THE SUNDAY OREGONIAX. PORTLAND, AUGUST 4,
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BTLAXD. SUNDAY, AIGIST 4. MM.
" TOMORROW AT CHICAGO.
A full-blown National party Is to
V tnn,n.rni at Chicago. OUt Of
e overpowering personal ambition of
nrin Roosevelt, springing like
nerva from the brain of Jupiter.
sole purpose is to make Mr. .oo:
t President again. To achieve that
n it plans to march over m
dy of the Republican party it
hlta House. It has no otner non
lotlve and no other real platform.
Colonel Roosevelt were to aie or
it or rive the word to nis man
llowers to go back home, the new
rty would collapse like a rouse '
rri of th touch of a vandal finger.
le assumption or pretense that the
i-A ,-nir-os in itself a vital
&d for return to first principles in
hmocratic government through a sep
tate and independent political organ-
ation Is wholly false. There is noin-
t to the new party but coionei
.vilt He is its beginning and
lid. center and circumference, outside
id inside, the whole thing. If Koose
;lt had not been defeated at Chicago
:ere would be no new party. If
oosevelt shall be beaten in Novem
;r. the new party will vanish like the
ists of the morning.
Let us. therefore, look at the situa-
on frankly and see if the country
ust have Colonel Roosevelt lor pres
ent, and consider what is Involved in
s election. Why Colonel Roosevelt
nd no other? why the new ana
range doctrines Colonel Roosevelt
cpounds? Why the satellites ana
iminarles and parasites who must be
ccepted with him? Why the perpet-
ation of the Roosevelt dynasty in me
k"hite House? Why the repudiation
f the third term precedent? vvny
tie destruction of the Republican par-
y? Why the rejection of a President
ho has striven faithfully to do nis
hole duty? Why the embarrassment
11 proDaDie aeicat ui a. u"u"
ful Republicans who are serving
ir country well In Congress and the
rlous states? Why the tolerance and
proval of known demagogues and
ilcontents who have attached them
ves to the new party? Why a thou
ld consequences, most of them
ublesome. some of them disastrous.
nd all of them needless, tnrougn uie
iivision of the Republican party and
ts temporary eclipse?
We shall see assembled at Chicago
. large company of gentlemen who
eel that they have a grievance
gainst the Republican party through
. . . .
ts refusal to nominate Colonel Roose-
elt, or who think that they have not
had the personal consideration from
Vhe old party their merits entitled
hem, to have, or who have other sur
iclent motives for turning their backs
bn their former party affiliations. We
pave no wish to minimize the slgnifl-
ance'of the Roosevelt revolt, nor to
Heceive ourselves or the public as to
the numbers it represents. But w-e
Cannot be blind to the fact that nearly
fc.ll the progressive leaders of the coun-
rr who have identified themselves
kith the forward movement of the day
nd have had a hand in the construc-
ive legislation of Congress and the
ktates will be absent from the Chicago
gathering. La Follette will not be
here;-'nor Borah, nor Hadley, nor
ICummiBs, nor Deneen, nor Stlmson,
trior Fisher, nor many other familiar
tnd 'worthy figures. Only Governor
LTohnson, Heney, Garfield, Plnchot,
Beveridge. Poindexter and the liko.
ome of them are indeed influentiul
men. but the bulk of progressive lead-
?rship the men who bore the heat
and burden of the day when insur
gency was a Jest and a by-word, and
who -never faltered through storm or
stress, or danger or defeat have de
clined to throw their hats In the ring
with the Colonel's. Senator Borah,
Senator Cummins. Senator La Follette
and Governor Hadley were not for Mr.
Taft before the National convention.
but they were not able to see that the
Republican party was a mere personal
asset and private possession of Colo
nel Roosevelt's, to be taken over by
him at his pleasure; so they have de
clined to follow him, and will stay
with the ship.
One swallow does not make a Sum
mer, nor one act a progressive states
man, nor one mistake a complete rec
ord, nor one political defeat an Irre
trievable disaster. June 22. 1912, was
not the end of all things, because it
saw the triumph of Taft and the
humiliation of Roosevelt. La Follette
thought there would be another day
for him and his cause, and so did
Borah, Hadley and the rest. But not
so Roosevelt. That fateful day In
Tune sounded the last trump for the
Republican party, in his view; and he
bolted.
The Republican party has signally
honored Colonel Roosevelt. It gave
him various minor positions of trust
and dignity. It made him Governor
of New York. It made him Vice-
President and then President. It re'
posed in him the unexampled confi
dence of accepting his recommenda
tion as to his successor, and it ac
quitted him of any accountability for
the mistake. If It was a mistake. It
proclaimed him in his retirement as
the first citizen of America. It solicit
ed his counsel in its affairs, and it
expected, as it had a right to expect,
that he would do his utmost to make
the Administration of his successor
efficient and satisfactory. But he did
nothing of the sort. He acknowledged
no obligation to protect Mr. Taft or to
unite behind him, or any one but him
self, the Republican party. He coun
selled with the enemies of the Presi
Sent. He was the most potent influ
ence In destroying public confidence
!n the Administration. He aided the
effort to defeat his own designated
successor for renomination. Finally
he openly repudiated his own handi
work, and himself became a candidate
frr the Presidency. He declined to
listen to any suggestion of any other
candidate but himself. Invoking the
name of Lincoln, he now taxes upon
himself the responsibility of wrecking
th Turtv that ree-ftn its illustrious ca
reer with the election of Lincoln, and
that identified its name and recora lor
50 years with the most glorious era
of the country's history.
The National Progressive party will
nominate Mr. Roosevelt for President,
ami It n-fll a-n hafnre the country on
an extremely radical platform. Gov
ernment ownership or various puout
utilities, and many other extraordi
nary nronosals will find expression
through the new party. It will offer
no intelligent and comprenensive
d economic Justice
and equality. It will be the outright
propaganda of socialism, discontent
and revolution. It will not recognize
the great truth that all progress is
slow and halting, and that the wisest
statesmanship undertakes one great
National reform at a time; Dut it win
declare that all things we have are
ivronsr. and evervthincr must be done, at
once. It will proceed on the theory
that what Is new is likeiy io prove
nnnnlsr anrl what Is old Is USeleSS and
reactionary. It will seek to pander to
every popular fancy, or whimsy, or
folly, and it will make no appeal to
sanity or moderation or self-restraint.
What are we coming to?
THE TARRED STICK.
"Mr. Tart's election means," said
Mr. Roosevelt in a recent Outlook edi
torial "the perpetuation of the control
of the Cranes, Barneses, Penroses and
Guggenheims. Dr. Wilson's election
means the perpetuation of the control
of the Murphys, Taggarts, Sullivans,
the Evans-Hughes people and their
like."
Is Crane worse than Tom Lawson,
Barnes worse than Timothy Woodruff,
Penrose worse than Bill Flinn, Gug
genheim worse than George W. Per
kins? If the candidate is to be de
termined by the company he keeps,
let us come a little nearer home.
Where did Dr. Henry Waldo Coe get
his title to progresslvgness ? Or any
of the other cast-offs and left-overs
of the Republican party who have
tied their hats to the tail of the Roose
velt kite? Yet Coe is running the
Roosevelt campaign in Oregon.
What is this we see in the current
Associated Press dispatches about fi
nancing the new party? This straight
from Perkins, the steel trust angel:
The movement has ample funds and will
continue to have ample funds as Ions; as
It Is directed In the hlh spirit that has pre
vailed thus far.
There it is in black and white. The
party of the people does not even at
tempt to disguise the fact that Perkins
is furnishing the money.
Yet Colonel Roosevelt has the au
dacity to complain of Crane, Penrose
and Guggenheim, and at the same
time to get all he can out of Perkins
or any other boss or trust or political
machine or financial angel.
A HINT AND A WARNING.
If Great Britain would abandon her
support of the Monroe doctrine, she
could easily settle her differences with
Germany and call a halt to the ruin
ous race in naval expansion in which
those two nations are engaged. That
is the plain intimation in an article
of the Vancouver Province which dis
cusses the frequent predictions of war.
The argument of the Province is
that new markets for Germany's ever
increasing manufactured products
have become an absolute necessity for
that country; that Britain interfered
with her in finding them in Morocco by
supporting the claims of France to
that country; that she now prevents
Germany from finding markets In
South America by supporting the Mon
roe doctrine, which Germany inter
prets to mean that the United States
is looking to South America as a spe
cially preserved market for United
States traffic. This condition exists at
a time when the Impending completion
of the Panama Canal awakens hope of
much larger trade opportunities in
South America, and when, but for
British support of the United States,
Germany could easily find a prerext to
extort from the South American coun
tries trade concessions which would
open their markets to her.
It is contended that Britain, has
nothing to gain by war with Germany
neither trade nor territory; that in
supporting the Monroe doctrine she
is moved by the sentiment embodied in
the "blood is thicker than water"
phrase. This, to Germany, is not prac
tical, for with her business is busi
ness, might is right, and, in the words
of the Province, "If a nation cannot
look after its own interests it is a
natural sequence that someone who is
better equipped shall come along and
take that business away." If Germany
is faced by the fact that Great Britain
supports the United States silently,
but none the less effectively, with the
British fleet, the only logical way out
of the difficulty, argues this Journal,
Is for Germany to build such a fleet
that Great Britain cannot Interfere or
will find it too expensive, to back up
weak nations. The Province concludes
with this veiled suggestion that Great
Britain settle her quarrel 1 with Ger
many by leaving the United Stiten to
maintain the Monroe doctrine unaided:
Besides, has Great Britain ever received
anything: but insults from the very Nation
that she protects for sentimental consider
ations 7 What possible interest has Great
Britain in the Monroe Doctrine? If any
person will kindly answsr these questions to
Germany's satisfaction they will do more
to assure the peace of the world than any
amount or tneory as to the impossibility
of war between civilised nations.
In the face of this suggestion from
one of the leading newspapers in Brit
tain's largest colony, that the United
States be thrown on her own re
sources for the maintenance of the
Monroe doctrine, what does Congress
do? It not only seriously proposes 13
adopt a policy of discrimination on the
Panama Canal which Great Britain
views as a violation of treaty rights.
but the Democratic House proposes to
cease adding to our fleet in spite of
the indisputable dictum of the Navy
Department that "the Monroe doctrine
is International law only while backed
by the fleet." At the very time when
the one nation which disputes the
validity of the Monroe doctrine is
striving to build a navy equal to that
of the world's greatest naval power,
the Democrats balk at adding even
one battleship to our Navy. We are
already behind Germany and are tlvl
with France for third and fourth
place. Three years hence we shall
have fallen behind Russia as well as
France and possibly behind Japan, if
the Democrats have their way. If
other nations should adhere to their
shipbuilding programme and iwe
should adhere to the Democratic pol
icy of building no ships, in 1915 we
shall have only ten capital ships-
dreadnoughts and battle cruisers to
German's twenty-three, and the three
South American republics of Brazil,
Argentine and Chile, combined, will
be able to marshal a fleet of seven
dreadnoughts. The Democratic policy
would reduce our percentage of the
world's capital warships from 11, as
It now stands, to t in 1915 and 5 in
1920. Then, without the backing of
Great Britain, where would the Mon
roe doctrine be? It would stand ex
posed as a bluff which we could not
make good.
What wA'need. above all else, in the
politics of this country, is the accept
ance of certain National policies as
axioms which all parties should agree
to sustain. Such are the maintenan
of the Monroe doctrine and of a suffi
cient Navy to sustain it, unaiaea d
any other nation. When the German
government calls for more ships, all
parties in the Reichstag, with the ex
ception of the sdcialists. combine to
vote them. When the British govern
ment makes a similar demand, the
Tory leader seconds the Liberal pre
mier. In the. United States the Navy
u mails the football of politics by
statesmen whose patriotism consists in
the utterance or Deauuiui senumniw
n Jnnrv latitudes. Unless our states
men place patriotism above politics, as
do those of Britain and uermany, ine
Navy will sink into the decay from
wVilrh w hpiran to rescue it some
thirty years ago and we shall no longer
dare even to mention tne Monroe
doctrine.
"IFS" AND "BCT8" ABOUT ROOSETIXT.
"One Voter" is heard from again
and we print his letter elsewhere.
Doubtless Mr. Roosevelt might have
been renominated in 1908 if he had
desired; but he preferred to designate
another, with the threat that "if you
won't take Taft, you'll take me." The
oniinrrv tnnlr Taft. NOW Roosevelt
says in effect, "if you won't take me
I'll wreck the Republican pan. a
good many people appear to be pre
pared to accept the latter alternative.
The Oregonian has several times
given its view of the California case,
tt think the naltrv two Roosevelt dele
gates ought not to have been taken
over through the steam-roller, on any
nnrelv technical ground, though it has
vrv little svmnathv with the preten
sion of California that they were
stolen. California by sharp practice
had endeavored to exclude the Taft
minority from any sort of representa
tion on the delegation, though it had
fair notice that the historic rule of
iiictrift ranrespntation would be en
forced. But California went ahead,
and gagged the Taft minority by a
unit-rule law, and then roared ana
howled about the "sovereign rights of
California being invaded." Rot. How
about the National convention's right
tn nraspribR the method of election of
Its delegates.xwhich California cooly
sought to Ignore?
It is the invariable rule of Congress
tn iurmi all slttlnsr members to vote
tested cases, except their own.
Charles F. Crisp was elected Speaker
at a time when hi& .seat was contested,
and he voted on other contests. Should
he have been disqualified? If so, It is
not only likely, but it is certain, that
a mtiinrltv In Pnneress would thus be
converted into a minority by the easy
process of instituting frivolous con
tests. So in a National convention.
The great majority of the inde
fensible Roosevelt contests were
instituted so that, if Roosevelt might
have a majority of the National
committee, the contestants could
or would be seated, if he needed
ih.iti r,r if the committee was against
him, he would pursue precisely the
tactics that were pursued, suugm
to disqualify all delegates whose seats
nnnreateri. and he failed, and he
should have failed. It was a deliber
ate conspiracy to steal the convention.
The moral distinction between an or
ganized conspiracy to steal and an out
right theft is not obvious to anyone
except an infatuated devotee at the
T7nrtAvelt shrine.
wnw does "One Voter" know tnat
Roosevelt would have vetoed the
Payne-Aldrlch bill? He knows It Just
a ha linnws other things about Roose
velt. He guesses so. But it will in
terest him to read the rew lorn staie
niaifnrm of 1910. Indorsing in the
strongest terms the Payne-Aldrich law.
The state convention in that year was
presided over by Colonel Kooseveu
and was In his direct control. So far
as The Oregonian knows, the tariff
plank in that platform is tne oniy
specific expression as to the tariff of
1909 that might fairly be credited to
Colonel Roosevelt.
LOSS OF INTEREST AT THE POLLS.
t. rMirrent number of the Atlan
tic Monthly a contributor presents
intni-mtlnir flsrures compiled to
DU1I1D ... . ' CI 'J -
prove that, while the population of
Wisconsin is increasing, tne vote poueu
. .iiTi. la diminishing. The con
trasts In total votes cast in several elec
tions might, we believe, be ascrlDeo
to a variety of influences, sucn as
xnnrlitlnns on election days,
imnnrtanee of issues presented, off-
vr anathv and the like, out mis
uri-iter sees but one reason for the in
dicated decrease of Interest in politics.
It Is the direct primary.
Th human animal is gregarious, he
"Ma does not take his politics
in solitude, nor form his opinions, nor
express them, in secret. The primary
detaches the vote rrom tne political
forum. The result is purely personal
politics." The figures the author gives
in support of this view reveal that in
1 01 n nr h an the nonulatlon was practi-
oaiiv dnnhln that of 1880. the com
bined vote of all parties was almost
identical with that of the earlier year.
He also notes that "Rusk polled more
votes in 1884 than McGovern polled in
1910. La Follette has never ponea as
larim a. vote In the state as tnat coned
by his Immediate predecessor."
By analyzing these ngures even
Virieflv we find that the'vote in a Pres
idential elertinn vear. 1884. has been
compared with a vote In an "off year."
loin Tnara ts ftiwavfl greater in.ier
eat in nolitics In a Presidential year.
Many voters, who will not take the
tmahla tn raat their nallota when onlv
state or Congressional offices are to be
filled, vote the whole ticket when a
President la to be elected. We are un
able to discern, moreover, how votes
for individuals can have any beexing
on the subject. Party strength fluctu
ates. Personal popularity of the can
didate has marked influence on the
number of votes he receives. The fall
ing off of the vote for the successful
Gubernatorial candidate in Wisconsin
in 1910 may mean a variety of things
beside apathy of the voters.
The total vote cast in Oregon in
1910 also shows a diminution from the
nrnnortionate vote cast in nrevious
years. Yet we are not inclined to place
the blame offhand on the direct pri
mary. In 1898 the vote for Governor
enmnared with the census taken two
years later was 20.48 per cent. This
was before the days of the direct pri
mary and the percentage has not been
so high since then. In 1902 it was
18.2 ner cent of the population. This
alcn waa hpfora wa had the direct Dri-
marv Tn 190S. when the direct primary
had been In operation two years, tne
percentage Jumped to 18.69. In 1910 It
ell tn 1 7.4 9. These are all "off years."
If
the same percentage or population
had voted for Governor In 1910 as did
in 1898, the total vote polled In the
last election would have been 20,000
greater. Did these 20,000 voters ab
sent themselves from the polls be
cause of apathy Induced by direct pri
mary methods?
We can devise several theories for
the apparent lack of Interest in general
elections In recent years in Oregon, One
is that because of increasing use of the
initiative and the resultant overbur
dening of the ballot the voter is tiring
of his Job. We might aver that two
campaigns primary and general elec
tion also weary the elector of politi
cal strife. We can even find therein
an argument in favor of the direct pri
mary. Does it not give us nomina
tions so uniformly good that many vot
ers are satisfied, no matter which
ticket wins?
Our true conviction is that we elect
too many officers and present too many
laws for rejection or adoption. While
not in sympathy with those who would
chop the whole state administration
down to one executive, or abolish one
branch of the Legislature, we can see
virtue in a sane short ballot and in
safeguards against piffling initiative
laws. . The voter has too much to do.
Often he knows none of the candidates
and a glance at the list of proposed
measures staggers him. When he
knows nothing about candidates and
has not time to digest the laws, nat
urally he sees no occasion for voting.
' SLOWING DOWN.
A good many citizens of Portland
have been haled into court, during the
past week or two, for speeding their
automobiles through the streets, and
for other infractions of the traffic
laws. For the most ,part, they are
men who do not break laws and who
have had no thought of transgressing
the strict line of their public or pri
vate duty. Some of them regard
themselves as martyrs to an unreason
able public clamor and others victims
of public persecution. Still others are
conscious that the public has rights
they have not respected, and they pay
their fines willingly.
The result has been a noticeable
slackening of the speed at which au
tomobiles run about town and a much
stricter conformance with traffic reg
ulations. Why cannot an automobile
driver go at slow speed through
crowded streets and at a moderate
gait over suburban streets? There
are thousands of automobiles in Port
land and there are 250,000 people and
all have an equal right to the streets.
If there is an accident, when an auto
mobilist is making an effort to ob
serve the rules of the road, no one
can fairly be blamed; but if there is
to be no regulation, and the fool with
the car may do as he pleases, there
will be no safety anywhere.
But the fools are in the great
minority. The average automobile
owner is a reasonable man and a law-
abiding citizen. He wants to hurt
nobody, and moreover he wants to
take no chance of hurting' anybody.
The trouble has been that long im
munity from trouble has given nearly
all automobilists a false sense of se
curity, which has been destroyed by
the recent series of mishaps and by
the police activity. Now the motor
cars have slowed down and everybody
feels safer, and nobody is the worse
for it.
.If the police will continue to enforce
the traffic regulations, the motor car
drivers will soon get in the habit of
conforming to them, and there will
be no apparent hardship, nor will the
automobile be less popular or desir
able. INTERMARRIAGE AND RACE PREJU
DICE.
The scientific Chicago Evening Post
has read the Pacific Coast a lesson
on the subject of race prejudice. It
takes for its text an article published
recently in The Oregonian that ' dis
cussed the immorality and the misery
of marital unions between Japanese
and Americans. It is not necessary to
review what The Oregonian said on
the subject. It need only be stated
that actual race prejudice had little
part therein. The idea that may be
read between the lines of the Post's
article deserves whatever comment
should be made. The Post has this to
say:
What The Oregonian hasn't done, and
what, to be as scientific as It pretends to
be, it certainly should do, is to ask Itself
what the results of such a union would
be if the community didn't make it nn hard
as possible for the couple. Would any such
demoralization follow? There certainly
would not. Marriages between the various
races are extremely numerous, and the only
cases In which they have proved in any
senre degrading; are twofold when they
have been examples of concubinage rather
than of marriage, as in the Philippines, or
when they have occurred in a country which
was for some reason opposed to that par
ticular sort of racial crossing. All other
cases whatsoever have gotten off scot free.
The Post is established nearer Ellis
Island than it is the entry ports of
the Pacific Coast. Apparently its
vision of Japanese immigration is in
spired by what it knows of European
immigration. The picture of the Ital
lan accompanied by his family flock
or of files of Scandinavian men and
women seeking homes and employ
ment in America is duplicated as" it
turns it3 gaze Westward. It needs a
clearer and closer vision, a better un
derstanding. The Japanese who come
to America are men and boys. Their
women almost all of them are left
at home.
The marriage of Japanese men and
American women are "examples of
concubinage rather than marriage,'
which the Post itself condemned. They
are not undertaken by the men with
any of the finer thoughts home, love
of children or wifely companionship
To put it bluntly, the inspira
tion with the male is sexual conveni
ence. The American woman who en
ters into such a union, as asserted in
The Oregonlan's earlier article, is mor
ally or mentally defective.
The misery which extends to the
women and the hybrid children of
such marriages is caused only in small
part by race prejudice and the race
prejudice that does exist extends
among both races. We have among
the Chinese on the Pacific Coast many
men of strong mentality, implicit hon
esty and modern education. They have
married their own countrywomen and
they have reared their children in
America. The children have attended
school with, our children. They have
grown to maturity in America and are
American citizens. In education,
physique, elementary morals, habits
of dress, they are not very. If any,
different from the average white
American. Yet we do not assimilate
them, as we have the children of the
European races. Opposition to in
termarriage is as strong among the
Chinese as it is among the people of
their adopted country. Their views of
life, their home ideals, their social
customs, their temperaments, their
racial characteristics are widely dif
ferent. Antipathy to such unions may
be termed race prejudice and lack the
approval of Chicago moralizers and
college scientists, yet it is common
sense deep rooted among the higher
types' of both races and supported by
examples the world over.
The main Japanese population of
the Pacific Coast has come at a later
period than that of the Chinese. sut
the same feeling, the same "preju
dice," will doubtless exist among the
better class of Japanese in succeeding
years against intermarriage that now
exists among the Chinese. The Jews
have maintained their racial integrity
though they have been scattered
throughout the civilized nations of the
world for centuries. Prejudice held
by other races has not had so much
to do with it as has their own pride in
racial stock. We shall see the same
race integrity maintained by the Jap
anese and Chinese who leave the se
clusion of the Orient. Here and there
some will step from the bounds of
decency to the bonds of concubinous
marriage, and the penalty for the sin
will be visited upon the women and
the children. But it will not help
the case to rail against race preju
dice any more than it relieves the
social evil to denounce our dual code
of morals.
"LEWISTON TO THE SEA."
There is now every reason . to be
lieve that by the time the Panama
Canal is open for traffic there will be
an open river from Lewiston to the
sea, for the work at Celilo Is to go for
ward with renewed activity, the ap
propriation of $700,000 made by Con
gress being now available.
The Dalles Optimist, in speaking of
the matter, says:
Captain H. H. Roberts, in charge of the
canal work, in accordance with an order
from Major J. J. Morrow, corps or engi
neers, united States Army, has again start
ed active work, and, it is stated, is hiring
every available man. It Is estimated that
1000 men will be at work by the first of
next month.
The amount appropriated is about
as much as could be used to advan
tage during the current year, but it is
hoped to get a much larger sum for
the year to follow. But even with the
same amount as the present bill car
ries given in 1913, it would require
only a third appropriation of J700.000
to finish the work If the present esti
mates of $2,100,000 are found to be
correct, as they most likely are, the
work of Major Morrow and his as
sistants having no doubt been made
with their usual caution and accuracy.
W'e have been talking for so many-
years about these Celilo locks that we
are apt now, when the completion of
the work is in actual sight, to lose
sight of their Importance to Portland
and a large area of tributary country.
When there are regular lines of steam
ers running from Portland through to
Lewiston, and another line to the head
of navigation on the Columbia, we
will no doubt add many millions of
dollars a year to our wholesale trade.
and the shippers of cereals and other
heavy commodities from the territory
adjacent to those streams will make
a saving in freights that will put them
on a parity with the rail shippers hun
dreds of miles closer to us.
Just how river traffic grows Is
shown by the report of rail and river
traffic in France and Germany. In
1880 the ton mileage of the waterways
of France amounted to 1,244,000.000
tons; in 1905 this had grown to 3,153..
000,000 tons. In 1880 the rail traffic
of that country was 6,417,000,000 ton
miles; in 1905 it was 10,959,000,000
ton miles. In the water traffic, there
fore, the increase in this period was
153.4 per cent, while the rail traffic
Increased but 70.7 per cent.
In Germany the figures are avail
able for a longer period 1875 to 1905,
and the increase for the 30 years was
309.1 per cent in rail traffic and 417.2
per cent in water traffic. So it will
be seen that as a country advances
and trade increases the boats get the
lion's share of the new business.
The opening of the Panama Canal
will be a great event an event of
the very greatest importance to the
entire Pacific Coast. It is to be cele
brated at San Francisco with perhaps
the greatest exposition the world has
as yet iwitnessed. In that exposition
the state of Oregon will play an im
portant part. But about the same
time the Celilo Canal will be opened,
and this will be an event of sufficient
importance to Portland to be properly
celebrated by the people to be the
most benefited, i. e., those living along
the Snake and Columbia.
GENIUS AND ADVERTISING.
Jean Henri Fafcre, the famous
French student of Insect life who is
starving to death in his old age. Is
much such a man as John Burroughs
or John Muir, but he seems unfortu
nately to lack the self-advertising ca
pacity which has enabled those Amer.
lean geniuses to escape poverty. M.
Fabre attained to enviable celebrity in
his young days." His "Entomological
Recollections" went through ten edi
tions and was crowned by the French
Academy, but naturally the profits of
a scientific work were not enough to
make a competence even In France
where such achievements are better
rewarded than In most other countries.
If he had only thrown his knowledge
of Insects Into the form of a romance,
as Flammarion did his astronomy,
mfxed it with a liberal dose of fiction
and published it in the United States
he might have died a millionaire in
stead of depending on charity for a
crust in his decrepitude. Our natural
ists, with a few rare exceptions like
Burroughs and Muir, find it more sat
isfactory to invent their facts about
wild nature than to spend precious
time observing the bees, ants and coy
otes, and instead of writing works like
Fabre's "Entomological Recollections,"
they are wise enough to compose at
tractive fables which often read far
more entertainingly than the truth.
The art of advertising has been too
much neglected by geniuses In all
ages. Fabre perishing of starvation in
his humble cottage at 88 years of aire.
after a life of service to the world, is
only one Instance out of many similar
ones. It has become a commonplace
in literature that mighty poets usually
die in misery, while the expression
"Grub street" was synonymous with
the literary life a century ago. Chat
terton actually expired of hunger or
was driven by dire want to commit
suicide. Burns never knew what it
was to live without the specter of mis
ery at his side. Cowper was always
dependent on charity, and Dr. Samuel
Johnson, before he had mastered the
art of advertising himself, had often
to find a bed in the ashes by a brick
kiln and make his dinner on the con
versatlon of his fellow hobos. The
word, "poet" has meant about the
same' as "pauper" from the days of
Homer, but what it really ought to
have meant was "the incapacity to ad
vertise oneself." Scattered through
the centuries we find plenty of exam
ples ' of flourishing poets, scientists,
philosophers and especially theologians
who had an abundance of this world's
goods as well as the higher treasures
of fame. Their good fortune arose
uniformly from the ability they pos
sessed to call mankind's attention to
their gifts. A little genius thoroughly
advertised is worth a dozea Shake
speares blushing unseen and shedding
fragrance on the desert air. At ieaai
it counts ten times as much for world
ly suocesss. The first rule a parent
ought to teach a child who exhibits a
tendency to be literary is "Never for
get to let the public know of your
genius." Even if the aspirant has no
genius, advertising, as we behold every
day in the republic of letters, may sup
ply its place very well. The world ad
mires a pompous dullard who under
stands how to promote himself a great
deal more than it does a professor
Langley who shrinks from the gaze of
the shouting throng and carries on his
work in seclusion.
So far as the crowd is concerned, se
clusion signifies incompetence. The
multitude cannot understand that
great gifts should be contented to re
main under cover. When the vulgar
are told that a certain candle is won
derfully bright, but that the owner's
modesty keeps it under a bushel they
draw their own conclusions, which are
usually unfavorable to the candle's
brilliancy. They agree with the Scrip
tures that the proper place for a
bright and shining light Is on a hilltop
where people can bask in its rays. And
since it is really from the multitude
that the maintenance of poets and sci
entists must come in the last resort.
we perceive how disastrously their
modesty often affects their des
tinies. If Fabre had only known
the secret of "boosting" his books and
reputation how different his old age
would have been. If Burns had been
a good advertiser he would have lived
to a hundred in a London palace in
stead of perishing' of too much bad
whisky in a Scotch snowbank before
he had seen half his days. If Profes
sor Langley had known how to blow
his trumpet effectively he would not
have died of a.broken heart with his
flying machine the laughing stock of
a Jeering world.
Fortunately modesty is not so much
the fashion among geniuses as it was
in former days. Most of those who
now appear in the world understand
pretty well how to call the attention
of the public to themselves and their
gifts. It is rare Indeed to find a mod
ern poet sleeping in the ashes by a
brick kiln to keep from freezing or a
naturalist who Imitates Fabre's fond
ness for modest seclusion. John Bur
roughs certainly dwells In a humble
cot, but he has found a way to make
its slab walls famous and financially
productive. So far has the art of ad
vertising been perfected in our days
that it has taken the place of genius
in many cases. One can be a famous
naturalist without knowing anything
about nature and a great poet without
taking the trouble to keep the divine
fire aglow in his bosom. In conse
quence of' this Judicious Improvement
most of our poets live in opulence
while our naturalists are rich enough
to help finance political campaigns,
which is saying a good deal.
- OREGON'S FREE FARMS.
Recent Government reports show
that there are still 695,401.250 acres
of vacant Government land, 96 per
cent of which, excluding Alaska, is in
the following ten states: Nevada, Ari.
zona, Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming,
Montana, Idaho, California. Colorado
and Oregon. The area runs In the
same order,. Nevada having the most,
54,983,143 acres, and Oregon the least,
17,253,175 acres.
The fact that there are only 17,250,
000 acres of public land in Oregon
need not deter those wishing to take
a homestead from coming to this state
to make their future homes. It is
more' than likely that there are -more
good claims now vacant in Oregon
than in any of the other ten Govern
ment-land states, so called. It is true
that there are not the opportunities to
get as fine claims now as there were
thirty or forty years ago. But if one
will consider the experiences of those
who took claims in those early days it
will be found that they had to put up
with hardships that the homesteader
of today would not endure not many
of them, at least.
To be chased by the Indians, to live
anywhere from fifty to 150 miles from
a railway, to have no market for what
could be produced from the land, to
be without mail facilities or school ad
vantages worthy the name these were
some of the things the pioneers had to
contend with after they took their
claims. What they endured in their
Journeys to the land was in many cases
almost tragical.
So, all things considered, the chance
for the homesteader is today, at least
in Oregon, better than ever before.
Under the new three-year law they will
be Infinitely better. Perhaps the land
itself may not be as ideal for the
home-maker, but the surroundings,
the facilities for living and bringing
up a family, the nearness of markets
and schools and churches, the daily
touch of the outside world through the
mails every condition is so greatly
improved that the homesteader of to
day has scarcely any hardships to put
up with, no terrors to contend with
and overcome.
Hood River inventors have perfected
a device for catching aut6 scorchers.
Undertakers would show a laudable
eye to business by hastening to buy
up and suppress this detractor of
flourishing trade conditions.
Sitophobla, or fear of food, is the
latest human ailment unearthed by
medical science. If the germs can
only be isolated and conserved they
ought to prove of great convenience
now and again.
One of the Krupp daughters has
run up her bank roll from $45,000,000
to $70,000,000 in the past three years.
By exercising strict frugality she may
yet escape the poor farm.
The Municipal Court holds that to
ask a policeman his name and number
does not constitute disorderly conduct.
We had always thought the offense
was lese majesty.
It is recorded that 110 speed
maniacs were fined in Portland dur
ing July. It would be interesting to
note how many were not fined.
Crop returns show a heavy hemp
output, which is especially encourag
ing in view of the heavy accumulation
of murderers at Salem.
Canada's lavish offer to England
of a dreadnought fleet was only the
tempting bait arranged to land an
imperial parliament.
Perhaps the framers of our new
"hands off policy had it in mind that
the man with a chesty bluff seldom
has to fight.
Meat prices take a Jump, says a
headline which might have read:
Meat prices continue daily exercise. '
On the Diplomatic Stage
By Dean Collins.
Lodge, thou hast doped for Uncle Sam
A set of lines that should engage
His talents to the uttermost
Upon the diplomatic stage.
The villain comes, with fell intent,
Through the Atlantic tides he wades
To wrest from South America
Perhaps the richest of her traaos.
The heroine, she shrieks in fright.
'Is there no hero stanch and true
To save me from his croo-el hands?"
Enter U. S., that is his cue.
'Villain, unhand her!" sternly said.
"Stand back and let the lady go!
Tis up to you to fade away
See 'Book on Etiquette,' by Monroe."
The villain quails. It gets him strong
When thus 'tis pointed out, you bet.
That he hath acted contrary
To "James Monroe on Etiquettes
Forsooth, It is a bully part.
In which U. Sam resplendent shines.
And it should make a hit, unless
The villain starts to crab the lines.
Great Scott! When he hath said, "Stand
Back!"
What would the gallant hero do.
If "stead of turning to retire).
, The villain merely said, "Pooh-pooh ?"
If on the diplomatic stage
This part shall quite successful ba,
Methlnks that Uncle Sam will need
A bit of special property.
Before he steps upon the scene
To say. "Unhand her! Scat, you dub!"
In his hip pocket It were well
To slip a healthy dreadnought club.
Portland. August 3.
ROOSEVELT WOULD HAVE DONE IT
Vetoed the rayne-Aldrlch BUI and
Other TblnKs.
PORTLAXD. Aug. 1. (To the Edi
tor.) The Oregonlan's comment on my
letter, last Sunday, seems at least to
permit of an answer. The Oregonian
says: mere never irom iirsi to mat
was the slightest turn of luck for Mr.
Tatt Everything appeared to happen
to his embarrassment and disadvan
tage." In this you have contributed a
Di,lt4hlA nrtlltlr-al anitflnh. Oh luck!
Thnu htifi-nhAn nf nmhlers and life fail
ures; Ceasar, Cromwell. Napoleon,
Washington, Gladstone. Lincoln; yea
and thousands more have conquered
without thee.
Van an v von "hava not been able to
accept the view of the Roosevelt 'cult'
that he is some sort of a superman wno
could never err, and must always be
nnnnriAH onH ftiwnvi ha President."
Really, we of the 'Roosevelt cult' do
not think him a superman, although I
admit that, by comparison witn sumo
nthara nnatpritv mrtv SO View him:
nor do we think that he never errs.
but he "does things." Had lie been fres-
IHont at tha tima ha WOllld have had
the moral stamina to veto the late tariff
and not pronounce it "the best tariff
ever." But he was not men rresinsni
and only because he constructed that
much-talked about "steam roller" tn
1908. started it going, and laid down in
front of it and flattened out his re
nomination boom at that time. You
must admit that his big fight in 190S
was to defeat his own renomination.
He alone had the power to prevent it
and now he Is called a "self-seeker."
That Cecil Lyon is not a "pretty fig
ure" is not proof that Texas was not
stolen by steam-roller methods. Tour
view as to Washington is concession
enough, but why did you forget other
states, especially California? You ask
if I think the 560 men in the Chicago
convention that voted to seat the Taft
delegates were parties to a criminal
conspiracy. Your theory as to their
mental processes in deciding contests.
I doubt not applies to many; but be it
remembered that all "contested" dele-
. a nn an rnntasts save their
own, and I do think that one "thief"
will sustain another, especially wnen no
knows, the "other" will soon repay him
in the same way. Further the delegates
at large from Washington were per
mitted to vote on the other Washington
contests and vice versa. Thus were
enough Taft delegates seated to nomi
nate him. Of course there was no con
spiracy, No, indeed! It was only "reci
procity." President Taft failed to carry (save
one) any direct primary state and even
with his "state convention" delegations
his strength at Chicago, in the main,
was not from Republican states, but
from the South. Where will he get his
votes in November? "ONE VOTER."
TOXSORIAL EXPERT BLOWS UP
Reputed Progressor Swats Bull Moose
In the Frobosria.
Corvallis Gazette-Time.
The Dress agents of the National
Progressive party have mortally of
fended Charles Erlckson Peterson, Cor
vallis tonsorialist. They made it ap
pear in the Portland evening paper!
yesterday that among the delegates ex
pected to attend the Bull Moose con
vention in Portland today are two from
Corvallis, Crosby Davis and C. E. ret
erson. The last-named controls a con
versational stream of no small pro
portions at normal stage, and under
the cloudburst of righteous indigna
tion at the presumption of the Teddy
press agents it has become a verbal
flood. ,
"They call me Swede," orates Charles
Erickson P., "and they do well to call
me Swede. Although I was born In
the great state of Illinois, with its soil
so deep and rich, calling me a Swede
doesn't make me mad. My father was
a Swede, and he is a much better man
than I am, but when they say that 1
belong to this Bull Moose outfit, they
sure get a rise out of Pete. That makes
me roar.
"William Howard Taft for mine and
I take it straight. I'd rather be sorry
with the Big I, or with Professor
Woodrow. I remember two big Na
tional panics; one' was when a Demo
crat was President, and one was when
the Bull Moose was President. I don't
claim to be a Solomon, but I know
when I'm hurt; you don't catch me
playing with political dynamite. No
panic bears the Bill Taft label. Your
fine-spun theories can't change th
record.
"I see they have Bill Taft licked al
ready, but I'm not fretting. I remem
ber when Professor Samuel Dolan was
'Fuzzy Sam' and played football. He
was some goer, believe me. The op
position team used to kill him off at
every play. They'd all Jump at Fuzzy,
pile on top of him and we'd feel tha
shivers running up and down our spinal
columns while we waited for the enemy
to climb off of Dolan's prostrate form.
We never knew whether Fuzzy would
be taken to the hospital or the Coro
ner. Fuzzy was a goner. While we
watched the wriggling pile untangle it
self there'd be a holler from the side-,
lines and there was Fuzzy planting the
ball between the goal posts. That's
the way they're smashing Taft.
"Me a National Progressive dele
gate? Not If Pete knows it! This
Thou-shalt-not-sttal but-we-can,' par
ty doesn't make a hit with- me. If I
was after an office and couldn't get
one as a Republican I might be like
the rest of the Bull Moose fellows, but
since I'm not, you hurt my feelings
when you try to read me into the Bull
Moose aggregation."
And the barber kept on talking.
Are Women Two-Faeedf
Philadelphia Record.
Blobbs Most women are two-faced.
Slobbs Oh, I wouldn't say that.
Blobbs Well, Just size them up be
fore and after they get their make
up on,