TIIE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, JAXTAItT 21. 1912.
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fORTLAM). ftrXDAT. J.IMI ARV SI. IIS-
WOMIS AND POLITICS.
With the patriotic enterprise for
which It Is celebrated, the New York
Time undertook, the other day. to
And out whether or not "women un
derstand politics." In pursuit of In
formation orr the topic the reporter of
the Times vUited various women of
renown and propounded five questions
to them. From the answers they gave
every reader can decide for himself
w hether those women understand poll-
tlrs or not. The questions touched
upon five subjects of vital and current
interest the tariff, the trusts, the open
and closed shop, the initiative and
referendum, with the recall in the
background, and finally the direct
election of Senators. All the women
who were Interviewed believe in a
downward reduction of the tariff,
though some of them would go about
it more deliberately than others. The
Rev. Anna Shaw wishes to cut off the
plunder of the tariff barons at one fell
swoop, while Mrs. Ida Husted Harper
would permit them to set their houses
in order before dealing- the fatal blow.
Every one of these women is of the
opinion that the protective tarlfT raises
the cost of living, and they all argue
that a reduction of the duties would
be followed by a corresponding- fall of
prices for the necessaries of life.
Without an exception the women In
terviewed believe In the direct election
of United States Senators. Concern
ing the trusts they exhibit minor dif
ference of opinion. Miss Harriet May
Mills, president of the New Tork State
Suffrage Association, thinks that the
trusts ought to be regulated by the
Government, but she cautions us that
it would be very unwise to break them
up. even If It could be done, because
-the trusts have taught us a great les
son. They have shown us the true
value of combination and they have
given us an object-lesson In how
cheaply things can be made by the
application of that principle." Miss
Mills' views on this difficult subject
stand comparison with Mr. Bryan's
fairly well, do they not? Mrs. Ida
Husted Harper believes in Federal In
corporation of the trusts, for which
she quotes the example of President
Tart. The Rev. Anna Shaw thinks
that the trutti "as they now exist are
a menace to the freedom of the peo
ple and that they corrupt the Govern
ment." Precisely what she would do
with them she does not say, but there
is every reason to believe that It
would, be something thorough-going,
perhaps something radical.
The one subject which these discreet
women shy away from Is that of the
open and closed shop.. Most of them
are In ardent sympathy with the labor
unions for various reasons. It is the
humane side, for one thing. Again,
"thev fxpwt to get the union vote when
suffrage Lmes to be decided upon at
the .Is. Naturally, therefore, they
exhibit a certain deftness in avoiding
this Issue. Upon the whole, the an
swers obtained by the Times show that
women are at least as Intelligent in re
gard to politics as men are.
But the subject presents another as.
pect. Suppose a person should In.
quire whether men understand politics
or not? The answer would be that
some men understand the subject and
some do not. The great majority of
the male voters have no definite opin
ions of their own and no ability to
form any. They accept their opinions
ready made from one source and an
other, as they buy their coats at the
department stores. And of course It
Is fortunate for the countrr that they
Io so. since the ordinary male can do
many things better than he can decide
upon great public questions. As for
the women. Is not the same thing true
of them? Some of them understand
politics and some do not. Those who
re of commanding ability will be lead
ers. The rest must be followers.
No doubt the capacity to grasp polit
ical subjects and unravel their per
plexities Is fully as common among
women as among men. Very likely It
is more common, for woman has by
nature an analytical mind and a sense
ef detail which Is often wanting to
men. Toe world owes to her the first
feeble beginnings of civilization. She
has by her Insistence compelled reluc
tant man to become decent within the
walla of the dwelling. She is trying
to make htm act with the same de
cency In municipal affairs. By and by
she will extend her purifying efforts to
National politics. "The new broom
which never grows old", would be an
excellent symbol for her In her polit
ical activities.
In the large politics of the .world
history shows that women have been
f illy as capable s men. Queen Eliza
beth dealt successfully with difficulties
which would have baffled most of her
successors of the other sex. Catherine
of Russia was one of the greatest poll
tlrlans who ever lived. Queens have
been, upon the whole, quite as able
rulers as Kings, and fewer of them
have lost their heads through obstinate
stupidity. The model monarch of the
nineteenth century was a Queen.
thntgh if she had been of a humbler
station in her own land she would not
lave been permitted by the law to
vote, v Such Is the Incongruity which
we sometimes see In human" arrange
ments. But we can obtain from his
tory only an inadequate view of
women's political understanding" be
cause as a rule men have not allowed
them to make much use of It. The
stronger sex has assumed that females
were denied bv nature the capacity to
deal with political subjects and has
usually kept the door shut In their
fao. ThLs l on a par with the Ori
ental assumption tnat women nave no
souls and that it Is shameful for them
to go out of doors unveiled. The world
has suffered measureless loss by Its
foolish contempt for woman's intelli
gence. Progress will be a great deal
more rapid and more stable when she
Is accorded her full rights as a human
being.
TREAMOM IN JACKSON (LfB.
Comments by Portland Demo
crats at the Friday meeting of the
Jackson Club recall the days when
party leaders, bosses, machine men
and ward heelers were abroad coun
seling the rank and file to "vote r
straight." We thought that, in Oregon
at least, the people had got away from
the idea that party platforms counted
for more than the character, sincerity
or faithfulness of the candidate. But
one leader tells his fellow Democrats
of the Jackson Club that "It does not
matter who the man Is who Is run
for the Presidency It s the principles
he represents." Another declares that
the Democrats ought to fight for the
Democracy and not for the personali
ties of candidates who might be se
lected to represent those principles.
Is this Statement No. 1 doctrine?
What manner of argument Is It that
urges the party voters to vote for
party platforms not men In choice of
President but to vote for the best man
no matter whether he supports Na
tional platforms or not in selecting
Senators?
It was not uncommon In days before
the regeneration of Oregon to find
Democrats who would vote for a yel
low dog for office If he had been
named a candidate In parry conven
tion. The same party fealty, too. ex
tended to Republicans. But what of
our boasts of conversion from these
evils to direct primaries. Presidential
preference and peoples" rule? Shall
we again "leave It to the ability of
any man the party nominates" as one
Jackson Club speaker urge.
This Is rank reaction. This is
treason. We are surprised nay
shocked that Democratic leaders
should turn against , the principles
they have so strongly advocated when
undeniably their party was In the
minority, now that they are having
visions of success. We did not look
for an assault upon our most rher
Ished political reforms from this dlrec
tlon.
MR. BRYAN'S BLINDNESS).
Facts, even of such recent history
as to be fresh In the mind of ever"
well-informed man. are as nothing to
Mr. Bryan when they run counter to
his prejudices. He has assumed it as
an axiom that the great majority of
Republicans are standpatters on legis
lation In general and that the Demo
cratic is the progressive party. It
matters not to him that the great pro
gressive laws of the last quarter of a
century measures which he himself
upholds have been passed by Repub
lican majorities in Congress and en
forced by Republican Presidents. He
still maintains, in an Interview pub
lished In the Outlook, that the Re
publican party is and has been a bar
rier to progress on the great issues of
the day.
He is a strong advocate of Govern
ment control of railroads, hut he Ig
nores In one part of the Interview the
fact that the first law making such
control effective was passed by a Re
publican Congress at the recommenda
tion of a Republican President, only to
admit a moment later that that same
President had used part of his
(Bryan's) platform and that' his suc
cessor also has used a portion of It.
The first Interstate commerce law was
passed by a Democratic House and
signed by a Democratic President, but
it soon became a dead letter and so re
mained until vitalized by President
Roosevelt and a Republican Congress
In 190 and strengthened by President
TaTt and a Republican Congress In
1910. That Is one of the most epoch
making pieces of progressive legisla
tion In the history of this country'. Yet
Mr. Bryan blinds himself to the fact
and insists that the Republican party
is controlled by Its standpat element.
Mr. Brian professes to despair of
any effective anti-trust legislation from
the Republican party. He forgets that
the Sherman law, which he so earnest
ly desires to see rigidly enforced, was
Introduced by a Republican Senator,
passed by a Republican Senate and
House and signed by a Republican
President (Harrison). He forgets that
the first suit under the law was begun
by that President In the year of its
passage, and that Harrison brought
seven suits under It In the remaining
two and one-half years of his term.
Only eight suits were brought during
the entire term of the succeeding. Dem
ocratic President (Cleveland). The
comparative Inaction of McKinley,
who brought only three suits against
small combinations, was atoned for by
the beginning of forty-four suits dur
ing the seven and one-half years of
President Roosevelt. He began pro
ceedings against the greatest of the
trusts oil. tobacco, beef, railroads,
salt, paper, elevators, drugs. Ire. school
furniture, anthracite coal, powder,
naval stores he carried a number of
them to a successful conclusion, and
one of them has resulted In the first
Jail sentences under the law.
President Taft has been In office less
than three years, but he has brought
thirty-seven suits to break up combi
nations dealing In sugar, tobacco,
growing, window glass, railroads, gro
ceries, towage, butter and eggs, cot
ton. bathtubs, meat, electric lamps,
bricks, lumber, milk, wire rope, maga
zines, wall paper, railroads, kindling
wood, shoe machinery and steel. He
has forced the voluntary dissolution of
a number of these combinations and
has won the two most notable anti
trust suits In history those against
the oil and tobacco trusts. Successive
Republican Congresses have not stint
ed the money to carry on this cam
paign of a Republican President
against the alleged friends of the Re
publican party. If all this be evidence
of friendliness to the trusts, well may
they cry: "Save us from our friends:"
Mr. Taft has not stopped here, but
has secured the passage of a law tax
ing corporations and requiring reports
on their business, which Is more than
any Democratic President ever did. He
has also recommended strict measures
for the regulation of corporations, that
they may not degenerate Into trusts.
Mr. Bryan not only denies him credit
for this good work, but trots out his
old bogey of state rights in opposition
to the proposed measure. He revives
his old fantastic scheme of percentage
as the test of whether a corporation is
monopolistic, though this was torn to
tatters by the ruthless logic of Justice
Hughes In Ue campaign of 190S. and
though Mr. Taft has truly said that the
most oppressive trusts are small local
combinations, which would escape en
tirely under Mr. Bryan's method of
treatment.
Simply because ex-Senator Aldrich
had a hand In devising the National
Reserve Association scheme, Mr. Bryan
can see no result from It except con
trol by the Interests of our National
finances. In his estimation, only evil
can come from anything In which Mr.
Aldrich has a hand. He closes his
eyes to the fact that the scheme is the
Joint product of sixteen, men. taken
from both parties, of whom Mr. Aid
rich Is only one. He does not exam
ine Into the Inherent merits or demer
its of the scheme, but condemns It
simply because It has been miscalled
the Aldrich pl.in. He Ignores the al
most unanimous spproval given the
reserve plan by the business interests,
big and little. "Can any good thing
come from Aldrich?" he asks, and, his
Democratic soul revolting at the mere
mention of the hated name, he answers
"No."
All of which goes to show that,
when Mr. Bryan Is In the humor to de
nounce, he closes his eyes to the facts,
sets all his prejudices to work and
proceeds to denounce.
SECOND ANNVAL LIVESTOCK SHOW.
Direct experience Is responsible for
the knowledge that the greatest in
centive to Increased livestock produc
tion and a deeper interest In animal
husbandry generally lies in the giving
of annual fat stock shows. The first
of such shows was held In Fort Worth
about sixteen years ago and the suc
cess which followed the enterprise at
that point gave Chicago the Idea for
the great International. The Fort
Worth show attracted the attention
of the packers to that city as a mar
ket center, and the International at
Chicago gave back to that cjty its
waning position as the first livestock
market In the world. Other market
center, such ss Kansas City, St. Joe,
Denver. Sioux City and South St. Paul
have found the fat stock show the
most Important educational feature
connected with the work of malntaln
lrg the livestock supply, and the Port
land show Is doing a work of like
character.
'The show held here last year ac
complished much In attracting the at
tention of the people of the Pacific
Northwest to the suitability of this
section for animal husbandry, and
since the chief Income of the farmers
of the United States 1 derived from
the sale of animals off the farm, it is
evident that the people of the North
west need encouragement along this
line, especially in view of the fact
that they are sending such vast sums
of money to the Middle States every
year for livestock and meat products.
At Denver the County Commissioners
gave 1500ft to their fat stock show,
w hich at that point charges admission.
The Portland show Is free, and does
not cloud Its influence by having
merry-go-rounds or other amusement
features: it Is strictly what Its name
signifies a livestock show.
For the second annual show to be
held at the stockyards on March 18,
19 and 10. 1912, the railroads have
granted a one and. one-third fare, on
the certificate plan, from all territory
that exhibits may come from
Wyoming. Utah. Nevada. Washington,
Idaho, Oregon and California. Breed
animals exhibited at this show can be
returned free of charge. The business
Interests of Portland can well afford
to give this show a liberal financial
support. The growth of our livestock
market Is a leading prospect, and
there .Is no reason apparent that will
prevent this market from reaching the
magnitude of that at Omaha. Tho
population of Omaha Is 124.000. but
because of its livestock Industry It
stands fifteenth In bank clearances,
being ahead of such cities as Louis
ville. Milwaukee. St. Paul. Buffalo,
Washington, Indianapolis and other
cities, all much larger than Omaha.
CHINA NEEDS FOREIGN HELP.
One of the most significant facts of
the Chinese revolution has been the
care taken by the revolutionists that
neither the persons nor the property
of foreigners should.be harmed. Here
in is seen the sharp contrast between
the revolutionists of 1911-12. w ho -regard
foreigners as their friends, actual
or potential, and the Boxers of 1D00,
whose one desire was to kill or expel
every foreigner. The revolutionists
have repeatedly warned foreigners to
keep out of tho danger zone when a
battle was In progress or Impending
and have escorted them to safety
when curiosity led them Into danger.
There are both sentiment and deep
motive behind this conduct of the
revolutionists. Their purpose being to
bring China Into step with the prog
ress of the world, they have in
stinctive respect for the Western na
tions which are In the van of that
progress and they Instinctively feel
that those nations will sympathize
with them. Their motive Is to enlist
the aid of the Western nations In the
work of modernizing and developing
China, which will be the principal
task of the new government, whether
it take the form of a constitutional
monarchy or of a republic. However
readily Chinese capitalists may devote
their wealth to this task. It Is too her
culeiyyfor them alone, and new China
must depend mainly on foreign capi
tal. Large numbers of skilled men In
every field of activity will be needed
to carrr out the great work. Though
some hundreds, perhaps thousands, of
young Chinese have acquired the nec
essary education and skill through
education abroad, they are a mere
fraction of the number required. For
eigners must be employed to direct
this work and to train up the natives
to carry it on. In order that this for
eign aid may be secured. It is neces
sary to Impress upon the foreigners'
minds that under the new dispensa
tion their persons and property will
be safe In Chjna.
China is a country one-half of
whose resources Is utterly undevel
oped through lack of the will and of
the modern means to develop them.
Of the other half, a large part has
been wantonly wasted through sheer
Improvidence and failure to think of
anything but Immediate needs. The
mineral wealth of the mountains Is
almost untouched and cannot be de
veloped without modern skill and
machinery' and railroads to bring It to
market. The mountains have been
denuded of timber and the rain has
washed off the soil until now torrents
rush unchecked down the slopes. The
earth thus washed away has choked
the lower channels of the rivers, ag
gravating the floods caused by the
sudden rise of water at every storm.
Many thousands of square miles of
land are consequently converted to a
watery waste every year, and flood,
famine and disease sweep away tens
of thousands of the population and
reduce the survivors to abject misery,
to the permanent weakening of the
nation's physique.
It will be necessary to reclaim the J
valleys by replanting the forests on
the mountains, dredging and embank
ing the rivers and draining the flood
ed land. The soil, impoverished by
centuries of Intensive cultivation such
as only the Chinese can practice and
by the repeated leaching , of its-er-tlllty
by floods, will need to be en
riched by modern, scientific methods
of agriculture. Parallel with these
works must go the creation of a new
army and navy, the construction of
I docks, shipyards, arsenals, steel works
i and big gun foundries and the im
provement of harbors.
For all these vast undertakings
i the new China will need enormous
trmounts of capital, far beyond her
own resources. For them she must
turn to the bankers of America and
Kurope. In order to inspire the con
fidence which is the first requisite to
securing these loans, she must satisfy
the foreign Investor of the stability
and good faith of the new govern
ment. The New World must be drawn
upon for the means of rejuvenating
the oldest empire of the Old World.
Young China feels her need of this
help and the New World will gladly
enter this new field of Investment and
enterprise.
BRITAIN rXREADY FOR WAR.
When reminded by Hobson and
others how utterly unprepared we are
for war and how easily a foreign army
could invade the country and march
conquering through It. there Is some
comfort In the thought that other na
tions are plagued by like fears. No
less an authority than Lord Roberts,
the hero of the Afghan and Boer wars.
In a letter to the National Review,
paints a melancholy picture of the
uselessness of the British army and
Its powerlessness to resist an Invader,
the inexhaustible optimism of the War
Minister and the supine indifference of
the nation to its danger.
The regular army, says Lord Rob
erts, has been reduced by over 30,000
men, the territorial force Is "not of the
slightest use for war purposes." and
cannot be until disciplined and taught
to shoot. The regular army, he says,
has rifles with a range of only 600
yards against 800 yards of the French
and Germans, the artillery Is not up to
date, and there are only four aero
planes fit to - take the field, while
France has 200 and Germany proposes
to spend this year 81, BOO. 000 on avia
tion alone. The territorial forces have
no discipline or training in marksman
ship except what they acquire "from
a few afternoons in the drill hall and
a fortnight at the, outside camp once a
year." Service also Is optional, though
the great bulk of members of Parlia
ment "are In their own minds persuad
ed that compulsory service is essen
tial." and are anly restrained by party
considerations from expressing these
views. The navy, "which ought to bo
unfettered to strike at a hostile force
In any portion of the world" and to
continue the uninterrupted arrival of
food and raw material from abroad, is
"hampered by constant anxiety about
the safety of our shores." If It were
decoyed away, as was Nelson's fleet,
the British Isles would be "exposed to
a descent of 700.000 of the best troops
in the world," and could offer no re
sistance, "for Lord Haldane can only
offer the nation same 260,000 patriotic
men, without skilled officers, training
or cohesion." He says as a soldier
might bo expected to'say: "No faith
can be placed in arbitrations or Hague
conferences." and he calls on the Bri
tish nation to face the reality.
This cry of alarm comes from no
mere beginner in the art of war, no
hero of one campaign. It comes from
England's greatest living General, with
the possible exception of Kitchener,
the veteran of over 50 years of war
fare tn Asia and Africa, who has risen
to the highest honors by a career full
of triumph. If his picture of the mili
tary Impotence of England be true
to the facts, what chance would she
have against the carefully trained le
gions of Germany, were the navy once
drawn away on some real or illusory
distant mission?
CANAL TOLLS A BAGATELLE.
The attention of those persons who
are agitating for free tolls for Ameri
can ships through the Panama Canal
on the ground that they will be bur
densome to traffic and a material
benefit to the transcontinental rail
roads is directed to the opinion of
Emory R. Johnson, professor of trans
portation and commerce at the Uni
versity of Pennsylvania and an ac
knowledged authority on the subject.
In an article In the Journal of Com
merce he says:
As a matter of fact. Panama Canal tolls
will be hardly burdensome to snipping- They
will add possibly 5 per cent to the average
freight rates between the two seaboards
of the I'nlted Slates. Likewise the hope of
transcontinental railroads that the canal
tolls will assist them In competing against
the coastwise steamship lines can hardly be
realized. An addition of 5 per cent to the
rates charged by coastwise carriers can be
of hut slight help tn the railroads. The
division of the traffic between rail and
water lines will not be largely affected by
such, tolls, as the I'nlted States Government
wi;i probably charge for the use of the
Panama Canal.
While the sum realized from canal
tolls will be large in the aggregate. It
will make but a trifling addition to
the cost of commodities carried. If
the canal were made free, the money
to pay Interest and cost of mainten
ance would have to be paid by the
whole nation in the shape of taxes.
If tolls are charged, this money will
be paid by those who use the canal
in proportion to the extent to which
they use it. In the shape of a small
addition to the price of the goods they
buy.
A great Impetus to direct trade'be
tween Europe and the Pacific Coast
is predicted by Professor Johnson. As
the bulk of traffic will continue to
move from America to Europe, there
will be a demand for cargo at low
rates to come this way. This will
stimulate Import of steel from Eu
rope, as the tariff Is not even now
high enough to exclude them, and
the reduction in freight effected by
the ynal will largely offset it. Thus
railroad construction in the' Pacific
States will be encouraged not only by
the great development due to the
canal, but by the lower cost of rails
and bridge steel.
It is estimated that the time con
sumed by freight steamer.? on the voy
age between New York and San Fran
cisco will be from 19 to 23 days, or
about the same time as freight trains
require to cross the continent. In
order to compete, railroads may be
expected to expedite; their service, and.
for this purpose, to push more vigor
ously, the doubling of their tracks. If
they should be able to reduce the time
of transit materially the railroads may
be able to hold a large proportion of
their transcontinental traffic without
reducing rates below a profitable ba
sis, particularly as a large proportion
of this freight would require a short
rail haul at each end' of the journey.
if grriei tv'sea and would thus
have two transfers. 'This would be an
objection to the canal route in
minds of some shippers, particularly
ln relation to perishable goods. Sav
in, in iim. u-mil.t also influence ship-
I pers of such goods in favor of the all
I rail route.
TAFT'B ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.
No finer example can be found of
President Taft's indifference to all po
litical considerations and to his per
sonal feelings, when they come In con
flict with his official duty, than his
treatment of the two convicts. Walsh
and Morse. His action in these cases
is worthy of imitation by other execu
tives, whose memory of their official
oath is blotted out by, and whose
sense of duty to the public Is dis
solved In, the Intercessory tears of a
child.
The President has been subjected to
pressure almost unprecedented in be
i half of the two convict bankers. The
I age of Walsh, the restitution of mis
1 appropriated funds by Morse and the
heroic fidelity of his wite. tne ni
health of both men have been power
ful arguments In the mouths of those
who regard as seml-sacrllege the ap
plication of the law's penalties to any
of their class who diverge from the
path of rectitude. Men of that class
dare not openly deny that rich and
poor, wise and foolish, are equal be
fore the law. but they deny that doc
trine in their hearts and by their acts.
There lurks In their minds the un
expressed belief that a Walsh or a
Morse should enjoy immunity and,
that, while in theory the law- should
treat all alike, in practice it should
always make exceptions of men of
their class: that its penalties should
be. Imposed only on the poor and
friendless, not on the rich and Influ
ential. Against this pernicious doctrine Mr.
Taft has stood firm as a rock. Besieged
by the clamor of the hosts of friends
of the offenders, many of whom may
be his own friends; deluged with let
ters of protest, many of them Insolent
in their terms: warned that the bank
era' incarceration would cause their
death, he has refused to yield. He
has- clearly seen that the greatest se
curity for the lives and property of
those same rich men who thus sought
to be exempt from the law's penalties
was the enforcement of those penalties
against men of their class who of
fended. He has seen that to make an
exception in favor of one rich man
would be an encouragement to a
score of poor men to claim exemption
and to act upon the claim. He has
seen that the time when professed
champions of the poor have acted
upon the assumption that they can
only secure Justice by carrying on a
secret, private war. In defiance of law.
Is no time to justify such assumption,
by granting immunity to the rich. He
has refused credit to the Interested
pleas of physicians that Incarcera
tion meant early death to the prison
ers, who were both suffering from In
curable disease. He has listened only
to the reports of those physicians who
had risen to the highest offices in the
Government service by long and faith
ful service and who are not swerved
from duty by the tears of sorowing
w ives nor deceived by the wiles of the
malingerer. Warm-hearted, " sympa
thetic and. loyal to his frlends.the
President has set at naught his own
feelings, the threats and promise's of
the influential, and has followed the
line of strict justice.
But his final disposition of the
Walsh and Morse cases has shown
that he has tempered justice with
mercy; that he regards the penalties
imposed by law as punishment, not
vengeance. When convinced by the
reports of men of his own choice that
continued imprisonment would serve
only to aggravate their final suffer
ings, which must soon end in death
in any case, he granted . them their
liberty, but did not pardon them. In
his eyes, the greater a man's oppor
tunity and ability to make use of it,
the greater the crime when that man
misuses his opportunity and misapplies
his ability. Convinced that they had
knowingly defied the law. he could
grant no pardon, only clemency.
Mr. Taft, amiable and genial in his
personal relations, staunchly standing
by a wronged friend, even at the sac
rifice of political prestige, stands
forth as the stern champion of jus
tice, tempering that Justice with mercy
only when it would degenerate into
cruelty. Such a man is worthy the
trust of a great Nation, riven by class
dissension, for' nothing equals even
handed justice as a healer of such
divisions.
DEATH FOR LESSER CRIMES. .
It is true that there Is not much
profit to be obtained by submitting the
present-day question of expediency of
capital punishment to the test of
Scriptural admonitions. Yet we will
not go so far as Mr. C. A. Lewis, whose
letter Is printed today. Mr. Lewis
seems to believe that, inasmuch as
modern enlightenment and Christian
Ideals have repealed the death penalty
for the Inferior crimes for which It
was prescribed in the Old Testament,
they have also repealed the Biblical
authorization of capital punishment
for murder, simply because the latter
was contained In the Mosaic code of
penalties. '
The penalties prescribed in the Old
Testament were fixed to protect soci
ety and meet conditions of that day.
We can no more say that they were
cruel and Inhuman under the neces
sities of the times than we can assert
that the law enforcement on the fron
tier In pioneer days was unnecessarily
cruel or the deeds of the vigilance
committee in San Francisco were in
human. Following recent disasters,
the swift death meted out to ghouls
under martial law has been univer
sally commended. We approve of
these things when society's welfare
needs them, but we do not advocate
their adoption promiscuously.
- It may surprise Mr. Lewis and oth
ers who look upon capital punishment
as antiquated and barbarous to be told
that we, need not look to pioneer times
or the necessities following occasional
catastrophes to find measures paral
leling the severity of the Mosaic law.
Probably one of the latest compre
hensive reviews of penalties for crime
as they exist in the several states was
prepared by Frederick Howard Wines
for the 1890 census report. This pa
per was considered sufficiently timely
to be given a place In a volume pub
lished by the Sage Foundation In 1910
on prison reform and criminal law.
At Mie time Mr. Wines wrote, per
jury. If the witness thereby designed
to effect the execution of an Innocent
person, was punishable by death in
Missouri: maiming in a certain form
was punishable by death in Georgia;
arson of an occupied dwelling by night
w as punishable by death in Delaware,
Virginia. North Carolina and Louisi
ana; the maximum penalty for arson
In the daytime, of a building not a
dwelling and without the curtilage of
any dwelling was death in Maryland,
South Carolina and Georgia; for burg
lary by night the death penalty pre
vailed in North Carolina; in Louisiana
It was Imposed if the burglar wa
armed or made an assault; also in
Delaware, if the intent iwas to commit
murder, rape or arson.
In the foregoing list we find arson,
burglary, perjury and mayhem capita
crimes "in certain states, but twenty
years ago, and the Sage Foundation
volume does not show that these law
are even now repealed. We can Infer
that in some of the cases cited the
penalties there prescribed grew out of
a certain condition in society that de
manded a severe remedy. Criminal
tendencies demand strong deterrents.
To be really deterrent, - penalties at
times must be severer than at others.
Even If they were old statutes left
over undisturbed from a sterner pe
riod, their existence seems to question
Mr. Lewis' apparent belief that no ad
vocate of capital punishment has the
"brazen hardihood" to defend It for
aught but murder.
- The Oregonian, in citing the laws of
ntli.r atntea is not advocatlne- caDttal
' punishment for lesser cjimes than
. , i . . . i n WaTIm.a
premeo.iia.tea nturuci. i uuw,
however, that the homicide record of
this country when compared with that
Of- other nations calls for adequate
punishment for abhorrent cases and
there is no punishment that Is ade
quate but death. We should retain
in our laws the deterring influence of
capital punishment, and. what is
equally important, supplement it with
certain and expeditious infliction.
ECONOMY NEEDED IN THE ARMT.
President Taft's policy of economy
and efficiency might well be extended
to the Army on the lines suggested by
Secretary of War Stlmson. its distri
bution In small garrisons at isolated
points is a survival of the dass of In
dian warfare. As those days are end
ed, the only uses to which our Army is
likely to be put are the repulse of for
eign invaders and the suppression of
Internal disorder. Its division into
small units, often at small towns, nul
lifies its usefulness for both these .pur
poses and Injuriously affects its effi
ciency. It should be concentrated in
large units at or near the centers of
population, which are also the great
railroad termini and Junction points.
It could then be well trained in large
bodies, could be quickly mobilized for
foreign service and would be readily
avallable to suppress disturbances,
which are most likely , to break out in
large cities.
This policy would leave garrisons
at or near San Francisco, Portland
and Seattle on the Pacific Coast, but
would abolish many of those in the
plains and mountains, where facilities
for rapid transportation are limited
and where any local disturbance could
as easily be suppressed by detaching
troops from one of the large- garri
sons as by maintaining a local garri
son. Not only Is the efficiency of the
Army seriously affected by its present
antiquated distribution, but its cost
per capita is from two to five times as
much as that of any European army,
leaving out of consideration the high
er pay and subsistence our soldiers
receive. '
That Mr. Stimson is working toward
the general end of economy is shown
by his plan for recruiting to their
full strength the regiments -stationed
in the tropics, whereby he expects to
increase efficiency and make a net
saving of nearly 84,000.000 a year.
While President Taft speaks of prac
tical measures to put business on a
sound foundation and practices what
he preaches, that "old-fashioned, simple-minded
citizen and Democrat"
prates about "the faith of our fathers"
and puts Bryan in the same class as
Hearst. For the ex-attorney of the
Standard OH Company, who has got
rich by serving the trusts while he
pretended to serve the people, to de
nounce Bryan for getting rich out of
pcflitlcs Is the acme of impudent hy
pocrisy. But that Is the kind of a
simple-minded citizen Bailey is.
If Solicitor McCabe had not stirred
up that fuss about Rusby's little 81600
salary, he might have continued to
nullify all "Pure Food". Wiley's good
work. Now he is ordered to keep
hands off both by the President and
the unanimous report of the House
committee, and Wiley has a free hand.
The only man who gains by the Rusby
scandal Is the man whom it was de
signed to throw out of office, Wriley
himself.
The New Tork Four Hundred is all
a-flutter at the prospect of entertain
ing a royal Duke, for he Is far su
perior to the common, gardei variety
of Duke, such as was annexed and
later discarded by Consuelo Vander
bllt. The young men may also indulge
hopes of melting the frigid heart of
"Princess Pat." who has blighted the
hopes of more Kings and Princes than
has any other Princess in Europe.
Well, Professor Stephens is rlght
the Declaratlon'of Independence was
campaign document. So powerful a
campaign document was it that the
Americans fought for slx'years for the
principles it enunciated, founded a Na
tion upon it and inspired France to
overturn an ancient monarchy, found
another republic and set every throne
in Europe rocking.
Compromise between Clark and
Folk may put the Missouri candidate
more strongly in the running for the
Democratic nomination, especially
since Wilson's star Is waning. Mis
souri can put forward a strong claim
through having entered the list of
doubtful states.
Having robbed the jail at San Diego,
the thief may next hold up the Chief
of Police with the Chiefs own gun
and lock him in one of his cells. But
when one cones to think of it, a Jail
is a safe place to rob, for the victims
cannot escape and are all disposed tc
suspect each other.
Stotesbury. should not be content
with one copyrighted photograph of
his wife's face immediately after mar
riage, but should have a series, one on
each wedding anniversary, to illustrate
the gradual ripening and decay of the
lady's charms.
There may be another reason why
Miss Sylvia Pankhurst does not value
her leap year privilege, but we leave It
to the reader's lniaajaHiiHlJg
Scraps and Jingles
Leese Caaa Baea,
Xo. gentle readers and lnauirers. Miss
1 Calamity Step-and-fetch-lt, the cul
tured, etc., lady poet from Kansas, is
not dead or wed, but she has been "en
Joying a severe 'attack of "writer's
cramp." She writes to say, and uses the
same postage stamp to cover mailing
me a cute little thing she dashed off
about a "Visit to the Rose City" she
made last year. Also she takes occa
sion to ask If "the Silver Thaw The
Oregonian talked so much about re
cently is any relation to the crasy gen
tleman who is trying to scape from
Mattewan?"
Here are Calamity's verses:
I.
The treasures of Portland's crowded
city.
What the Ad Club calls her fairest
crown.
I had viewed only in newspaper pic
tures Until one day I visited in the town.
I climbed clear up The Oregonian tower.
And inspected the City Museum's
treasures:
Because I didn't take much money
along,
I went In for simple, inexpensive
. pleasures.
III.
I explored all over the Hawthorns
bridge.
And from the top of the Teon build
ing, gigantic,
I observed my fellow ladies and gents
Disporting below in curious antics.
IV.
The custom-house and the park soo.
A long stroll past rich people's houses.
Looked grand to me. for I have lived
Where Ignorance of all but cows is.
V.
I rode in several streetcars being
cheap
And a real estate agent conveyed me
In an auto out to see a five-acre tract.
Neither his talk or the rain dismayed
me.
VI.
Kind passers-by pointed out objects of
interest:
I Just asked people "What is that
place?"
Invariable they looked surprise, but
told me.
After one square look at my intelli
gent face.
a a e
Probably when Mrs. Tingley said she
expected to ride In the Chariot of the
Sun, she referred to a light carriage,
a a e
Still speaking of rigs was Pegasus
the first one-horse fly?
a a e
Life's a Journey a traveling
Whether on foot or In motor we take It.
And it's our own fault If we don't do aui
best
A fine pleasure excursion to maka It.
see
A new wine has Just been named
Naked Port, Guess there must be some
body to it.
e e e
Most of us prefer to cut our dla-mond-ln-the-rough
friends. .
a a . e
Definition of the present day Tour
or My Birthdaj-.
a e e
Folk are affected by prosperity
As objects take the sun's full flood.
Some ara melted Into softest wax
And others hardened into mud.
e e e
Would you call the new China the
rising generation?
e a a
A theosophist lady Is spreading
broadcast a religion that includes
bathing a dosen times daily. Dispas
sionately speaking I think any phil
osophy that holds bathing even an es
sential will ever prove a riot with the
masses.
see
Answer to Perplexed Farmer Wine
or imported beers mixed with the food
given to stubborn mules has been
known to work wonders.
e e
Two men, an American and an Eng
lishman, were scrapping over the rel
ative size of the Mississippi and
Thames rivers, and the American
clinched the argument by saying that
there wasn't enough water In the
Thames to make a wash for the mouth
of the Mississippi.
e
Could you say a dentist was an ar
tist because he can paint a gum and
draw the tooth?
Half a Century Ago
tt TV,. -,.,, o-or. I an nf .Tan 21. 1 8(52.
I i u 11 1 i u l " -
D de Romanoff, Lieutenant-Colonel
due Genie et chef des Telegraph.es en
Siberie Orlentale. has dome to the coun
try to inspect the telegraph system In
use with a view- to its adoption in con
structing a line from Omsk, in Liberia,
to Irkoutsk, and thence to the Pacific,
While Russia is pushing the line east
wardly. the line from St. Louis to San
Francisco is nearly completed. There
is now to construct but 200 miles of
the line between the Rocky Mountains
and the Salt Lake and it will be open
within 40 days. The Russian lines
across the Urals and that of the United
States across the Rocky Mountains be
ing completed, there remains only the
intervening space on the American
side from Portland, Or., to Behring
Straits, about 1700 miles, and on the
Asiatic side from the straits to the
mouth of the Amoor, or about i200. In
all say about 4000 miles to complete
the circuit of the earth. N. T. Times.
A covey of quails were never thrown
Into greater confusion at the discharge
of the sportsman's gun than the seces
sionists all about Oregon on the publl-
. . i . . i . .iwn.il hi- T'n inn
Cation Of tile nuui ft "J
men, calling a State Union convention.
. . i nanocM eava that
une or tne bbccobiwh . - - -
the signers were deceived in puttlnr
their names to the paper; another, that
the call will not be seconded by the
. n nrtiVi .r throws out on
people, nu . L .
the occasion the usual quantity of filth
and blackguardism. The signers of that
call are known to be among the truest
and best citizens pt Oregon old set
tlers well-known to the people and
men who do not take a step without
duly weighing its importance.
The sidewalks on Morrison street in
the vicinity of the public schoolhouse
are In a wretched condition: one's neck
is endangered in passing by that way.
If our city charter is not adequate for
the purpose of enforcing an ordinance
to this effect, we might as well repeal
the whole thing at once, and not en
force the law against one portion of our
citizens and not against the other.
From persons who have arrived from
the Interior we are sorry to learn that
the farmers are sustaining great losses
from the dying of their cattle by star
vation. This is particularly the case
all along the streams, which carried
away the feed during the late flood.
A sleigh express was running yester
day to and from Vancouver. Quite a
number of passengers went and came.
Owing to the accumulation of large
quantities of Ice near Rock Island, on
the upper Willamette, no steamboats
are now running.
Mr. Panber has still a few of the
celebrated Clatsop potatoes, which ara
not frozen. They are for sale at Rich
ards & McCraken's cellar.
1