, for example, is Increas
ing in this country. More children are
coming into the world every year with
their bodies blighted by alcoholic pois
on, and many of these unfortunate
beings belong not to the slums but to
the wealthy class. Those who think
the Anglo-Saxon stock is worth pre
serviifg should set their wits at work
on the drink problem.
RED, CROSS CHRISTMAS STAMPS.
The world grows kindly as it grows
oid. Each recurring Christmas brings
some ne deyce of human intelli
gence 'against the evils which beset
us. The war against tuberculosis, the
white plague, has .been particularly
fertile in calling out the resources of
militant love. "This year the Red Cross
starhp otters a novel and facile oppor
tunity for everybody to take a hand in
the fight. Its direct purpose is to col
lect funds to maintain open-air day
camps, for tuberculous patients. The
stamps are on sale in the stores about
town. A penny apiece is the price.
Ybu buy a hundred or a thousand and
stick them on everything you send by
mail, letters, parcels, Christmas gifts.
When the recipient sees tfie stamp with
ltsmessage of worldfwide humanity,
U eets his icy old heart aglow and he
rushes, down to the store - to buy a
bunch for himself, and so the blessed
flame will blaze around the world.
The Red Cross appeals to the deeps
of goodness in everybody. Wholly
unselfish, its voice utters the plairft of
the helpless, it has taken upon its
goul the woes of -the unfriended. It
bears the burdens- of the weak. Buy
its Christmas stamps and you lend a
hand in a crusade where there is no
glory to win and no. profit to be earned.
It is pure kindliness and human broth
erhoood. Every penny contributed
will do Its part to extirpate the white
plague. It , will help cure the dis
eased and at the same time protect
the healthy. Tuberculosis is a men
ace to every being that breathes. Safe
ty from it is assured only when its
germs have been extirpated from the
world, so that we tuatf-our own welfare
when we spend money for Red Cross
stamps, and we buy it cheap.
BETTER OUTLOOK FOR THE FNDLAX.
There is wisdom born of bitter ex
perience and appalled observation in
the late order promulgated by the De
partment of Indian Affairs, that none
but married men will be permitted
hereafter to lease land of the Indians
on the Umatilla reservation. The open
ly expressed purpose of this order is
to get family men men with home
Interests and home associations to till
these lands, thus setting an example in
domestic ties as well as in industrial
life "to their Indian neighbors. . The
ulterior purpose involves a moral
phase of the Indian question that can
scarcely be hinted at without giving
serious offense to men whose instincts
of decency and self-respect rise in in
stant revolt at the Implication. But
this does not alter the fact that the
contact of white men with reservation
Indians has had a most debasing effect,
not only upon the Indians, but upon
themselves, and given riseto the most
serious obstacles in the way of civiliz
ing Indians that the Indian Bureau has
had to meet.
Of course, me who go on the In
dian lands for a definite industrial pur
pose are not to be classed with the
hangers-on about the reservations the
squaw-men of a past decade, who, for
the sake of sharing tlfe land allotment
made to individual Indians by the Gov
ernment, have descended- to the lowest
levels of, family and social life, off
setting by their baleful example the
best efforts of moralists and mission
aries looking to the improvement of
the race. It has been said that one
of these men, as the absolute owner of
an Indian woman and father of a
dusky brood, crafty and designing and
debased in all of his racial and moral
instincts, can do more in five years
to degrade the Indians with whom he
lives than half a dozen missionaries
and teachers, working conscientiously
for the moral", social, industrial and
spiritual uplift of the Indians, can
hope to accomplish in a decade per
haps in a generation.
This fact Is in a degree, at least,
outside of the late order excluding
single men as tenants of Indian lands
on the Umatilla reservation. Still,
the order is necessary for the ex
clusion of the possible factor of mis
chief in the stupendous problem of
Indian civilization. It has long been
a matter -of surprise that the Govern
ment long permitted white men of low
instincts and debased morals to hang
about Indian reservations under th
.flimsy pretext of trade or business -a
handicap in vital wa-3 to its own. ef
forts in the line of what is known as
its Indian policy.
The squaw-man has been the great
est stumbling-block that the Indian
policy of the Government has had to
meet. This may be regarded as an
extravagant statement, in, view of the
broken-down, political hacks that have
been, in past times, forced upon the
Indian service all along the line In the
capacity of agents, teachers, farmers
and the like. But it s true, for the
plain reason that the squaw-man has
debauched the race at every foun
tain head of Its existence Its social,
domestic and reproductive point,'
whereas the political Incompetents
could, at the worst, only make agri
cultural botches out of Indian farmers,
produce clumsy woodbutchers tunder
the name of Indian carpenters and ig
norant stockralsers out of Indian
herdsmen.
" Aerial navigation is coming with a
rush. In Eastern newspapers there
now appear regular-advertisements of
"aeroplane -builders," Inviting the pub
lic to examine the machine , of this
particular firm befoe placing orders
elsewhere. The advertisement also
offers to provide Instructors for pur
chasers of machines. Five years ago,
or even three or two years ago, an ad
vertisement of this kind would have
been regarded as a joke. The prophet
ic gaze of old Mother Shipton never
reached beyond the horseless . carri
age, but the development and perfec
tion of the airship has been so rapid
in the past two years that it Is not
improbable that, ten years hence, it
will be as commonplace an invention as
the automobile of today. Old Father
Time has not increased his speed since
the earth began, cooling off, but each
year witnesses greatly accelerated
movements among all peoples. Judg
ing the future by the past, nothing
which may happen in the twentieth
century will occasion the surprise that
has resulted from some of the now
seemingly commonplace inventions of
the past.
We hear little or nothing about the
proficiency of students in the Univer
sity of Oregon, or in the State Agri
cultural College, in literature, lan
guage, mathematics, history or natural
science, but we get a cheering report,
at great length, nearly every day in
the- week, about their achievements
in baseball and football games. After
) a while, when we, shall have graduated
foo,ball players and oarsmen enough,
we may conclude that our great schools,
have finished their whole duty, and al
low them to pass. We shall soon have
an over-supply of athletes; who, how
ever,' never will lift stumps, follow the
plow, build fences or work in the log
ging camps.
The intersection of Grand and Haw
thorne avenues, where hundreds of
people transfer to suburban lines every
day, has at last been made passable
by placing a few stout planks above
the mud for people to walk on. It
seems strange that responsible street
contractors if there are such would
allow people tb flounder ankie deep
in mud for weeks until notified by the
Mayor to make this temporary cross
ing for the public convenience. This
is, however, In accord with every
thing in the labor world, the tendency
of which is to do nothing except by
compulsion.
The humiliation of Mrs. Augusta
Stetson, who has been excommunicated
from the Christian Science church, is
complete. She has learned that there
Is but one Mrs. Eddy, and crawling
humbly to the feet of this omnip
otence asking forgiveness in having
been presumptuous "enough to think
her own thoughts, she has been duly
spurned and spat upon. All In perfect
love, of course.
If the State Board of Health should
offer to trade places with the hard
working dairymen, who meet In con
vention In .Portland next month, the
dairymen should take up the offer
right quick. But the board, of course,
would not trade its comfortable, warm
office and swivel -chairs for the cold,
wet, early-morning places of the milk
men. '
Of course Chauffeur Robertson did
not-steal Mr. Ladd's automobile. He
merely borrowed it, so that he and
his lady friends might fly out into
the country, get drunk and otherwise
indulge in all the fascinations of a
joy ride. Is a chauffeur to have no
perquisites?
After all, the city detectives are
not without sympathy. Without their
stoolpigeons they would be unable to
find crooks and could not hold their
easy jobs. With Winter confronting
them, the detectives would be in sorry
plight
Rogue River gets away with the first
prize at the National Apple Show for
producing the world's finest apple. Of
course. There could be no other judg
ment. Rogue River has long known
that its apples were the best; now it
is proving it.
A grat many sympathizing gentle
men now want to marry Mrs. O. H. P:
Belmont, suffragist leader. They are
willing to overlook the fact that she
is very rich. Unselfish men.
1
Binger Hermann probably feels con
fident that Prosecutor Heney will be
unable to keep off the Jury everybody
who has fel't the thrill of that famous
pump-handle handshake.
The daughter of Lillian Russell has
found a Jap Prince for a husband.
However, marriage is neither a serious
nor a permanent matter in the Rus
sell family. ,
Football rooting has succeeded ora
tory in the colleges. And y?t we mar
vel at the overplus of loud-mouthed,
rowdy persons in our public affairs.
John D. Rockefeller will give an
other .million, doubtless, if he can find
.some way to set the hookworm after
that St. Louis Federal court.
John Jacob Astor's possible death
at sea makes it important for Mrs.
Astor to know whether her portion is
to be dower or alimony.
.
Far more effective than a soft an
swer to turn away wrath in the case
of PInchot would have been the big
stick.
It is rather fortunate that Peary
did not submit his proofs to the slow
moving scientists of Denmark. -
Even the iabor council chooses its
officers by the delegate and assembly
method. ' .
Naturally, Judge McCredie hesti
tates to "turn outlaw." What is there
in US - A-'
WHAT THE ASSEMBLY WILL DO,
It Will Set tip a Line Fence Between
the Sheep nd the Goata.
Hillsboro Independent.
If there was one thing which would
Incline Republicans to the assembly
plan it is the hysterical shrieks with
which the proposal has been greeted
by the Democratic Populist and so
called independent press and their fol
lowers. As an overwhelming Repub
lican majority has become a conjecture
under conditions the "assembly seeks
to remedy, it Is natural these gentry
should resent a change, but Repub
licans should take their yell about the
will of the people being at naught with
a generous pinch ot salt. Those at all
familiar with recent political events
know that the wilf of the people has .
cut precious little figure and the will
of a clever band of manipulators has
brought about political chaos.
The Independent has heretofore
given Its reasons for believing political
parties essential to our schemes of
government. People of all nations, and
of all times have divided themselves
into parties, each standing for some
particular doctrine their adherents de
sired to see placed in effect. These
doctrines have been declared at mass
meetings, where at the same time it
was customary ' to select those who
were to act as standard-bearers. It
was well understood that in accepting,
the standard-bearer, or candidate, if
you please, accepted also the principle
enunciated, and it followed that the
ensuing election was as much a trial
of the popularity of the Issue adopted
as it was that of the popularlty
of the different candidates. Un
der the direct primary as so far dem
onstrated, all of this is done away witn
and each candidate may have his own
particular platform, which, however
meritorious It may be. stands little
chance of being put in effect because
each successful candidate may believe
he has a plan equally as good and the
members of the party have had no op
portunity of passing upon either and
adopting one.- The same rule applies
to the candidates themselves, and it
follows that without the ninsa meeting
or assembly parties -will soon become
an empty name.
Without the preliminary meeting a
candidate may announce himself as
standing for the principles of the Re
publican party, for example, and so
licit nomination on that ticket. But
who knows that he stands for those
principles, and If he honestly does,
what opportunity has he been given
to prove it? It would seem that the
plan Invites political dishonesty, and
if persisted in we may expect to see
county and state elections degenerate
into a scramble for office by a horda
of hungry office-seekers, each adopting
the party name which he believes may
best serve as a vote-getter and each
account for his public acts to no one
but himself.
All of this, mind you, is from the
standpoint of the desirability of par
tlesbut the fndependent has said that
it believes in parties! But we are not
aware that anyone on the other side
has so far hinted at abolishment. In
deed the argument, appears to be in
favor of retaining them, for there is
constant expression of a piou3 horror
of Republicans wrecking the party by
a return to former convention methods
and at the same time a death-like
silence regarding the wreck that has
already ensued from the present plan.
It Is a trite saying that people and
measures are sometimes loved for the
enemies they have made, but surely the
vicious asuulta on the assembly prop
osition by the srang; that has for Its
purpose the disruption of the party are
rauislng Republicans to sit up and take
notice and conclude that possibly there
Is merit In It.
It's a Plain Issue.
Roseburg Evening News.
Some would-be candidates for offices
say they will have nothing to do with
the "assembly" In politics. Perhaps
it may be that the Republican party
will not have anything to do with them.
There is orfly one George K. Chamber
lain in Oregon, and he could control
all of the Democratic party and a-substantial
"wad" of the Republicans,
enough to elect him Governor and
United States Senator. These "don't
care anything" fellows are Republicans
and have possibly a slim Republican
vote w-hich they hope to increase by
adopting "George's tactics" and doing
promiscuous electioneering. Defeat is
sure to follow any man who would win
office at all hazards, trucklo to Dem
ocrats and oppose the proposed "as
sembly." for fear it may make them
unp6pular with the Democrats. As
soon as this betoraes apparent Re
llcans are likely to have nothing in
further support of men of the "good
lord devil kind."
The Humor of It."
polk County Observer.
The frantic appeals of the Portland
Journal (Democrat) to the Republicans
of Oregon to save their party from sui
cide are amusing. Such appeals proper
ly belong in the Journals "Wit and
Humor" column, where Its readers nat
urally lonk for the Jokes and the
joshes. What the Journal (Democrat)
reallv desires is to see the Rppublican
party go on building itself up and
strengthening Itself by losing a few
more Governors and United States Sen
ators under the beneficent direct pri
mary law. (
Buys Cigarettes In 10,000 Lots.
Kansas City Journal.
Louis Curtiss, the architect, is not
the champion cigarette smoker of Kan
sas City, but there Is a well-grounded
belief that he is the champion Indi
vidual buyer. Asked as to the sourre
of his cigarette supply, the architect
said that he had his made to order by
a New York manufacturer and made
his purchases in lots of 10,000.
"Ten thousand cigarettes," said Cur
tiss. "will last me 10 months. That
would indicate that I smoke 1000 cigar
ettes a month, but I don't I give about
25 per cent of them away. I figure that
I smoke about 25 cigarattes each day.
"Hurt me? Not at all. That is the
secret of having them made to ordor.
My cigarettes are manufactured of the
mildest tobacco on the market and are
free from dope. There is nothing In
them but pure tobacco. Years ago I
used tov smoke the ready-made brand
and frequently suffered from sore
throat. Then I turned to the tailor
made article. Cheaper, too. These are
as fine a cigarette as a man ever
smoked, and they cost In 10.000 lots
only $13 a thousand. That sounds dirt
cheap to me."
Lady Sybil Grey, Gold-Dlggrr.
Baltimore News.
Lady Sybil Grey is the latest distin
guished gold dlgeer. sue accompanied
her father, iiari uray, uovernor-uenerai
of the Dominion, on nis recent trip 10
the Canadian Arctic gold fields. Near
Dawson City, the capital of the Klondike,
she pegged out a claim for herself with
all the prescribed legal formalities and
christened it the Sybil,