.J..
g : 'of to JearBail (
FRIDAY,, DECEMBER 1, .1503.
-PORTLAND, OREGON.1
T H E "O R EG
AN
d a. jicnox
Published a very rnlm (except Sunday) . and eve Sunday, tnoerunfy at
- , ' , , . streets, Portland, Oregon-
; PRIMARY LAW. MUST BE MAINTAINED.
THERE IS A MOVEMENT going on throughout
the country to get away from the thrall of the
bosses and the politicsl machines and to elevate
to public office men who will honestly try to do theif
public duty. There is another movement, -neither, so
strong nor so pronounced at the present moment, but
which is steadily growing nevertheless, to return to the
people themselves ome of the power which they had
delegated in the past to .their public servants. . In this
Utter movement Oregon is in the van.. .The initiative
and referendum have given the-people control over
legislative action of which until very recently they could
" only dream. They have it in their power not only to
initiate legislation but to' veto it Previous to the pas
sage of this law the members of the legislature might do
as they pleased regarding any matter of public concern.
They might, as many of them have done, go to the legis
lature pledged to pass a certain measure which the voters
.ioudJydemnded, and simply ignore that pledge, and
there was no way of reaching them. Under present con
ditions they may, a it were, be caught coming and go
ing by the outraged citizenship of the state. .-.-.JLJnder
the provisions of the direct-primary law even
the United States senatorship is well within their reach.
It is true in most -states that the'men elected to the sen
ate are rarely--men ' who could be elected by a popular
vote.. Many of them have represented not the,people
but some speciaT interest. 1 These interests maintained
.-. them in 6ffice'offentimegainst the Well known wishes
of a majority of the; Voters,' against whose best interests
they insidiously" labored. "The boss and . the machine
were omnipotent, i so f if as' was "apparent to the public
view, but back j?f both;itoodjthcapccial interests whieh
were to be unjustly fostered at the expense of the public.
The bosses and political machines so manipulated the
laws, which were made not to give a full and fair ex
pression to:;the popular will but to give .the; bosses an
uijdue advantage,., that, backed by the partisanship of
those who usually composed the dominant parity, which
ever it might be;' they made themselves., invincible. '..',
-rThe direct primary law is aimed". to. correct this stu
pendous evil. 'Its purpose is to give the people them
selves a direct opportunity to say whom'they want for
United States senator.' , If they want Jones, or v Smith or
Brown, it is for therrt to say so at the primaries which are
held. At those 'primaries they vot their choice, just as
at an election- Truer candidates for the legislature, in a
sense, are not bound to accept that choice -but none
know better than 1 politicians '- that when the public is
aroused the wise thing to'do 1a to make the concession
which is demanded and in this way save the hides which
they esteem so precious. The experiment for the first
time is to be put in -operation at the coming election.
There'are hqld-over senators who were elected previous
to the adoption -of the law -and it is hoped by some of
the bosses that these may be used as a sort" of balance
of power with which to beat down the law and make of it
a dead letter. . If. it can he circumvented this year, they
agree it maybelforgoUcn nej,t:an(Lin:ihisjraylhe j
- great reform which the i law Vecontemplatei -t may be
knocked out and the same old methods of electing. United
States senators maintained. htn i ' .-"!?-; ij ty . i
But this Ts , a dangerous year td too! wltnShe people.
They have found it so; in 'Pennsylvania, pf ' all. atates,
where the apparently impossible, was achieved by a won
derful majority They are finding" it everywhere. They
have found more than surface indications of it in Ore-
b"" r"r' f hav f" -
minds that hereafter they will control their own po
litical destinies and not only say who wilt "represent
them, but precisely what he must stand for. There is
directly ahead of us a critical emergency for those who
still cling to the old methods and the old ways. The
deathknell of the big boss in politics has been sounded in
Oregon; he must go to the place assigned him. No more
may he conjure with the old tricks no more work
miracles with the methods which ' once won victory.
The man who is now to make a great success in poli
tics in this state must cultivate the people, not the bosses
or the special interests. He must come out and meet
them squarely and frankly, taking them into his inner
confidence and then live up "to the pledges which he
makes. For such a man there is now a great and self-
respecting opportunity in Oregon politics. He has the
whole world before him, with no master, if he is sue
cessful, but the people. He need wear no corporation's
collar, he need be under the thumb of no political boss,
be need hare no heelers to hamstring him. He is in
the presence of a new day that will
respecting heights which were beyond
practical men but a brief year ago. .
t'f THE LIFE INSURANCE INVESTIGATION.-
-'--- -as? .
TVTO EVENT OF RECENT YEARS has been more
I J significant, or will have been
. - and important in practical
vestigation that has been under way for some weeks
into the conduct of the big New York life insurance com
panies. ,
These concerns handled tens of millions of money not
theirs, but belonging to a great and miscellaneous num
ber of people air over the country.
these companies speculated ' for their
they stood in together,' and with
erated such noted financiers as J. 1'ierpont Morgan and
Senator ChaunCey M. Depew; they
people s money a one might water in Oregon in
winter-time, it costing them not a cent; they forgot not
I What a Railroad Rebate la. -
,r Ray fttannard Baker In McClure'a. ' .
A rood deal of the preeent- eonfuelon
niiaes from a quibbling (or laal) use
of terms. 'The difficulty Ilea In our
various applications of the words rebate"-
and "dlnerlmtnatlon" as in- 'pol
itics It Ilea In the use of the word
bribery." Whet la a rebate? Strictly
- Mfweklnav rebate Is a itim t sooner
eecretlr pa'd back by a railroad com
peny to a favored shlpper'ar refund
upon hie freight rate. And In this
- narrow sense, rebating la undoubtedly
much lees common than formerly.
- But the peopl who are unaccustomed
to making eloe distinction to whom
vtefttlng of any one of the 17 kinds
known to the law. Is still plain stealing
o-use the word "rebate" In a much
wider sense. It means any aort of
favorUlffra to ne shipper that Is not
srtven to " all-shippers. We find the
same distinction In politics. , "Bribery'
in the narrow sense the ugly, crude
payment of cash may.be disappearing
from politics. But "bribery" In the
wider sense, meaning any reward for
wrrupt political serrlcee, still flour
ishes Itke the proverbial green bay tree.
. Indeed, there has been the-same do.
veloDment In railroad (and In wider
business) corruption, as In political cor
ruption.
The railroad Crokers bars followed
the rsllrosd Tweede. and we discover
that the -rude cseh rebate is blng
rrplared by erores of cunning devices
&f diacrlminaUona which accomplish the
O N ' DAILY'
INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER-
PUBLISHED BY JOURNAL PUBLISHING CO.
to pay themselves
was $150,000 a year,
velfaa president
country on, earth;
ments must be-quickly moved and to -be so moved they
must be kept in
criticism for the
freight. There ace
owners and in their
. n - . .
m'y p
tiring ran
life him to self
the conception of
more interesting
results, than the in
The officers of
private benefit;
them stood and op
poured out other
portunity when .Jt.hu
same results even more successfully
and secretly than the cash rebate. Such,
for example are the widespread abuses
that have grown up around the private
ear system, the Industrial railroad, the
"line" elevator; such la the midnight
tariff, the abuse of the ' Carting and
switching charge and Innumerable other
devices, li- And these new-methods have
not i even the virtue of open-air rob
bery. They are the work of underhand
ed cunning, performed In the twilight
of legality..
' Mlarepresenution. '
From the New York Evening Poet
Mr. Whitney Why, President . Roose
velt himself is in favor .of reciprocity
with Canada.
President Roosevelt Tou have wilfully
mlarepreeented me.
Mr. Whitney I am sorry that I mis
understood you. But I am sorriest of
sll that youdo not favor Canadian reci
procity. , '-'
Preeldent -'Roosevelt That If another
wilful mlarepresentatlon. ' "' . '
Pussle: What la tha president's atti
tude toward Canadian reciprocity? t
' " Beware. of Them. t
Prom the Philadelphia Inquirer.
. It IS hoped the Jews who are sendlns
so much money to the-relief of their
brethren In Ruaala have devised mesne
to prevent Its transmission through tin
hands of the grand duke ' ...
JOU RNAL
0. T. CASKOU
.The i ouroaI Bunding, Fifth and Yamhill
:.-!. 'V- ' . ' .
great salaries McCurdy seniors
three times that of Theodore Roose
of the United States the greatest
and, McCurdy took good care of all
his relatives his son, son-in-law, Drotner-in-iaw, sis
ters, aunt, cousins,' and so on and innocent, .ignorant,
toiling,, people all over the United States were sup
plying thejeash, pouring in a continual, incessant flood
of gold! t -Surely,: it was a fine business.
And the McCurdys, McCalls, Alexanders, ITegemans
and the rest went into politics, of Course. They had
lobbyists in every state capital and found but the price
of cow county legislators. They put Depew, -one of
their tools, into the United States senaterthey did busi
ness with Boss Odell; they sent a $10,000 check occas
ionally to Boss ' Piatt; they entertained ambassadors;
they even had the assurance to -suggest toi Roosevelt
that he should appoint James Haien , Hyde, when they
wanted to get rid of him, ambassador to France. ;
But there were' honest, and intelligent men enough to
go about the business of puncturing these bladders of
high finance and sanctimonious rascality. It is being
done, pretty .thoroughly. McCurdy, for 'instance, first
consents to have his salary .cut down -one-half, and next
incontinently resigns. He may be thankful if that is
the end of the' chapter 'But he is not a whit or feather
worse than the rest of them. It was a scheme and sys
tem of wholesale robbery, and has fortunately been ex
posed. The exact .like cannot happen again , ;
Life insurance is. in itself all right. It is a creditable,
proper business, and hereafter, as an outcome of the ex
posures and agitation, we may be tolerably sure, it will
be conducted on honest, legitimate lines. , "
t.-.- , .- i .
THE FRONT STREET MERCHANTS. . '..
IT IS POSSIBLE that the Front street dealers may
drop into slipshod methods as they do elsewhere.
It is also possible that they may take up too great
a proportion pf the sidewalks at times nd that they may
too carelessly handle some of. the food products which
pass through their hands. Insofar as they are at fault in
fthese respects they should remedy their short-coming
and comply with the demands of an enlightened public
sentiment If they do not they should be forced to do it
But because they do business on Front street, even
because they may at times grow slipshod in their meth
ods, is hot' reason why they should be spoken of as
tho'uoh thev were a band of - outlaws which tha
public should unite to uproot and eradicate. Wherever
the produce business is done in this country, particularly
in-large cities, from the very nature of things there is a
good deal of litter.. The streets upon which the. produce
merchants do their business are never regarded as the
choicest promenades for fashionable people. Those who
have forced their way along South Water street in Chi
cago will probably not carry' with them any violent
antipathy against Front street in Portland. . . . .
The more business there is done the more congestion
naturally follows. ' There are few busier centers than I
Front streetJn. tne-very-nafureof things the -consign-l
sight. borne dealers there deserve
way in which they handle perishable
certain ordinances to govern such
matters and it is perfectly proper that the-authorities
should keep a' watchful eye on the section as a safe
guard to the public health. But the men who do busi
ness there are citizens like the rest of us, property
own way are doing a great work to
! - r r . fL ' 1. .
they should be given precisely the same consideration
as other men in 'business; furthermore they -should be
treated with special. referejic eto the peculiar character
of the" goods which they handle. They are not outlaws
to. be hunted down or scalawags to be persecuted and
the newspaper that takes that stand witn reterence to
them in doing so shows its own bigotry and narrowness.
CHRISTMAS SHOPPING.
NEXT COMES the favorite holiday 'of the year
Christmas. It it only 25 days distant Most
people, make special purchases, at this time of
year, and on account of this holiday, and what we de
sire to suggest now is that such purchases, if possible,
be made early. Don't wait till the last hour or day, or
even week. " -'- .', '
Do your Christmas shopping, as far as practicable,
early, next week. 'You will thus be better served, will
get better bargains, will be better satisfied.
"The Chicago Tribune, . commenting on the rush to
stores and shops prior to Christmas, says: ' "It -means
that State street is to be turned into the. hands of a mob
of countless, prosperous, bargain and gift hunting men,
women and children. From now on the great retail
thoroughfare will be filled. with arpciou shoppers, surg
ing from. Randolph streetTto Congress, stepping upon
each other and tearing esch other's clothes, suffering all
manner and kind of inconvenience and crowding, regard
less of everything but the necessity for getting inside the
stores and procuring the things that make Christmas
worth-while. It has been a prosperous year, and a pros
perous year means a crowdedSate street" i
In a less degree, yet of considerable intensity, the
same may be said of Washington, Morrison and Third
streets during the next three weeks; but most people,
if we judge the future by the' past, will put off their
shopping till the last week, almost the last day. But
why do this? "Go early and avoid the rush," have time
to make your selections and take advantage of the op
clerk a are not rushed to death.
New Style in Gay Audience.
' From the New York World.
Two new- fashlona were emphasised
by the, smart women at the opera last
mgnc one is tne wnoieaais aaoption or
bygone styles and the other Is the use
of cockades for a head dress. Mors
than one woman suggested a canvas
Gainsborough, Reynolds of-.Lawrence,
and this apparently Is the desired 1r
feet. r
Mra William K. Vanderbllt in a bro
caded satin of mauve was a follower of
Ihe idea of reviving ancient styles.
The satin of pale mauve was relieved by
embossed flowers In pink and blue, and
the bodice wss strapped with black vel
vet ribbons. - About her-neck were a
"Consuelo". ribbon of black velvet and
a necklace of eoltalre diamonds. A
large brooch of dlamtmSs decorated bar
coiffure. Her guest, t-airst Frederick O.
Beach, - wore whits satin, touched with
pale blue -velvet. Mrs. Beach's bsir
wss dreesed with a blue, ostrich plume.
Mrs. F.dgertoa Leigh Wlnthrop wore a
perfect replica of a Reynolds f own In
turquelse blue velvet snd while " satin.
Ths velvet formed a bodice and was
draped acroas ths skirt and there waa a
touch of black ribbons. Her hair was
wreathed with pink rosebuds,,
j ":. Pretty Lucky Still." :
From the Philadelphia Press.
- After sll. young Mr. Hyde got pretty
nearly everything but ambaesadorsblp
to France, i ; 1
SMALL CHANGE
The sun doesn't shins always,
e .
Oregon winter; nice! , , . ; ,
e e
The sick man Of Europe probably had
a turkey. .
Taooma Ledger: At thia critical Junc
ture permit as to Inquire. Do you know
the difference between a cold storage
turkey and the real thing?
w
Gold Hill News: Boms Josephine
eounty parties have forgotten tnai
there is a closed season xor iroui. int.,
11.1.1. ..... a-iA 9m m nlec or val
uable Information, If they are not eare-
rui. , - .,
-
The Dalles Chronicle: The turkey at
I.... 1 1. 1 n K. thankful for.
IM, L iimm uaiv . . .
k. .. . i, i. th, neck- hut once.
and never in ths stomach Ilka hie vic
tims CO, :
''o.e,'
Thankae-lvlntr over and 'WS ara Stilt
alivo-r-thank God!
Tea. nolltiri in Oregon are all mixed
up. It was time. ,
' o e
A Los Angeles man- has recovered
IJ.000 from a "young lady who promised
to marry him and then went back on
her word. Plenty of that In Albany
that never cornea ' to light Albany
Democrat Plenty of what? And bow
do you know? '
e e
Heaven Is not resched by a single
bound;
But we build the Isdder by which we
. From the lowly earth to ths vaulted
, skies,'
And we mount to Its summit round by
round. -
e e .
The McCurdys -wlll';resign; yes.
Resignation Is oonfesslon. But will
ttjey restitute? And- If - not. why
shouldn't they go to the penitentiary?
: e ' o . .
. The turkey Is dead poor fellow.. ,
.''.o.e
Irrlgon Irrigator: Several ef our ox-
changes say Williamson should not
have been convicted as ho was only se
curing lend by the ssms system as
many others. Are w then to believe
that If some "respectable ' eltfsen"
should steal a few thousand of Wil
liamson's sheep thst the thief - should
go unpunished because otber "gentle
men" were also sheep thieves?
OREGON SIDELIGHTS
Don't dig VP your fine hopysrds yst
Ths besrs - 111 get tired In a year or
two. :. ."; .. . . ..
Snow up oast of fhe mountain
nd
In the mountains.
0-, o; ., '
JUbdny thinks it needs A public park
and it does. -. . - t
- ,, . ; -i
Echo refuses to. be turned down.
-, ; '' ' '
Tha' Carlton Lumber company" a new
mill and extensive plant.- representing
an outlay of over 41.e00.000. will bo In
. .. . . . . n n . itniL A I
lull operation Dy.Apru, ju. mm in.
natural advanUgea it already enjoys
through its position among ths foothills
of the Coast mountains and the other
Improvements now being made, Carlton
eTfpl
red" airininriTVS'
leading scenic and industrial towns of
tho Wlllamstto velley.
Antoao correspondence of ths Mitchell
Sentinel: Dick Barnhoueo Is on his way
from Illinois to the lsnd of bunchgrass.
Dick told ua confidentially what bo was
going east for, but Dick is such a Josber,
we will have to wait and see.
- - '--.... e . a
A !- - ttia 'Nawa-Herald sars. is
I211.S41.0J in debt Two cents, at least,
too much.
o.e.
AAftvma AdTanee: Ed McFarland. who
has been farming on the reservation for
several years, raising potatoes princi
pally, brought In a sample of this year's
.nth . Thm are four In tha arroun.
snd tho combined length Is It Inches,
the shortest being l ft ana ins longest
10 ft inches. . ...
Lots of newcomers locating around
Medford. , -
v e .
Some geese up tho river.-. -
- 0 0',.
n.. r1anah- Wlllla Handrlx end
John Brookhouse started Tuesday build
ing a telephone line from vurur to ?ygn
.1 A . . Th ara IS njwinla In all on the
line and It will run by John Brookhouse,
Willis Hendrlx. Mike Callaghan, tho
. m . . Ill
Hlllgena, ion nonoMu ana vv in
ir,ln... a nA will have Its terminus 'at
Owen Jones' on tha Canyon City road.
Thoy expect to have tne una compieteo
In about a week, when people in Dufur
csn talk with their nelghbora along
the ridge without extra charge. ,
- ' ' ... ee V
Many turkeys were shipped from The
Dalles.
e e
' O. P. Hlgganbotham of Echo has lost
two valuable mares within ths last few
days' with something reeembling pink
eye, which has afflicted horses In this
county durlnarthe past few months. The
meres were vslued ' at 1400. Several
other marea belonging to him-are also
critically lit ' - - '
. . ; a- -
- Snow several feet deep already In th
Blue mountslnsvjmd several feet deeper
In the Cascades.
x '
' Athena Press: Laet night a funny
accident happened to Jos Ralnvlllo and
Harry Turner. When ready to" atart
home, -they untied thOTteam' all light
and got into the sled, The team whirled
around quickly and snapped tho polo In
two pieces, turning tho sled over sml
throwing the oceupsnts into tho snow.
Joe "held on to the reins, stopped the
team and got a hack at tho livery etable
to rids home in. Tha aled camped In
the street over night
' Corvallls Gasette: Five dosen China
phesasnts left Corvallls this sfternoon
for. the stste of Kansss. where an at
tempt will bo made to propagate them
and etock the state with game. They
were ordered of Gens M. Simpson by ths
ststs gsme warden of Kansaa, and wars
shipped to the letter's address.-- Most of
tho birds iwero grown In tho ysrds of
ga.i-.uel Bane, who closed out his entire
stock to Mr.- Simpson for the" Ksnsss
desl. The sum paid for ths shipment
In Corvallls waa 1141. -
. rfc. ' iii
. No Regard for Politics. '
Prom tho Philadelphia Press. ' -'
The people didn't stop to ask whethet
the boa a was a Republican or a Demo
crat - All over the country Jhey were
efter noeaes of sll kinds, and generally
tkey broughtthem down, - - ..
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
LESSON
By H. D. Jenkins, D. D.
December I. 106 Topic: "Nehemlah
Rebuilds the Wells of Jerusalsm" Neh.
lv:7-0. J .
. Golden text "Watch and ' pray"
Mstt xvl:41. . ' "
Responsive readlngn Psalm Ixxlx. .
Xatrodaotloa. .
It is Impossible that a religion should
flourish while its material embodiment
decays.. You cannot have a prosperous
church In a tumble-down edifice. The
temple doee not crumble until the faith
of its worshipers suffers disintegra
tion, for the gangrene of tho foot has
its origin in the feeble sctlon of tho
heart A shrewd observer knows In ths
condition of ths altar tho virile or
moribund condition of tha cult .
- Intuitively Nehemiah loved the walls
of Jeruealem because he loved the God
Of Jerusalem (Ps. cxxxvll:(). lis him
self "dwelt in marblo halls," but this he
felt to be rather a reproach than . a
pleaaure (I Chron. xvll:17). He did not
think, aa sometimes Christian farmers
do. that sny kind of a church will do,
but a barn must ,be "up to date." He
did not think, as aometlmea Chrlstlsn
bankers do, thst a church must be "a
model of simplicity In architecture,"
but even a country seat should exhibit
the taste and open-handedness of its
possessor. Nehemiah does not give us
sny labored argument to prove that the
walls of Jerusalem ahould bo butlded.
He simply felt thst life wss clouded to
him except as the prosperity of Jeru
salem ahould be restored. In the lesson
for November It we havo his prsyer
Imploring that a way for rebuilding the
city may be -opened.--When - that -way
was mad free to him, he Immediately
threw . up honora and emolumenta to
carry out tho work of restoration for
which he had prayed. . v
Between the leeson of November 1
and that for today we have the account
of those Inctdenta which prepared the
way for the 'accomplishment of this
patriot's purpose. The king hsd listened
to his request with unexpected fsvor.
Before Its overthrow Jerusalem had been
of some importance to Babylon. It had
served as an outlying bastion to the dis
tant empire. Since Ita demolition things
hsd not gone well In the west. The
neighboring tribes were turbulent and
tbelr loyalty not to be depended upon.
In any great crisis It wss uncertain
where they -would be found. Perhaps
Assyria needed - a - fortified base - of
supplies nearer her only powerful rival,
Egypt.
Whatever the motlvea which ' Influ
enced Artaxerxea,-Nehemiah received a
commineion to restore Jerusalem to a
defensible condition. Hs hsd orders
from tho king for needed supplies
(Ch. il:S). -Without standing upon the
order of his departure,. Nehemiah . set out
promptly for the city of his fathers,
msde a hurried and secret survey of the
repslrs needed, and after a conference
with energetic leaders, he waa at work
upon ths walla before his enemiee hsd
time to Interpoae. ' Some of tho patrician
families even -then refused to tske part
In the work (Ch. Itl:t. but nothtng
sufficed to discourage this servant, of
God who" had resolved that to the temple
and the temple worehtpers should be
given the protection of walla, and gates,
i Th4 fcessoa.
Verse T. Nobody knows bow many
enemies religion has until he Bets out to
do something In Ita Interests.. .The
world has no war to wage with a dead
church. - The pastor who Is content to
let the saloonkeeper file a rotten peti
tion, stuffed with forged and fictitious
nsmes, to set up a bar txtrjt ft is Sundsy
leheal ewtp
etu-
hlmsill
world of trouble. But let him bestir
himself to save hie boys from tha ap
proach of the enemy, and he will have
the tradesmen and the politicians snd
the reporters barking at hia heela night
and day. The world has no use for s
militant church. Aa soon ss ths
Arabians snd ths Ammonites and ths
Ashdoditea discover thst a new man has
taken hold of the cause and that he
"means business," they .leave off their
internecine squabbling to Jump "Unitedly
on him.
. ytr a. The enemies of religion msy
seem to have little In common, but they
can alwaya make common cause sgalnst
Christ snd his church. Thsro wss only
one thing upon which Phsrlsees and
Sadduoees and Herodtana agreed, and
that was thst Jesus must be put down
(Mstt. sxll:ls-l-M. Amid all tho out
ward appearance of a real' "campaign,'
the Arabian who runs a brothel and the
Ammonite who conducts a saloon im
the Ashdodlte who owns a gambling hell
know that their business will be "pro
tected If they make common csuse.
. Verse t. With all theae troubles roll
Ing up their thunder olouds In his sky.
Nehemiah waa not driven out He waa
troubled, of course. He eould not Ig
nore tho perils with which ho wss sur
rounded, but he did not retreat to
Babylon. Ho went straight to the King
of Heaven with his cause. Meanwhile
he redoubled his vigilance, and proved
himself as good a' soldier aa ho waa a
faithful worahiper. No man understands
tho true nature or purpoeo of prayer
who aubatltutea prayer for courage or
fidelity.
Verse 10. Meanwhile It wag only too
evident to ' the great leader that nosh
and' blood are not Inexhaustible. Judah
was a small tribe now, wasted by wsr
snd captivity. Ths walls had been built
In days of Increasing population and
abundant wealth. It waa a tremendous
undertaking for this feeble remnant to
restore these fortifications. They wore
themselves out In simply 'removing the
debris." " 7" - ' J
Verse 11. Meenwhlle they, knew fy
el! the -aims thst their enemies wars
watching for aoms unguarded-moment
In which the work ef months might be
destroyed in one hour. "It Is hardly to
be wondered at that they became weary,
dlscourssed. petulant
Veree 11. To add to his anxiety, the
famlllea which, lived near theae heathen
tribes .were "constantly sending word to
Jerusalem whither their sbls-bodled
men had repaired "Come back, to de
fend vour own hoesea." - "
- Vera II. Instesd of eendlng recruits
to the frontier, - Nehemiah kept thslr
famlllea by him. He gave tnem camping
places behind the low walls where the
laborers wsre still hard at work, and put
them thua under tho very eyes of those
Interested In their welfare.
Veree 14. Nehemiah Bought to turn
the thoughts of the people from their
perils to God's promises, from their foes
to their Deliverer.' It was not to he
believed that God had brought Isrsel out
fmm Egypt by so many signal deliver
ances only to see the nation wiped from
the face ef the earth.
Verse 15. "Thrice Is h armed that
hath his quarrel ' Just." Tho foes of
Jodsh were like many ether men In th4
wrong, more eminent-for breg than In
battle. The mere disclosure of theti
secrets frightened them. Tho test of
courage is to fight in ths open. The am
buscade and tho floating mine may win
a fight but never win renown. The
discovered enemy la often a disoomflted
enemy. Upon the withdrawal ef their
foes, tho Jews who hsd taken, up their
weapons laid them down once more snd
resumed their tasks as builders. Ws
ought to spend no time In flourishing
spesrs when the need of the hour is
trowels. Honors won with the swori
sre not so necesssry aa those won with
the spado, " P '
Veree 1. But In this period of storm
snd stress" Nehemiah sought to trsln
his fellow countrymen In both tho duties
of the maaon and those of the warrior.
The one lesson which he teaches us by
such example Is that wo cannot as yst
"Isy our armor down." We must pro
vide for tho aafsty of Jerusalem, not
assumo It to be safe. Of course, there
eomo exigencies in every great under
taking when all wo can do is to stand
still and see tho salvation of God. But
ordinarily ws are to uss our observa
tion and Judgment and Industry aa wall
aa our faith In the service of the 'King.
Verse IT. To build up the kingdom ot
God In any age Is a matter of great
enterprise and requiring groat courage.
Few people reallss bow reaoiuto ana
determined and persistent the foes of
true religion are. Nehemiah knew tnat
tho- enemy might bo out of sight, but
he was not ehangsd in mind or purpose.
Disband tho police and tho militia tn
any city of America today, and within
14 hours tho streets would run 'with
blood and the bomea of the city disap
pear In smoke and flame. . Peace and
justice rest today upon the strong right
arm.
Verso 11. As the work progressed the
enemy"of their enemies Incressed. The
higher rose the walla, the nrraer were
aet uie gatea, tho more bitter grew the
thoughts of Sanballat and Tobiah. It
la so everywhere with the kingdom ' of
Christ. Toe greater progresa Christian
ity makea tho more do Satan's minions
hsto IV. The more prosperous a church
ths more it . becomes tho tsrget for
poisoned arrows. Tho world spesks al
most affectionately or a dormant church,
but for a militant church It rushss out
sll its artillery. When Bunyan . and
Wesley were at the summit of thalr cs.
reers as soul-winners they wsr openly
charged with the goaaest Immorality
No one needs to bo so alert against the
foes of all righteousness aa tho man
who la trying to do the moat good.
' Vereea It. 20. But the battlea of the
kingdom are not to be fought, out by
single and widely scattered soldiers.
Keep In touch with good men. Bo ready
to run to tho succor of good men.' If
you' are spiritually assailed, eeek the
old ot Israelites Indeed. Other men
have passed through similar assaults.
Look to them. Let your . motto be.
"Grateful for help and ready to extend
it." -, -, ,. . .- . ::
fARsj
LIFE AMONG THE STARS
' By Osrrett P. Bervlss.
" "It is Inconceivable to me." : says
Professor7 W. W. Campbell. Istely di
rector of the Lick observatory, "that
only one planet, or one star, should
havo Intelligent life, and that the earth
la that one." .
Profeeaor Campbell probably voices
ths opinion" of the greawajmajorlty of
aatronomera,. for there 'lire very few
who accept Alfred -ftmisell Wallace'a
view that our little globe la the sole
abode In all thia vast -universe of high
ly endowed erestures with souls. -
Look at the -heavens tonight, when
the eestern sky Is ablase with the rising
of Orion-and Blrlusv- and -think,--If -you
can. that -that port of - mighty suns
lights only a desert!' ' -'
The argument for 'the' InusettAUty of
the soul and ths argument for the plu
rality of inhabited worlda are of pro
eleely the same nature and rest upon
the ssme baals. Neither Is 'St present
capable i qf , aclautUle, demonstration.
Both -depend upon an intuition, which is
not tho lees Insistent because la escapea
the testa of scientific knowledge.
p... .n..n,iin avi.t. aml
time wo shall bo able to prove by phy
rai.
cal demonstration that othar plane ta are
Inhabited, and that other stars besides
our sun illumlnste habitable worlds. Ths
msrks of the presence of intelligent
life upon a plsnet sre not things thst
eould esslly be overlooked, provided out
powers of vision were, sufficiently ex.
. ,
sited. Men hss scored tho earth wtthj
unmistakable signs which oven out
preeent range of telescopic powers would
render visible from the distance of the
moon; tho smoke and tha lights of great
cities; the changes of hue produced by
tho cultivation of broad area a of land:
tha great railroad "belta." with their
distinctive colors and appearance, are a
few among the many marka of man's
presence which eould not fail to bo rec
ognised by en Intelligent lunar observer
armed with a duplicate , of the Lick
telescope. ' -
. When we exsmlne the moon with our
gres test . telescopes wo find no evi
dence of the existence of Intelligent life
there, but the slss and mass of the
moon and ita ability to retain atmos
pheric gsses fsll below tho limits suit
able to a world resembling tho earth,
snd"accordlngly we are not much die
sppolnted by the negative evidence given
by the telescope.
. With such planets ss Venus and
Mara tho case Is different Venus Is
mssslve enough to possess an atmoa
phsre very like the esrth's, and Mars
Is not too lacking la mass to enable
It to retain free gasea that might serve
to support Intelligent creatures organ
ised somewhat differently from our
selves. The trouble Is that the die
ts nee of thess planets, Inetead of being
measured by two or three hundred thou
sand miles, amounts, at tho least, te
tB or St million miles, and with such
a distance our present telescopes are
utterly unable to cope when the ques
tion la to discover unmistakable signs
of the presence of Intelligent life,
- Whsf Is ' needed, ' then. Is mightier
telescopes, and that will probably mean
telescopes of sn entirely new kind,
something as yet undresmsd of, depend
ing upon soms discovery as unexpected
ss thst of ths X-ray or tha disintegra
tion of the atom. In ItOT Msrs will
approach the earth within but little
more than 18.000,000 miles, and In ltot
within scarcely mors than 14.000.000
miles. Ths lstter especially will be a
splendid opportunity for the oomlng
telescope .to solvs the problem of life
on Mars. In -Order to show things on
Msra aa small as the Lick alsss shows
them on the moon That talescopa will
need to besr a magnifying power of
100.000 diameters. - Even with so glgan
tlo a power ss that the apparent dis
tance of Mars from tho observer's eye
would be still 110 miles. It Is hopeless
to gst sny such power with tho preeent
style of telescopes. But a fundamental
dtacovery In optics might v In a" year
make the greet Lick teleacope as com
pletely a back number In astronomy aa
In Galileo's opera glass. i -
In ths - meantime astronomers who
shsrs Professor Campbells faith will
not glvs over their belief thst tha heav
ens ara a full of Ufa as of light.
' A New Era. .,
- ..From tho New Tork Tribune.
Tho American people are perhaps less
reedy now then they havo been at any
period In their history to Join In the
shout. "The boss Is dead. long live the
boeer - .V.
, . ; Still Worth While. .
'"From tho Philadelphia. Ledger. -
Pres1dentlcCurdy's salary, even at
$71,000, would so better then none.
THE ANTI-SUICIDE
COMMISSION
By Rev; Thomss B. Gregory. ,
Tom Johnson, ths bls-sodled. hi.
brained, big-hearted mayor of Cleveland.
naa organised an Antl-Sulclda society,
which Is already bard at work doing
What It can to prevent people from kill
ing themselves.
H Is said that common sense is . the
sort of sense thst enables one to . ses
things, and te take things aa they are.
without weetlng any time with vain re
grets or tdls theorlalngs. ' '-''
If this Is so, then It cannot ba dWnleeV
that Tom Johnson's antl-sulcids commis
sion Is a thoroughly. eomraon-senae af-v
fair, aince It tackles tho actual facta as
they exist there In Cleveland gnd tries
to msks the beet of them, without going "
Into any sort of argument J the caae.
pro or eon. . . ,-. . , ,. '
But when you atop to think about It,
what a strange thing It la. that there .
ahould be any necessity for the kind of
society In queetlon. . . -.
Whet to sweeter than life! in It not
true, snd has It not always been true,
that "All that a man hath will, be given
tor his llfs"? . ' , . ..........
From tha beginning of human history.
hss It not been true that "Self-preserva
tion te tne nrst isw of nature," and that
mankind have ever and . everywhere
acted upon' that Immutable ruling?
And yet. In all kges and countries,
there havo not been . wanting men and -women
who were ready to destroy them
selvee, ' reedy to snap, with their own .
hsnds. the cord thst bound tbem to the
existence that Is so inexpressibly ' sweet
snd precious to every normal buman be
ing. .....
Ay, that word "normal" tells the whole -story
I . . t -
To ths humsn being who Is right lire
Is alwsys a thing to be desired .frut
when- one ceaeea to be right and becomes
wrong that Is to say, wrong, twisted,
out of line and plumb with tha natural
order of things then the. trouble begins,
then the harp of life ceases to glvs. -out
the music thst entrances, snd In the
twanging discord that comes from Ita
"strings tho soul finds the sorrow and
gloom that drives It mad. '
Sometimes the wrongnees la brought
on by ths person himself, sometimes It
Is thrust upon him by others. ;
Thsro Is Just one thing In this world
that la more sacred and more suthorlts
tlvo then Is our love of life, and that is
the moral sense, our perception of our
duty as moral beings; and when we de
liberately and persistently flout and scorn
the eonslcenco and Its laws we by and
by find ourselves out of harmony with
the universe, at war even with our own
being, ill at ease, discontented, and finally
In the deepalr which kills us.
. It Is In this way that we are to ac-;
count for a great many of the suicides.
We osn flout the moral law. but we
cannot stave off the penslty of the flout
ingand one of those- pensltles Is that
the man who will not live decently shall. -by
bis own hand, rid himself ,ot the life
he has desecrated.
-Butvaa naa been intimated the trouble.
Is not always the fsult of the suicide.
Somebody else may violate the moral
law. and as a result of that violation the
newspapers may hava'to chronicle a sui
cide, or several of them.
Tha Infidelity of husbands or wives or
their drunkennees or extravagance, may
drive Innocent ones tew self-destruction.
Ljnot that - they theatsetveo ' hsvo-aone
wrong, but tnat tney cannot naura, im
thought of the wrong that has been.. done
bv-the a-ulltv onea.
And then, again, tne greed ana general
i innumaniiv aiei miHiuiuiini,
tin.
world of "business," ths cold-blooded
competition that ' has quite driven out
the brotherhood spirit la responsible for
msny eulcldee poor people left- In the
brutal -struggle to die of poverty, or Vo
die of their own hand, quickly. rathe
than by the slow process ot stsrvatlon.
And so. down at bottom, this suicide
question is a moral rafther than a scien
tific or "phllsnthrople Vne. t
fho remedy Is a very almplo one the
Sermon on the Mount
. Exploring Young's bay.
. December. 1 Again we had a cloudy
day and the wind so high, from the east
thst hsvlng vsntured In a boat with a
view to hunt at some distance, we weeo
obllged o return. - We reeumed our oc-'
cupatlon of dreealng leather and mend
ing our old clothes. In which we passed
the dsy. The hunters' came In with a
report ef having seen two herds ef elk.
tfut they could kill v nothing, snd we
therefore sgsln fed upon dried fish. - At
sunset It began to rein violently snd
continued all night ,
Causes of Wife Desertion.
From the New Tork World.
General public Interest has been
aroused by thetatement of Lester Bo
dine, a' Chicago official, that big fam
ilies, so urgently advocated by Preel
dent Roosevelt, are the greatest single
eauee of wife deeertlon. --
Tho World has sought fd find out If
what la said to bs true in Chicago Is
generally true elsewhere.
In New Tork tho testimony ls-thst
wife desertion la mostly dus to drink
and rarely to big famlllea. ,
In Philadelphia desertion la laid to
largo families. ' y ,
In St Louis It Is charged to drink.
In Boston and Baltimore also it la
attiibutsd to other causes than the also
of the family.
It la estimated by Magistrate Joseph
pool of this city that the present aver
ago number of wife deeertlona annually
In New Tork la between 1.000 and 1,000.
About three such esses a day corns up
In each Of the polios urts.. There Is
no way of getfftig at the exact figures,
becauaa the -guilty husbands are. fre
quently charged with somejjther. of.
fensa. " ' .'' . ':
According to Magistrate Pool. .'who.
hss 1ad many years' opportunity for
closs observation, tho prevailing cause
of wife desertion la drink on the pert
of the husband. Neat to drink ho ranks
gambling, mostly on the aces In pool
rooms. " '
Ths msglstrste wss asked, specifics!
y. If ho thought ' largo famlllea had
anything to do with wife desertion. He
eald. emphatically, nol He, said, fur
ther,, that while Incompatibility of tem
per waa frequently alleged In tho higher
courta as a ground for aeparatlon- or
deeertlon, he could not recall everyone
such esse In hla court.
It waa undoubtedly a fact, however,
ho aald. that the great majority of
wives who" wore deserted were left with
several children on their hands. . '
A Humiliating Confeation.
' From the Indlsnepolls News.
- It moot bo with considerable humilia
tion that tho Metropolitan .Life con
eases that-it saved only' IS.tOO wotl,
of the? ciuntry In 1 ha against much
larger portions savsd by Its rivals.
LEWIS AND CLARK
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