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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 1904)
Editorial Page of TSe Journal PORTLAND. OREGON, SUNDAY. NOVtrWRFR M 11M ' N THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER AN C 8. JACKSON PUBLISHED BY JOURNAL PUBLISHING CO. JNO. P. CARROLL THE JOURNAL AND THE SEWER COMMITTEE. HifR. ZIMMERMAN, chairman of the council'! I V I committee on sewer, writes that a great in " justice has been done the members of the com mittee by The Journal; that there was no way to reach the bottom facta in the sewer scandal except thsough a secret investigation: that as a matter of fact the in vestigation was not secret except as to the press and finally it ia proposed to go a great deal farther and vtry much deeper in investigations before either the committee or the council gets through with the work now on hand. All of which is gratifying if not entirely satisfying. To take the last proposition first The Journal wishes to congratulate the council upon its determination to probe rottenness wherever found to the very bottom and mete out to those guilty of wrongdoing the very utmost penalty of the law. This is precisely as it should be and with many others in the community we hope the council will not soon weary in welldoing. But every thing in time and in good order. The particular thing now agitating the public mind is the Tanner .creek ewer. Enough has already developed to indicate a job of odorous quality and rather stunning dimensions. .While, as Mr. Zimmerman indicates, there are doubtless ' manv other tobs crying for councilmanic investigation, they have waited some time and can afford to wait a lit- tie longer. The Tanner creek sewer is now the burning question and it should not be confused with any other . question. Let us first get to the bottom of that; let the full resDonsibility be fixed and let it fall upon the shoulders which should bear it; let the public know all of the facts so that it may judge and if possible approve of the decision reached by the council. That once done let us turn to the next question demanding attention . and do with that what is done with the Tanner creek , sewer investigation. In this way a clean sweep will be made of everything needing public attention; each job will receive the undivided attention it requires and the total effort will in every respect be worth while. Any other method will result in confusion which above all things the council will naturally be most anxious to avoid; each case, too, will then stand upon its own merits and the blame will be placed equitably and pre cisely where it belongs. We feel sure that the public will approve of this program while it is questionable if the one proposed by Councilman Zimmerman win strike so responsive a chord. That the taxpayers were welcome to attend these meetings is a very pleasing figure of speech. Until the fight was made against secret meetings and it was shown that they were contrary to the provisions of the charter it waa proposed to exclude everybody from the meetings. The invitations extended to a handfull of taxpayers was simply ah11 afterthought to save appear ances and the invitations were not given until late on the very day ' that it was proposed to bold the meeting. Some few disinterested taxpayers were, it is true, pres ent, but they were pledged to secrecy. After admitting this, under what rule of right were the representatrvts'bY the press excluded and what was expected to be gained by it? The charter calls for public meetings. Nowhere can be found any exceptions made to exclude the repre sentatives of the oress. Indeed where one or half a dozen taxpayers might find their Way behind the closed door of the committee rooms literally thousands with iual claims to consideration had no means of-mis trig themselves except through the medium .of the news papers. There is no such Uling ss a pupnc meeting from which press representatives are excluded. No pub lic investigation can be held under such circumstances. The report presented was one made by a body of experts which the council committee itself approved. With that official endorsement it surely was Worthy of a public hearing. While the council was pursuing the secret in vestigation, while it was examining witnesses to throw discredit upon the report or to shift the responsibility to other shoulders than those upon which it should le gitimately reat,he report itself should hsve been made public at the very first meeting, as the law provides. If that report went forth the public would immediately have been in a position to pass upon the gravity of the charges. Following that would have come the evidence in rebuttal or extenuation, which likewise would have received due attention. But as the thing was managed it looked as though the committee was unwilling to let the report go forth without such explanations and sug gestions as would-turn the thoughts of the public in cer tain satisfactory directions. It never seemed to occur to the members that the business was public and not private. Being public business the public was entitled to an opportunity to pass upon it. With all due respect The Journal sees no .reason to Iter its original opinion that the committee acted in discretly as well as illegally in the method which it pursued in excluding representatives of the press from the sessions and the fact that it invited a few taxpayers who were pledged to keep secret everything which they heard and saw alters not in the least the gravity of the charge originally made and now reiterated here. ( In another part of this issue will be found a close synopsis of the jealously guarded report of the experts on the Tanner creek sewer. It will be seen that it ia precisely m a nature which should at once have gone to the public, justifying as it does in every respect the sus picion which the public had formed of the job. The fact that no money has passed to the contractor, which the committee cites in exculpation, has nothing what ever to do with the case Under the charter provision !lt had no discretionary power. Such meetings MUST be public, is the language. No exceptions were made by '.the charter and therefore none could have been made by the committee. We repeat that the public has been treated outrageously in this transaction and every fu ture movement will in consequence be more closely canned than otherwise would have been deemed neces sary. AND STILL THE BOXES STAY. . be trusted to make the thing hang fire until the very last moment; that is now part of their business. The city attorney has removed every incentive to activity in that direction and provided a whole quiver full of reasons why the proceedings henceforth should be leisurely to the Isst degree. The city attorney, we feel assured, has made no note of the newest signs and portents. Per haps he has not seen the handwriting on the wall that is marking a new moral era for Portland. If he had he assuredly would have taken-a "stronger and more ag gressive grip of things, held every advantage which came his way and taken a chance which would rid the city of the dreadful pest called the closed boxes in saloons and restaurants. It might be wise for him to sit up tnd notice things 1 -...-J K. .... I. .... ' 1 guiiig uu i uuuu aw'ui nun. A PLEDGE IN THE WAY OF PERFORMANCE. IT STRIKES The Journal that City Attorney McNary is rather a complaisant official. He wins his, case before the circuit court and then upon an appeal to the supreme court gives all the advantage to the attor neys for the saloon and restaurant boxes. By agree ment they get ao days to perfect an appeal to the su preme court After that stage has been reached it would doubtless be too much to expect an early decision. If things move in the usual deliberate way, some wesry months will pass; indeed it is not inconceivable that the Lewis and Clark fair may be well over before it comes. Meanwhile under the agreement mads the boxes are actually protected by the authorities. Here, then, we have the strange combination of cir cumstances that an ordinance is passed by the city coun cil in response to an irresistible public demand abolish ing the closed boxes 'in saloons and restaurants. The validity of that ordinance is upheld by the circuit court on the broad ground of public morals. But even then the city gains nothing; the boxes still remsin to work their desdly moral blight while the attorneys, now under BO strong pressure, move their leisurely way up to and through the supreme court. The gifted sttorneys for the defense get everything they deire. What they want fust before all eUe, is to keep the boxe. This they uceeed in doing contrary to the ordinance and in the fees of the circuit court decision, Doubtless they may, OR SOME DAYS, if not weeks, we have been told by the Russian correspondents of the Associated Press of Sviatopolk-Mersky's great struggle to bring about a meeting of the presidents of the 38 pro vincial Zemstvos, not indeed for any defined purpose, but just for a "confidence" program. The same source the Associated Press the particular friend of the im perial Russian government, also announced the glorious transformation which awaits the people of Russia; no more banishment by administrative process; the political exiles and prisoners to be brought back home; the Ar menians will no longer be plundered; the condition of the Finns is to be greatly ameliorated; the Jews will be granted the right to live; the Poles will well, they, too, are to receive some consideration, though it is not stated just what that, is to be. All of these great and glorious things will take place because of a meeting of the 38 presidents of the pro vincial Zemstvos, who represent locsl organizations with powers -that are far below any ordinary board of alder men or county commissioners. And right here it might be well to quote his majesty, Nicholas II, the great-grandson of Nicholas I, of Cri mean war fame, when upon his becoming czar of all the Russias, received at the Winter Palace, deputations from all parts of Russia, including those from the Zemstvos, with the following words, pronounced in a remarkably resolute manner: "I am pleased to see here the repre sentatives of all classes assembled to express their feel ings of loyalty. I believe in the sincerity of these senti ments, which hsve always been characteristic of every Russian. But I am aware that in certain meetings of the Zemstvos voices have lately been raised by persons carried away by absurd illusions about the participation of the Zemstvo representatives in matters of internal government. Let all know that, in devoting all my strength to the welfare of the people, I intend to protect the principle of autocracy as firmly and unswervingly as did my late and never to be forgotten father." This took place on January 29, 1895, and nothing since gives any one the least hope of a change in the holy Rus aian empire. The real object of all this talk is to hold out a bait to the victims who are aent to the Manchurian slaughter pen to die, and to strengthen, if possible, the shattered and broken j down finances-of the Rusian em pire. The extent of the probable, concessions may well be gauged by the czar's speech. Set that and all that has since followed against the little Comedy now going on and what is left for reasonable men to hope for? Noth ing.which always the limit .of what can.be expected frorn the same source. . . and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself un spotted from the world." Well, we have "the fatherless and widows" among us. There are the Baby Home, the Boys' snd Girls' Aid so ciety, the . Patton Home, and other semi-public char itable institutions; there are the hospitals, the county poorhouse, the jails even. There are also, doubtless, in every precinct in the city though fewer than in most cities of Portland' slxe some who are in need, but who make no sign. What is charity or religion worth if these weak and distressed ones, many of them so through no fault of their own, are not sought out, helped, cheered, made more comfortable and happy on a Thanks giving day? Let us, in conclusion, quote a few more words of the Apostle James on this subject: "Ye have respect to him that weareth gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and unto the poor, stand thou there, or sit here under my foot stool. Hearken, hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised them? But ye have despised the poor. He shall have judgment without mercy that hath strVwed no mercy. If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and ye say, depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, nothwithstanding ye give them not therse things which are needful, what doth it profit? Wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered and the rust of them shall be a witness against yob. " The hire of the laborers which have reaped down your fields which you kept back by fraud, crieth. Ye have lived in pleasure and been wanton. dont Neglect the artistic view. T HE UTILITARIAN view is the One principally to be presented, and held up and pressed upon the attention of eastern people, of course. Ore gon's richness of soil, equsbility of climate, variety and volume of products, practical opportunities for workers and investors to get homes, to make money, to raise a surplus of things that will sell at a profit, to do a bmc and profitable business, to get greater returns in cash or its equivalent while living more comfortably these are the principal inducements to be held out to bring a great number of people to Portland as visitors to the fair and to Oregon as desirable immigrants. But a great many people who would not be moved by these considerations, many of whom have no notion oi changing their residence, need to be otherwise or ad ditionally impressed. The scenic, the esthetic, the sen timental, the poetic aspects of the fair, of the journey, of this region, are by no means to be neglected. There are thousands of people who do not care how much wheat we raise; who do not care how much lumber we export whose interest cannot be aroused in the amount of gold buried in oar rocks and sands; who couldn't be induced to read a custom house report. For these and such si these the artistic side of the fair, and of the country for and of which it will speak, should be kept well to the front, and pressed in all possible pleasing ways upon the eastern people, especially those east of the Mississippi river. Give them a hint of the plains they will cross, the mountains they will pass over or come within sight of, the unparalleled scenery of the Columbia, the perfect whiteness with the sunlight on them of our mountain peaks, the modest but rare beauties of the Willamette and other valleys in a word, give them a glimpse of the natural beauties of the Oregon country, especially those features that are different from anything they ever saw. There are thousands of people who would travel a long distance and spend considerable money just to see Mount Hood with its mighty cone thickly cspped with the eternal anows, if they once got to thinking about it. The thing necessary to be done is to arouse that curiosity, that desire, to see this object, and other objects, that are new and strange to them, a desire that until aroused lies latent. Then there is what may be termed the sentimental ide of the affair. The story of Lewis and Clark, by no means omitting Saeajawea, should be retold, in a con densed, attractive form, and set round with due artistic embellishments, to millions of people, through the news papers and otherwise. This wonderful story ought to be thus retold so that it will reach every household. The children and youth should be interested in it. The route they took, the trials they endured, the strange wil derness scenes they encountered, he object of their unprecedented and unrepeated journey, their triumphant return, and the results, furnish a story that should arouse the eager interest of every American boy and youth. And if the children's interest becomes aroused, the parents must needs take notice People will come from far to our fair from all sorts of motives, started by all aorts of impulses, prompted by many different desires and expectations, and everything possible should be done to appeal to all, to interest and attract the attention of all. This being done, the nian agement will be agreeably surprised, we think, st the number of eastern visitors that will appear. The public has good reason to appreciate the dis interested services of Messrs. Msriner, Smith; Blslock and Peters, the outside representatives of the open river executive committee. They have done laborious and exacting work and they have done it in such a way that the results will soon speak for themselves. WTiy George Mered-tVa Proposition la Doomed 'LsdkX SPIRIT OF TRUE THANKFULNESS. T HIS IS A GOOD TIME to say a few words about Thanksgiving, because the only proper, or at least, the highest and best manifestation of thankfulness takes the form of discriminating charity, and this needs thinking over beforehand, and perhaps acting on a little beforehand, too. It is as true now as when Shakespeare wrote it that an act of charity "is twice blessed; it blesseth him that gives and him that takes." The same thought was ex pressed long before, only more emphatically, in the say ing, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Paul, with his deep insight into things spiritual and ethical, perceived this truth clearly when he wrote that divinely inspired thirteenth chapter of I Corinthians. Eloquence, without love, nothing; prophetic and miraculous power, without love, nothing; and no spiritual profit even in giving everything one possesses to the poor and his body to be burned for his faith, unless he hsve real charity, unless the gifts and sacrifice are made with ac companying and unpriced love. It is this broader, ten derer, sweeter Christlike, charity, not mere gift-giving for form's or good will's sake, nor yet merely tem porarily to aid the distressed and suffering, of which he poke when he wrote: "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; envteth not, vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave it self unseemly, seekcth not her own, is not easily pro voked thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth. all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth." The person who thinks only of the creature comforts; who only provides an extraordinarily good dinner or holiday recreation and pleasure for his family; who be sides them only thinks of relatives and intimate acquaint ances, is not truly thankful, cannot be. The man who is thankful only in this way is an incarnation of selfish ness; he acts on the unconsciously-accepted theory that he is the, center of the universe, thst everything was brought into existence with reference to his gratification and enjoyment. All his thankfulness begins and ends in himself. Paul's ideal was too high for most of us. If a man "gives all he has to ther poor" that is, if he is very liberal toward the needy; if-he "gives his body to be burned" that is, makes 'heavy sacrifices in -the cause of truthi and honor and righteousness, merely from a sense Of duty, we cannot withhold praise and admiration from him. although 'Paul said all this "profiteth noth ing." Unless the prompting impulse be love, a real, warm, yearning, irrepressible and welcome desire to do good and" show mercy and help those who are- poor and weak and sorrowing, even those who are stained and scarred, despairing and degraded, the most generous acts of charity and the greatest personal sacrifices, "profiteth nothirig," spiritually, because one is not thereby, put in harmonious accord and fraternal touch with the Father of all, th Elder Brother of. all. This was Paul's theology- on this point, but he pene trated too deeply for most of us, and we need not, if we could, follow him quite so fat. Subjectively, he was no doubt right. This sort of charity, that without the love he so vividly described, "profiteth nothing" to the giver, gives one no great credit account on the ledger of St. Peter, yet it may do a great deal of good objectively. It will feed the hungry, clothe the naked, provide medicine and nurses for the sick, replace scorrowful with smiling countenances, cause sighing and sobbing to give way to the music of mirth, paint pale cheeks with the rose blush of healthblood, and revive hope, courage and con fidence in aching and despondent heart. And, after all,' we are not sure that Paul did not go too far; for against his extreme statement quoted we can put St. James' definition of religion: "Pure religion and undefiled be fore God and the father is this, to visit the fatherless, - (tr KWMl FNTOSk) (Ooprrlcht, 190, by w. k Hu-t.) eorcjk Meredith's suggestion re, gardrng temporary marriage la. to aay the least, original and will not be readily understood unless on remembers what a plasue th unmarried woman Is in England. Not only are there more girls than boys born In the United Kingdom, but th mortality am on the male children is greater, to this comes that social conditions aggra vate the evil as a great number or young men emigrate annually to ths colonies of the vast empire. Many of these marry abroad, while others return to tneir na tive country too late to think of mar rlage and ths remit is that Great Brit ain Is Infested with old maids. Borne of these become reconciled to their fate, submit patiently to the In evitable, silence the longings of their hearts and make themselves fairly com fortable. The majority, however, pro test and it Is mainly for the benefit of these that the author of "Richard Feverel" and "An Amazing Marriage" made the suggestion, which haa aroused the ire and indignation of his country men. George Meredith reasons that In a country where there are too many women. It is not Just that one woman should keep a husband for" herself her whole life when all around there are other women who have no husbands at aU. Furthermore, he has observed that It ma ya-ttb or maonrunn. From the New Tork Herald. "Each of the world's fairs that has been held had some one feature in which it seemed to excel," said C. W. Mott of St. PauL "The Philadelphia centennial In 17 was the first American exposition of any size. Then came the Chicago world s fair, which was the most nearly complete to that time and showed the improve ment from 187 to 1S. Then came the Pan-American at Buffalo, which excelled in electric display and in the coloring of the buildings. Omaha did much good in the way of bringing people's attention to the Mississippi and Missouri valleys and their resources. "The St. Louis exposition la colossal a great school showing great progress along many Unas. I think Its educa tional display is greater than that of any exposition preceding it. Of oourse, in the way cf machinery and mechanical appliances each exposition will be larger than its predecessors, for the Americsn inventor Is always at work. The St. Louis exposition is too large and some what scattered. "In my opinion, the Lewis and Clark exposition at Portland next year win not be what President McKlnley called the Buffalo exposition, the 'timekeeper of progress.' but rather the 'timekeeper of development.' Its buildings will be stored with the natural products of th northwestern states. The mines, for ests, fields and orchards will send a fine display. The vast population east of the Missouri river nas . 111m ipoh - little idea of the greatness of the Pa cific states and their ability to mea and clothe themselvos "Eastern manufactursrs snd joooer cannot help but see tne value or mis exposition, for when the rural districts In the western states become conimi with population it will give opportuni ties for ertenstve trade and betterment of thslr condition. The renter or popu lation is moving gradually to tne w, and the theatre of artion for the next 50 years will be on the shores of the Paclflo ocean. "I firmlv believe that tlo Lewis and Clark exposition at Portlsnd In 1S06 will do more in the way or navancmg ma i-a- clflc northwest than any event in tne Pt." ' rosornoT ooamtoa a n. Is far from true that all legitimate unions are happy, and his psychologto experi ence has proved to him that after 10 years married life ceases to be delicious, and why should then a condition be con tinued which brings no happiness to either of the parties T To be sure, there is always the di vorce, George MeredU.i adds, but di vorce Is always a most brutal proceed ing, which supplies columns of sensa tional and scandalous news for the pa pers, and ha advises that marriages be concluded as are contracts of commercial partnership. , I When you rent an apartment, no mat ter how enthusiastic you may feel about it, you would never think of renting It for life, but you stipulate In your lease that after the expiration of a certain length of time you shall be at liberty to give it up and leave it. Why. therefore, should not the same clause be inserted in that most Important of ail contracts, the one in which a person Is most apt to commit an error of Judgment, which only dally Intercourse can -fevsaT to the contracting parties. Instead of marry ing as you do now, "until death does us part," and then maybe three years later rack your brains to Invent scandalous pauses to regain your liberty, why should you not from the start sign a contract for three jrears subject to re newal if agreesble to both parties? George Meredith does not propose three, but ten years. Hs thinks that a person is able to Judgs how his feel ings will be for a period of that length. He also, undoubtedly, thinks that the first clouds need not be considered alarming, that time and dally inter, course smooths over many discords and that two married people, though they may have misunderstandings during the first years, often end by agreeing very well. But If the discords remain after 10 years the famous author considers them incurable. Husband and wife should then both be free with 111 feeling and without scandal, because their con tract had expired, but the husband must provide for the education of the chil dren. Both parties should he perfectly free to enter into other contracts, and it will then be possible for a man to marry three women, one after the other, and this would give the poor old maids of England three times as many chances as they have now. Now, one should Imagine that this suggestion would have been hailed with delight by the old maids of England and that they would even now be busy col lecting funds for the erection of a statue of their benefactor but no. It la Just the old maids who are most vio lent in their denunciations of George Meredith. " George Meredith's project will proba bly never be carried either In England or any ether country in Europe. It has against it the conservative way of think lng of most women, who. curiously enough, today represent both the fear of giving up old traditlona and the hope of the most radical evolution. and that Is by ballot. Whsn the verdict has been reached there is but one sans rule to follow, and that la to let the majority control. We are not wont to believe it, but It is nearly always true that when men differ, both are partly right. A part of the truth nearly al ways lies on either side of a public question. They who think the other side is wholly wrong and themselves wholly right, are generally mistaken. Therefor,' In the present instance, af ter SO years of wet It is fair and no more than fair that there be a sincere experiment for two years In a dry Cor vallls. If. as alleged, It will make a better town, that Is what the wet man as well as the dry man wants. One will profit as much by the change as will the other. s New OsT Orleans AMxrcjr In New Tork From the Corvallls Times. Regardless of what may be our In dividual opinions as to the merits and demerits of a dry Corvallls. It la1 the plsin duty of every cltlsen for two years to accept Tuesday's verdict as final and to set about in good faith to make the operation of the law as suc cessful as possible. It Is the desire of every cltlsen to make this a best Cor vallls. Men differed as to which method, a dry or a wet town, were the better, but all had steadily in view a disinter ested desire for the betterment, the up building snd the fair progrssa of Cor vsllls. Whenever a community differs in opin ion there is but one way to settle it. Telegram Herald. The cotton grown in the southern states is ons of ths great commercial interests. American cotton is exported to all the manufacturing countries of th globe, and all depend upon It. Recently In Marseilles M. Paul Bour- darle delivered a lecture before the chamber of eommeree, In which he dis cussed this proposition: What if the United States should manufacture the whole of Its cotton products, leaving none for export? During the lecture it was set forth that the world produces 14,000,000 bales of eotton, of which the United States contributes 10,600. 000 bales, or 76 per cent. Moreover, he said. Americans sra attempting, with activity, to monopolise the consumption of raw material and to this end they multiply th spinning and weaving mill of their country, aug menting the number of spindles and in stalling their factories alongside the cotton fields. The consumption or American eotton In the United States grew from 1.2S7.000 bales in 1SII to t, 901,000 bales In l0t, and th progress appear to have been much more rapid since then. To supply th (,110,000 French spindles and th 108,00 loom the French cotton Industry psy each year for th raw materiel necessary more than SSO.000.000. which go to th fnlted SUtss. India and Egypt. Even under these conditions the French In dustry finds ways of maintaining its po sition. It would he different should the United States consume all th cotton it .produce. The S0O French spinning mills and the 10 weaving mills, besides the dyeing and finishing mills, would then hav to close their doors, thus throwing Into the street 110,000 laboring people, and producing an economic crisis of disas trous meaning. If there waa no American cotton to export th blow would fall with still more disastrous fore upon th cotton manufacturers of Great Britain and heavily on Germany and other nations. It would produce widespread calamity and reduce hundred of thousands of people to a condition of starvation. AUSMID AT OAST Germany haa recently been giving a great deal of attention to the American peril. Th ball waa started rolling at a rapid pace when Professor Brunner of th law faculty of th University of Ber lin proposed th formation of a middle European economic union with Germany and Austria as the core, this union to form a counterbalance against th ex pansion of th United States. Professor Brunner's proposition has been received throughout the entire country with the greatest approval. The Industrial circle of Germany are now Insisting with the utmost vigor that the government adopt retaliatory meas ure against th T'nlted States and that a change be brought about In what is claimed to be an Intolerable condition. This frame of mind I Indicated by a re cent resolution of th Eupen chamber of commerce, widely commented upon and approved by th commercial classes. This resolution Is in part as follow: "North America sends to Germany much mora than we send to the former coun try. It Is therefore necessary to make America more compliant to our demands. Thar is no doubt that a change In the tariff of America would soon take plac If Germany treated American goods in the sum manner a German good are treated by the American; but at the am time such a change is not likely to occur until Germany Inaugurates strong action against America. It Is to be hoped that th bundearath will, make good us of the powerful .means which hav been put In It hands by th new tariff." What Is Death (By Garrett P. Bervls.) (Cosrrickt. 1MM. by- W. B. Urt.) IT may or may not be' true that there can be no life without prior life. It would b aa correct to aay that ther can be no matter without preceding matter. But We know neither a beginning nor an end of matter. W can neither create It nor destroy It. No force of nature acting upon matter can do mora than change its form or state. It cannot be driven out of existence. An organism possessing what w call life. Whether it be a microbe or a man simply an aggregation of the corpuscles neiu in temporary combination. When the combination falls apart "death" occurs. If we suppose, that an Immortal, im material spirit inclosed in one of these temporary combinations of matter was the cause of the manifestations oalled "life" in that particular combination, then we must make the same suonosition for all the other combinations microbes aa well as man. The nature of life is Just a mystertoue and Its origin Just as obscure In on case aa In the other. If you Invoke the failure of science to make life spring from so-called "dead" matter as an argument tor immortality, your argument applies equally to ths lowest as well aa to th highest forms of living creatures. I am not denying that there may be an Immortal spirit, or that man alpne among the earth's inhabitants may be Its pos sessor. I make no affirmation on that point one way or the other. I am simply saying that it is a mistake to assume that ther 1 any relation whatever be tween purely religious questions and the search for the secret of life. When that secret Is found, if ever, it will be as ap plicable to the microbe as to the man. It the latter In addition to his life pos sesses something higher and more pre cious, and peculiar to him, that is not the affair of science. Science cannot and does not undertake to deal with that problem. It is confusion of thought on this point which lead to most of the theological sneer at science. Death is subdivision. That, at least, is one definition for it. Take', for example, some of the simple micro-organisms, which, notwithstanding their minuteness and their simplicity, are as truly living beings as we are. One of these will spontaneously divide, thus becoming two Individuals Instead of one. In a Short time each of these attains full develop ment, and divides again, and there are four individuals. Each of the four In turn divides, and then there are eight. This" process Is continuous, so that Within M hour one single organism will have multiplies . Itself into millions. Now, what has become of the original Individual? As a personality it is dead. For it, subdivision, to form othor organ Isms similar to Itself meant death Just as much as if its atoms had been dis sociated and scattered to form something entirely different from Itself. Yet there has been no break In the chain of life. The case seems very different when we consider the "death" of a more highly organised creature. Its dissolution pro duces things quite unlike itself. At first Its dissociated atom seem to form inert, "dead" matter. But the progress of science has rendered It doubtful whether anything is totally dead. Even' crystals have a kind or life. Even metals surfer from "diseases." In what rnect I llf more mysterious and luexpfiahtc than radioactivity? Is the death of'tt nifty except, as it. may release an tmmoti a spirit for a higher,' or a lMrerV carw a thing of greater import In the economy of nature tnan tne suDnivision 01 a micro-organism or the dissolution' of a , crystal and th ' recombination of' It atoms? "patmb, OO wrrm mb." OT BOOSXBTB-T. From th London Times. It seems to be the general Impression that th secret of Mr. Roosevelt's suc cess Is Mr. Roosevelt In on sense that is a perfectly adequate explanation; In another, It is merely a convertible proposition. Mr. Roosevelt explains everything If we regard him not merely as a very striking and attractive personality, not meraly as a fountain of th energies which the American people admire, but also aa th Incarnation of much that th American people unconsciously desire. His country Is standing on th three hold of a new ere. and intuitively feel that he 1 It appointed guide. It la but an hoar ago, aa tlm counts in th llf of a nation, that America was wrapped up In her own affair, the life of the rest of thwortd hardly concerning her. She I now anxious, or shall w any com pelled, by th growth of her Strength and Interests to take her place in th community of nations. Mr. Roosevelt Is her leader and guide In the new path, and that Is why the se cret of Roosevelt's success 1 Roose velt. That, ton, ia why the people of this country, believing In th essential integrity of their kindred across th sea. Join heartily in Lord Lansdowne' con gratulatlona to Mr. Roovlt upon hia return to power. I N. B. liurner in the Northwestern Chris tian Advocate. Sent up to bed in the dark alone. Where all th comers were weird and dim . 1 And the shapes and the shadows waited him At every turning my little son, Sent for some childish mischief done At the hour when childish heart are high With the Joy of the evenings revelry And hi fault at worst was a tiny one. A wistful moment, his feet delsyed. Wetting to let my face relent. And then, a pitiful penitent. His faltering, frightened way he made; But up in the stairway's deepest shade I heard him pause where their shadows crowd. And whisper "Father," and sob aloud. Father, go with me. I am afraid." Quick a hi calling my answer leapt. Strong as hia terror my shielding srms Folded him close from tne night alarms. Sheltered and comforted as he went; Up In the nursery's light I luipt A tender watch till he smiled again. Till the sobs of his self-remembered pain Lessened and hushed, and the baby slept. Father of Love, when my day la donf And all of my trespasses written In, Not for a thoughtful or willful sin Send me out In the dark alone; But so as I answered my little son. Come to th prayer of my pleedlng breath And lead me safe through this night of death. Father of Light, when my light Is gone. BTaSIA ASTD Front the Atlanta Journal. It la reported from Berlin that a ti diest of Jewish bapkera, headed by th Rothschilds, has signed a contract for a loam of 1270, 000. uuo to th Russian gov ernment, which will be floated about the first of next year. And thereby hangs. a tal. It has been quietly understood yand agreed in every leading JWts banking house in the world that not a cent of money should be loaned to Russia until ths csar's government is wllllsg to treat Ita Jewish subject aa well ss It treats any other. "Remember Klshlneff.'' has Ijeen passed all along th line. iS So that th recent loan deal IS "taken to mean that more liberal and Just law are to be uhrd In for tie benefit of the persecuted Jews In Russia The cxar a war chest Is. gettln low. Me must bav money to.earry on the war. The opportunity of the Jew hivi come. He hold th purs strings of Europe And he will nof open to those wh persecute hi poor brethren in Rus sia. I Wealth Is all powerful Thar are thoe who have come to believe that the relate wealth of the world will solve some of society's vexed problem. Vested lntret cannot af ford the destruction pf property and prosperity. Therforlt will Intervene to atop war. Aggrgala capital cannot afford to hav labor Unemployed and restless under bad conditions. There fors canltal will grant better Industrial conditions to the woe on of other problems,' However thst tingman. And so be,, the monev nlng a great thing power to prevent fie bloody massacre power of Europe is when it uses ita vs such barbarities ss of Klshlneff and the! persecution of ths weak and helpless by th strong and tyrannical.