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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 1910)
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A correspondent uki The Orego nlan to define the Western Idea of conservation as opposed to the Fed eral pollcv, or Pinchotism. so-called. The writer of the letter can probably do no better than read the Salt Lake addre of Governor Hay. of Wash ington, printed Friday, and the resolutions adopted at the Salt Lake conference of Governors, which ap peared yesterday. It would seem, too. that careful perusal of this paper during the last several months ought to have made clear to this correspond ent or anyone the Just grievances of the states against the Government. The states of the West, which have most at stake In operation of the latter-day scheme of conservation. In tend also. If possible, to have some thing to say about what shall be done with the public lands. They have only lately awakened to the tremen dous blight Pinchotism has placed and will continue to place on their devel opment. They have found that the wholesale withdrawal of mighty areas of the public domain has retarded settlement, discouraged Immigration and increased the hold of monopoly upon the timber areas and power sites without the reserved space. Governor Hay states that the radical Plnchot policy operating In Washington has Increased the value of the Weyerhaeu ser holdings in the gigantic sum of (100.000.000. The great timber bar ons are highly favorable to Pinchot ism. The less available timber there Is for the public the higher value, of course, they are able to place on their possessions. Under the Federal conservation rheme one-third of Oregon, two thirds of Idaho, a fourth of Washing ton and large parts of Colorado. Wyoming and other Western states have been withdrawn from settlement. Water-power sites have been made Inaccessible. The Government under takes to hold Western people from the resources of public lands within their borders. It puts over them a lot of salaried agents sent out from the theoretical and Impracticable cen ters of the East. It denies the public the right to pass through the reserves without sanction. They cannot make homes en the land nor obtain Umber, water power or minerals. The Gov ernment treats the states as mere wards and denies their people access to their own heritage. The states want the lands devel oped. They want them settled. They want their resources properly util ised. They want control over the water powers, for In the states the title of such streams Is vested. They want homes made, towns built. Indus tries encouraged and civilization sub stituted for the howling wilderness. They believe that the proper attitude of the Government Is that the public lands are a mere trust held by the Government for the growing states. They think that the Natlen should Co-operate with the states In legisla tion for the purpose of utilization of the resources within the states and n-.t subject the states and their citi zens always to the complicated, ex asperating and unreasonable opera tion of the present Federal conserva tion laws. We think, in brief, that the first duty of the Government Is to permit these lands to be settled, cultivated nd civilized for the benefit of the people who live, or seek to live, on them, and not for the benefit of the National Treasury, and the great horde of conservation employes and cents maintained at public expense. FOREST FIRM IX FOUR STATES. . If forest fires continue to wipe out tract after tract of splendid trees In Montana. Idaho. Washington and Ore gon at the rate of the three weeks past, a huge hole will soon be burnt In the standing Umber of all four states. Sooner or later the long promised rain will have extinguished flames and put an end to the destruc tion which all effort of man has erred feebly to stay. Forests will be once more accessible and the hot and blackened trails opened again for travel. Losses will be measured, boundaries reset and the balance de termined by the cruisers between tim ber ruined and that burnt over but still In some sense marketable. Then many an opinion will come to be re made, and the views of some of us on forest conservation will have gained fresh light. The first question put will be: Whose fault la it that early efforts failed when fires ware small to hold them from passing ail control T Some one will reply: They started In the forest reserve: there were not enough rangers nor enough men to be hired at early stages to stay the flames. Others will say: The fire began In the great tracts owned by the Weyerhaeu ser people and others of the big cor porations, and they were not organ ized, and their lands were not guarded by men enough to stop the damage. And one more will say: The settler, tn such and such a district, or the lo cal sawmill owner, set fire in the slashings and It broke away and up the mountain before they could do a thing to put It out. And every an swer may be true. Forest fires. In times like these, resemble epidemics of disease and sweep from point to point with no resson to show why. U the careless hunter or thought Use traveler Is the culprit he may, possibly, be sought out and punished. But the punishment will be far below the offence It as tn many rases, death aa U as destruction has followed In tie path of the Tames. If the rancher or millman la at fault there may be mere chance of bis detection, for h acts are more often under observa tion. Probably in all these states se verer and more efficient laws for fire protection may be devised. The next question coming up Is -what set or sets of timber-owners can be justly charged with the duty and cost of forest protection against fire? Who are these owners? Tim ber lands In forest reserves, as well as In untaken Government land out side reserve, continue In the National ownership: In the former case so long as reservations conUnue. lnthe latter ' case until passed Into possession and ownership of the prlvat citizen unaer general laws. In both cases the duty of the Government is plain: To guard and conserve the timber within neces sary and reasonable limits of ex pense, as trustee for the property of the nation and of the future citizen owner. But flrrt stretch to and from these Government lands from and to ad joining lands In private ownership. How shall such lands be guarded or fires extinguished T The organization and control of such efforts should surely be that of the state. Here enter two considerations. The state owes protection to her citizens, spe cially when damage to one destroys the property of many. It seems plain that th'e basis of taxation for fire pro tection should be the value of each Individual ownership. The Immense worth of standing Umber. If rightly computed, would easily pay a tax for fire protection. The charge on each district would naturally rise with the value of the Umber therein and the larger fund be available for greater needs. THE DISTRESSED PESSIMIST. It must be very distressing to the few pessimists who have been pre dicting a slump In Portland to note that the eighth month of the year Is drawing to a close with bank clear ings, building permits, postofflce re ceipts, etc stni breaking records, and no sign of a relapse visible. But one other city of Portlands class In the United States matte a heavier gain In bank clearings last week. The near est approach of any of the big Coast cities was San Francisco, with a gain of 6.6 per cent, compared with I0. per cent gain by PorUand. SeatUe and Los Angeles both showed de creases. Building permits for the first half of the month were $500,000 In excess of those for any correspond ing period, and postofflce receipts showed a gain of nearly 10 per cent over August last year, although at that time the city was crowded with visitors who came West to the SeatUe Exposition. These Interesting figures have been printed In detail and are only men tioned at this time to show the utter lack of foundaUon for any pessimistic preachings. Yet the cry of the pessi mist Is heard, and has some effect. Many a solvent bank has been driven Into Insolvency by Just such unfound ed and unwarranted discussion as seems to afford pleasure to the chronic pessimist. The clear-headed, patriotic cUlzen. In taking note of these numerous features, which point so clearly to unmistakable prosper ity, will reason that the Immense urns being spent by the railroads In developing new country, and by the tens of thousands of new settlers that are pouring Into the Northwest, will not precipitate a slump. He will rea son that with grain crops worth more than 1(0,000.000. and with fruit, bops, lumber and livestock worth more thsn $60,000,000. to be turned off this year, nothing but an artificial scare and wholesale misrepresentation of facts can produce trouble. The pessimistic croaker, who al ways lives In the past and to whom the future Is an Impenetrable wall, sees none of these tangible factors which make prosperity, and harks back to years ago. when the popula tion and development of the country were so meager that legitimate com parison with present conditions and prospects was an Impossibility. For tunately, the pessimists are daily be coming scarcer. r XPCMsnzi) t rime. While listening to the voices of the many prophets who describe the dan gers which beset civilization In the t'nlted States, one Is occasionally moved to ask whether some of the perils which they enumerate are not fanciful. The thought Inevitably In trude that If they all are real our doom Is sealed and it Is Just as well to alt down and have a good time while the frail old machine holds to gether. The day of wreck Is bound to come any way In spite of all we might do. It would seem, and It Is best therefore to eat. drink and be merry ere the pitcher Is broken at the fountain or the wheel at the cis tern. Some of our Jeremiahs empha sise one impending woe. some an other, but they all agree that without the IntervenUon of a miracle, and a pretty stiff one at that, the country Is going to the bow-wows. Predatory wealth loom up before one school of prophets as the woman of Babylon who hath mad us drunken with the wine of her abominations. The alli ance between big business and politic appears to another school as the beast with seven head and ten horns to whom It Is given to make war upon the saint and overcome them. Judge George C. Holt, of the Federal District Court of New York, discerns in un punished crime and mob rule a mon ster which sooner or later will bring us all to perdition. Judge . Holf address upon "Un punished Crime." delivered last Jun before the Wisconsin State Bar Asso ciation, has been published In the In dependent for August II and Is now accessible to everybody. Very likely it will be widely read and excite deep reflection, but It Is not to be supposed that Its conclusions will Impress all readers alike. 8ome will accept and some will reject them.- For example, Judge Holt seems to believe that elec tive judges are more open to Improper Influences than those who are ap pointed for life. This opinion Is open to serious objections. All Judges are accused more or less vlgorouslly of partiality and political bias sometimes and tne Federal Judge, who are ap pointed or life undergo fully a much of this etiUdsm their elecUve brethren. That the elective Judge I tempted to curry favor wtth the voters may be admitted candidly, but. on the other hand, the appointive judge Is equally tempted to win the good will of those who have power to advance him. So far as the effect upon Judi cial fairness goes, what is the differ ence? Judge Holt's point Is that the elec tive Judge will not enforce the law vigorously against strikers and mobs because he la afraid of losing votes. This Is a statement which needs proof THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN. POBTLAyD. AUGUST 21, 1910. (, fan Ha hAl loved, and it will be met by the counter assertion that j appointive juages oo dui buiui hw law vigorously against corporaUons because the latter control the power to which they look for promotion. Com parisons between the efficiency of ap pointive and elective Judges are upon the whole rather futile. Good lawyers are commonly of the opinion that a - ...j,.,.! rlll man oi proper juua-iai t it. . j do well upon the bench no matter whether the President or tne etecioraio puts' him there. On the other hand. If he is a truckler and a sycophant, what Is bred in the bone will come out In his conduct on the bench as It will everywhere else. We are brought back. In discussing this question, to the fundamental importance of per sonal character. The discussion of every other pollUcal and ethical ques tion brings us to the same goal. The reader of Judge Holt's Import ant article will be inclined to decide that he Is an observer rather than a philosopher. He sees certain phe nomena very clearly, but when it comes to Interpreting them one can not follow him with entire confidence. There Is not a word In his address about the cause which have produced lynching and mob law In the United States, nor does he tell us why crime is so often unpunished. It Is the un derlying causes of mobs and unpun ished crime which constitute the. real danger to our civilization. Remove them and we should not be troubled with lynching, while criminals would be dealt with promptly and adequate ly. To be sure. Judge Holt enumerates certain habits which he takes for the causes of mob violence and crimes against life. Our National liking for revolvers 1 one of them. The indis criminate sale of dynamite is another. Judge Holt would forbid the sale of revolvers to everybody but those who have been licensed to possess them. He would greaUy restrict the right to purchase high explosives. Sensible people will say at once that he Is right about these things. Still the propensity to wear revolver Is not the disease from which we suffer. It Is only a symptom. Even If we were all forbidden by law to buy or carry pistols, neither our behavior nor our feelings toward law ana our fellow men would be much altered. Crime would be about as common then as It Is now. The man who breaks the law against carrying weapons Is In no more danger of punishment than the breaker of any other law. This brings u to the basic question which we have been getting ready to ask. What Is the use of piling up new restrictions upon the conduct of the citizen so long a we cannot enforce those which already exist? Crime Is undoubtedly gaining the upper hand In this country. Just as Judge Holt says, and to the lay mind the reason why Is not at all obscure. It Is two fold. On the one hand we have too many laws and they are too complex and contradictory. On the other hand, the courts and lawyers are too much occupied In annulling, evading and trifling with the law. Infuse into the Judiciary a resolute determination to apply the plain meaning of the stat utes Instead ot. subtly "interpreting" them: cure judges of the habit of an nulling legislation which does not strike them as proper; Inspire law yers with a spirit of obedience to the law and sweep the courts clear of useless technlcallUes and the end of mob rule would not be far off. ' So long aa the law Is treated In Its own temples as a thing to be eluded and trifled with, how can the laity be ex pected to bow In reverence before It? AX EXCEPTION. The Pendleton East Oregonlan Is greatly disturbed over the proposal to divide Umatilla County and create Or chard County, and falls In gracefully with the suggesUon that all the county division measures should probably be rejected for the reason that they are "local questions." They are local question and they should be determined by the people of the territory concerned or by the Legisla ture. The East Oregonlan, which is one of your people-must-rule-at-any-cost pa per, now" has an uncomfortable ap plication of Its own theories right at home. Why shouldn't the people rule on this Umatllla-Orchard County mat ter, as well as In all other matters over which the people may determine to take Jurisdiction? They shouldn't, because It Is proposed to divide Uma tilla County and the Pendleton paper doesn't want Umatilla County cut in two. Therefore the Pendleton paper finds an Important and selfish excep Uon to the rule of the people. Yet the people may know Just as much "about county division as about many other question to be submitted under the Initiative. Will any one say that the public as a whole will be able to have a clear view of propor tional representation, a complicated and elaborate scheme set forth in a measure of vast length? It Is enough that the electorate should be required to pass on the primary question as to whether It should or should not have proportional representation, voting "ye or "no." But how can the vot er In mas "legislate" on the ques tion, working out its details, consider ing it various phases, or making needed revisions, and accepting or re jecting any pertinent amendment? It cannot be done. Moreover, the peo ple do not try to do it. If they favor .- niiKinia of nroDortlonal represen tation they must adopt the exact I method, to Its last detail ana in us most minute particular, offered by the Oregon City law factory. Herein Is the great evil of direct legislation. It Is the feature that is growing more and more impossible and dangerous, and that, unless regu lated and confined to simple and ele mental question or Issues, must eventually break down the entire sys tem. HOPS AXD HOP-PICKTSO. Hop throughout the Willamette Valley, except upon the uplands, that are drained of moisture by the long drouth, promise a fair yield. What Is of greater Importance, the crop Is entirely free from the pests that In humid seasons besllme and practically destroy It. Favorable weather at pick ing time, which will probably begin a few days earlier this year than usual, and a sufficient number of careful hands to strip the clusters from the vines, will Insure a good return to hop-grower and picker as well. There Is a no more fragrant or wholesome Autumn odor than that ex haled from ripe cluster of hops de pending from clean, well-matured vines. Hop-picking In the rain Is dismal to a degree, but It Is difficult to Imagine more wholesome and pleas ant work than that of picking hops In a dry field. Thi 1 especially true where there is comradeship among the pickers, where adequate provisions have been made for their comfort, and where prudent moral supervision is exercised over the young people among them, who find In the hop har vest a September outing, at once re munerative and enjoyable. The occasional tragedy and the too frequent scandal that have found ex cuse for occurring In the unsupervised associations in the hopyards of boys and girls whose emotions are a most unsafe guide, lend their warning to parents and others in authority, to the end that these sorrowful Inci dents of past years be not repeated. It Is well to remember In this con nection that girls and boys at what is sometimes characterized as the fool age, or more euphoniously a the impressionable age. are neither moral nor Immoral; they are simply unmoral and veer this way or that accornldg to environment, or to restraint or the lack of it. Let them go to the hop yards, enjoy the outing-, and earn money for their school book and Winter clothing. But go with them, parents or duly constituted caretakers, to the end that the outing be not productive of much more harm than good. COMPETITIVE FARMERS" UNIONS. According to a WaUa Walla dis patch In The Oregonlan yesterday, the officials of the farmers' union of Oregon, Washington and Idaho have asked for a conference with the traf fic official of the three trans-continental railroads with a view of se curing a lower rate on wheat to East ern points. The Inland Empire farm ers are of opinion that the present rate of 30 cents per bushel is too high and believe that. If it were to be reduced, they could ship wheat into the Eastern localities where the crop Is short. Just how much of that 80 cent rate would have to be deducted in order to admit of the "diversion of wheat from Its usual route to the world's markets Is uncertain. It is possible, however, if the railroads would haul it East at no higher rate than it is hauled West to the Pacific Coast, some business might be worked. Quite naturally an invasion of the Eastern wheatgrower" field by the North Pacific growers' would not be relished by the grower who find a market In Missouri River territory. If the movement should reach very large proportion the price of the Eastern cereal might be affected to the extent of several cents per bushel. The views of the Eastern grower who Is now selling his wheat at Missouri River points at about $1 per bushel will hardly accord with those of the North Pacific farmers' union. The sacred idol of protection has many worshipers In the region on which the Oregon. Washington and Idaho wheat growers are planning an invasion, and the threat that a reduction of the duty might bring Canadian wheat Into their markets always causes a furore among the Eastern farmers. The situation offers some Interest ing points on the ethics of the farmers' union here and in the East. Wheat is high in the East, because the crop Is short. Eastern members of the farmers' union naturally desir to take advantage of strength In the statistical position, but. If their Western brethren are successful in securing lower freights all of the ad vantage which they now posses will be nullified. Fortunately for the in terests of peace In the union family, the Pacific Coast, markets are still so far above the Chicago parity that there Is small likelihood of the rail roads putting in a rate low enough to bring the Western farmers union into direct and costly competition with the Eastern farmers' union. Europe a usual will supply the market and buy the surplus grain from both sides of the Rocky Mountains. LIGHT VPOy MA Kg. The condition of things upon the planet Mars continues to excite con troversy among the astronomers. Since the unsatisfactory outcome of their predictions concerning the late lamented comet, these savants have not been o forward as they were for merly In making positive statement about the unknowable. Still they can not be accused of excessive modesty. Though they admit that they have no accurate way 'of finding out. exactly what goe on In Mars, nevertheless some of them are zealous believers that It is a dead world inhabited only by the ghosts of departed populations. Others hold that it Is filled with a busy throng of plutocrat and wage slaves bent upon getting the better of one another Just as they are in our own lovely sphere. To the latter opinion Professor Lowell of Harvard adheres, while the European astrono mers with scarcely an exception are convinced that Mars is extinct like the moon. The famous canals which to Professor Lowell furnish evidence that Mar Is Inhabited by intelligent hus bandmen are to hi opponents noth ing more than fissures in the surface caused by contraction aa the planet cools. Mars is a great deal farther from th sun than the earth is. It lie outside the compass of our trajectory through space, and alnce the light and heat which a planet receive from th sun decrease Inversely a the square of the distance. It will be plain to everybody that it can neither be so light nor so "warm in Mars as It Is here. This might be a blessslng on some occasions, but upon the whole such a condition ia undesirable. For Instance, less than half as much heat flows to Mars from the sun as to the earth. Hence the terperature there never can be high enough to support vegetation of the kind we are familiar with. H. O. Well in his story of th men who voyaged to the moon gets over thi difficulty neatly by furnish ing our satellite with a flora com posed entirely of fungi, plants of the mushroom specie. The cattle of th moon feed on the fungi and the men feed on the cattle. The arrangement seems to work pretty well In th moon, at least In Mr. Wells' book. Perhaps something of the same sort has been evolved In Mars so that Intelligent beings . can survive there even if It ia rather wintry the greater part of the year. Upon the moon the Interchange of season Is necessarily rapid. It is Summer when the face is turned toward the sun and Winter when It Is turned away. Thus the length of the seasons is the same as that of day and night. The moon turns on her axi once a month, not once in twenty-four hours like the earth. Hence the surface grows ver dant, the ripened fungi fall into the sere and yellow leaf, and Icy Winter returns all within thirty day. The reason why the sun's heat doe not parch the surface of the earth to arid sterility and kill us all is the beneficent fact that the fitmosphere act as a screen. It not only mitigates the torrid rage of the sunbeams, but it stores them up for future use. It Is also full of moisture which now and then descends in grateful showers, though usually at a time when they are not desired. Things are different on the moon. There, according to the learned, there is no atmosphere. The orb floats unprotected In the solid ether. To provide for this inconveni ent circumstance Mr. Wells furnished his travelers with a quantity of artifi cial air. The gaseous envelope which once surrounded the moon they found frozen Into great lumps which mettea and ran down the slopes in dancing cascades when Spring opened. It Is well known that the moon' surface is broken Into vast fissures which may possibly lead down to the center of the sphere. Of course, what ever water there was formerly on our satellite has sunk Into these enormous caverns. There It may He In the form of lakes or sublunar seas with cities on their shores and fleets navigating their waveless expanse. This Is an other pleasing fancy of Mr. Wells, who gives the men dwelling In the interior of the moon the appearance of ants. Mars, of course, would have longer seasons than the moon since it takes the planet more than one of our years to revolve around the sun, but if It is really a .frozen world as the astrono mers are disposed to teach. It cannot have either air or water upon Its sur face. The canals of which we read so much are simply abysmal fissures and the former oceans lie far down In their depths. Even if all this ia true there may still be Intelligent Martians, but it is certain that they do not dwell upon the surface of the planet. Like the moonmen of Mr. Wells they must live deep in the ground and perhaps evolution has transformed them Into some shape like that of burrowing in sects. Insects are the most intelli gent creatures "next to men In thla world and it is reasonable to suppose that in other planet they may be the ruling race. They may attain that eminence sometime even here. In some particulars, that of co-operation, for instance, both ants and bee are more intelligent than men. If their evolution should ever take a fresh start, as Is entirely possible, they may surpass us and drive us off the planet. But we need not give up all hope of communicating with the Martians, even though It should be proved that they live in fathomless caverns. No doubt they visit the surface now and then when the sun Is shining and the cosmio cold has been tempered by his rays. The stern conditions of their life has probably quickened their in telligence so that they are alert to notice anything unusual In the sky and keen to interpret It. Hence if we should display some striking signal such a many astronomers have advo cated, perhaps they would notice it, and in time we might arrive at a sys tem of telegraphy. It would certain ly be a comfort to tell our sorrows to another world and perhaps the people of Mara might help us solve some problems which seem to be beyond our terrestrial capacity. ANXTJAI, SHORTAGE OF LABOR. From numerous points in the In land Empire come reports of a short age of help. In some localities where the grain ripened rapidly there will be considerable lose through inability of the farmer to ave it before it shatters and is lost. This condition. Instead of showing improvement, be comes worse each year, and clearly Indicate that the introduction of labor-saving machinery has failed to prove in the slightest degree detri mental to the cause of labor. In the past five year several hundred com bined harvester have been placed In service in the wheat belt. While each of these machines, with a crew of five men, can handle more grain than fifty men with the old equipment, there has been at no time since the Introduction of the combine a surplus of harvest hands. Not until the coming of the mil lennium will it be possible to induce all of the able-bodied idle men in the country to work. The soft grass of the parks, the alluring chin music of the street-corner anarchist, the mel low sunlight glinting through the tree which shade the park benches, and the fragrant North End free lunches combine to form urban at tractions that chain thousands of men to the city at a time when their serv ices are much needed in the country. Life in the Oregon country l one unending round of toil at good wages, if the Individual cares to exert him self. If the harvest field, with its high wages proves unsatisfactory, there are fruit to be picked, potatoes to be dug and general farm work in wholesale quantities. It might be supposed that thi labor that has flefl from the wheat fields of the Inland Empire had sought the camps of the railroad contractors. This, however, is an error, for on nearly all of the new projects now under way in the Pacific Northwest there is a scarcity of men, and the men coming, the men going, and the men in camp, are forces of about equal strength. The combined har vester may not have Increased the demand for farm labor, but If it has decreased It, there is nothing In evi dence that points to such an economic condition. The strawberry culturist and the grain grower have had to wrestle with the problem of help, and In a degree have lost. The apple fruit growers and the hopgrower will be the next to suffer by the shortage, but there to nothing in the present situa tion that offer any hop that there will be any thinning In the rank of the park lounger or the North End street-corner statesmen, who nightly settle the affairs of state. ABUNDANT OCEAN TONNAGE. The 10.000-ton freighter Kumeric ailed from Portland yesterday with 730,000 feet of lumber and 800 ton of flour, practically as much cargo as Is carried by the average coaster. The Kumeric returns to Puget Sound to complete her cargo at that port. More freight was available here, but as the steamer already had space engage ment from the Puget Sound ports, she cleared with the comparatively .oit hir.Tnanta mentioned. The i transaction Is interesting. Illustrating a it does tne super-aDunaance oi tonnnage which Is at the disposal of any shipper -who can sell good . In foreign countries. It demonstrate in th clearest possible manner that the ships will seek the cargo Instead of the cargo being obliged to seek the ship. The Kumeric not only took less than one-sixth of her capacity in car go from this port, but what was- taken was carried at cut rates, the figures being so low that the profit, if there v. .. K.an smnll in HU atJ , 111 UPl lit.' wv.. - deed. The Kumeric is one of the largest freighters that ever enterea the Columbia River, but the quest for cargo Is so keen that her agents have already announced that a sister ship will soon be placed on berth here to load a part cargo at rates no higher than were paid on the Kumeric. Nor Is this keen competition for cargo con fined to the great liners of the Ku meric type. Nearly every tramp steamer that enters the river for lumber shifts to from two to four ports in picking a cargo, although each change involves extra expense in addition to the time lost. During the past week steam tonnage has been plentifully offered in the Port land market to carry grain from this city. 14,000 miles, through two oceans, on the basis of $6 per ton of 2000 pounds: This abundance of tonnage, which makes low rates and keen competi tion in accommodating the shippers. Is not a local condition. It is world wide in its extent, and demonstrates In the most effectual manner that our foreign trade is not suffering in the slightest degree by any lack of ocean transportation facilities. Sympathy Is certainly the due of the woman who applied for divorce in Oregon City a few days ago, after en during the hard life of which she made complaint before the court for full forty-nine years. If the half that she alleged In her complaint, of the Indignities and oruelUes of past years, suffered at the hands of a brutal hus band, is true, the wonder in the case is, not that she seeks release from bondage in her old age, but that she "did not seek and find it in her youth, while yet life held something of promise for her. Having "worked like a slave," as she alleges, to help accumulate the property and home now in her husband's name and re ceived kicks and curses for her pains, this woman has at length arisen in her might and seeks not only divorce, but permanent alimony of $10,000 as her share of the accumulations of forty years. The property, all In the husband's name, is said to be worth $60,000. One-fifth of this is surely a modest demand for a partner who has given nearly half a century of strenu ous endeavor to its accumulation. Th Osonian should think twice h for It urge county prohibition, or local option, on th people. Even the county unit m to he too lars to b aatlafac tory. Thi ha been demonatrated In Union County. In th rural district pro hibition aeems to work much better than in citie the Iie of La Grande, for her the law la not respected, and the ale ol liquor Is, according to th general opinion, continued. La Grande Observer. 1 The Oregonlan ha not urged county prohibition. It has merely inquired why the prohibitionists and so-called local optlonlsts, who once were In dignantly and universally stigmatiz ing as "saloonists" and "allies and hirelings of liquor" all that ventured to oppose prohibition with the county a a unit, and who all the time and everywhere declared the right and privilege of every county to decide the saloon question for itself, are now using the same adjectives and epithets in denouncing all who demand the right of local or county option for Multnomah. That la all. Meanwhile, It is well for the prohibitionists and all other interested persons to note what the Observer has to say about the failure of prohibition In Union County. - - There would seem to be no valid reason why owners of automobiles who drive their own machines should be excused from taking the examina tion prescribed for licensed chauf feurs. No driver, man or woman, whether he or she owns the automo bile or not, should be permitted, through probable Ignorance of the management and control of the ma chine, to place life on the public streets or highways in Jeopardy. It make little difference to the luckless pedestrian whether he ia run down by an automobile in charge of its owner or one with a hired chauffeur at the wheel. In 188S. when the Northern Paciflo firat ran through trains into Portland, no one was so optimistic as to believe that within a quarter of a century there would be enough traffic in Pa ciflo Coast territory to support six more transcontinental roads on Amer ican soil. But the end is not yet. In this connection It Is worth remarking that the Western Pacific, which opens for through traffic tomorrow, passes close to the Oregon line as it goes through- Nevada. A branch into Southeastern Oregon, and ultimately continuing to Portland, is a strong probability. ' If other cities have pneumatic tubes connecting union depots with the poetoffice, why not Portland? Don't we contribute our full share of profit on postal business? Is there another place of Portland's size that does more to stop the annual deficit? All of Portland's activities which may be accurately measured have kept at the top notch throughout this year all except the rain.' There is a deficiency of 2.66 Inches. Hope of catching np by September 1, when the time limit expires, 1 small. One of the September magazines has an article on the awakening of Arkansas.. She didn't make enough noise getting up to be heard outside of the state. ' Can any rational. ' unprejudiced man, east or west of the Rockies, find fault with the conservation platform prepared at the conference of Western Governors? Two expedition having failed to get to the top of Mount McKinley this season, opportunity offers Itself to Molssantto get his name on the front page' " ' - As the campaign progresses, the chasm doesn't seem to grow so nar row that Taft and the Colonel can clasp hands across it. Southwestern Washington is quite as welcome to a reserved seat in the Commercial Club as rain in the burn ing forests. What ambitions will not be roused among an army of ballplayers if Al Spauldlng should win- the California Senatorshlp. Now that we have the flreprooflng of Lincoln High School off our minds, we can take up a fireproof auditor ium. - There's no law against tackling Mount McKinley with an airship. TOPICAL VERSE A Cnp o Good Coffee. You may talk about your clarets, your ales and your wines. And your champagne the table adorn ing; You may sing of your beer, but I tell you right here. Give me cup o' good coffee'n the morning. The fizz of the fountain I yearn not to hear. The sherbet or college I ever am scorning: But the sound I prefer is the coffee pot's purr. And a cup o' good coffee'n the morn ing. You may talk of the thrill of the twenty-year-old. Of the color the wine cup adornlnc: But I sing with a will of the genuine thrill Of a cup o' good coffee'n the morn ing! Boston Herald. Milady Nicotine and I. Milady Nicotine and I have called it off. Our love Is dead. And love that lit Milady's eye ha turned to scornfulnees instead. We two that 20 years were wed In spirit have agreed to quit. And lo! Milady is ahead In presents and the like, to-wit: Four pipes. One tobacco Jar. Three ash trays. And one frog locked smoking jacket. Milady Nicotine and I were long time quite a loving pair. But all of that la past and gone, and nowadays we neither care. We pass with nothing but a stare, but still my expectation Is That she'll return In good repair my own engagement pledges, vis: One average weight. Two clear eyes. ' And one feel-like-somethlng. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A High Old Time. His wife's gone to the country. He sings In accents light. Of pastimes gay throughout th day And social games by night. But 'spite of all his joking. Inspect him close enough. And you will see, 'twixt you and m. His gayety's a bluff. He simply goes on working Like any other man. When day is gone he sits out on The front step with a fan. His hosiery needs mending; His buttons, too, are lost. The morning meal Is an ordeal. And dinner Is a frost. He goes out every pay day. And mails his earnings hard. And without fail each morning's mall Brings him a picture card. And yet the playful neighbors Come 'round to him and say: "Enjoy yourself, you giddy elf; Your wife has gone away!" Selected. - Love (In a Parenthesis). (John K. LeBaron in Smart Set-) In our little boat We drift and float Under the sheltering trees. -And I fell the flush Of her cheek's warm blush. As it's kissed (by the passing breeze). In our little canoe That was built for two. Just two and not any more. We loaf and love (The stars above) As we hug and hug (the shore). What Makes Home. If I had wealth and I had health, And I'd a roof above me. If I'd a wife, to cheer my life. But not one child to love me, No rosy-lipped young laughing miss. No bright-eyed, roguish laddie, I'd cearch the town, both up and down. Till one should call me daddie. I would not have a roof that ne'er Knew sound of childish chatter. Nor keep a floor untoddled o'er By little feet that patter. Nor would I hang upon my walls Great pictures just to show them. Unless a tot had left a lot Of finger marks below them. I would not like to settle down Within my old armchair, And take my ease, with empty knees I want a youngster there. Likewise, with everything I have. How incomplete 'twould be, Unless I had a girl or lad To share It all with me. And so I say. if I had wealth And had a roof above me. If I'd a wife to cheer my life. But had no child to love me, Then I would search both up and down. To beg or buy or borrow, A child to be a part of me I'd have one here tomorrow. Egar A. Ginst. in Detroit Free Press. Where Baby Is. I used to meet him on the road, right close to every day And "Wish I was where baby is, this drummer man would say. He smiled with us and smoked with us and swapped his yarns and all. But when the twilight time grew nigh and night began to fall, He'd always heave a wistful sigh and null his pocketbook And at a lot of kodak-shot would long and fondly look. -Then he would say: "Did well today, and business Is biz. But wouldn't it be fine each night to be where Baby Is?" He was no mollycoddle man. this chap who lugged a grip And mingled with the rest of us on many a tiresome trip; I never asked him If he had grand fathers and all that. But yet I knew his blood was blue, each evening asvhe sat And conned the kodak pictures o er in wistful solitaire And breathed for that wee toddling son one long, unspoken prayer. He might not be an F. F. V.. yet royal kith was his, We knew who heard him wish each day . "to be where Baby is. Baltimore Evening Sun. Teddy's Task. Oh, what will Teddy do? ; Oh what will Teddy do, you ask, Will he select some mighty task Or In fame's sunshine idly bask? Ah, If we only knew! " Oh, what will Teddy do, you say; All men the answer seek; Has he come home again to stay. Or will he pack and hie away To bunt big game and speak? i Oh. what will Teddy do, you cry On every side It's heard; You wonder if he'll learn to fly And write new stuff about the sky. At record price per word. Oh, what will Teddy do. say you The query stirs the breezes; But I can tell just what he'll do; Take this from me because it's tr-c , He'll do what Teddy pleases! Cleveland Plain Dealer. .
