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Editorial Page of The Journal
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SOKBIKV ADVERTISING RBPEESSXTATIVB.
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.1 M
Anger Is the most impotent
passion that accompanies the
mind of man; it affects noth
ing it goes about; and hurts
the man who is possessed by
it more than any other against
whom it is directed. Claren
don. REPUBLICANISM IN OREGON.
THE Benton County Republican,
the new paper of Corvallis.
whose publishers have recent
ly arrived in the state, remarks in its
first number that "Oregon has never
been more prosperous than right now
under the Republican rule." The Cor
vallis paper proceeds to speak of the
great demand for labor of all kinds
.in Oregon, and concludes that "all
this speaks well for Oregon as well
as Republicanism."
The puzzle is to find what "Repub
licanism," or Democratism, or social
Ism, or any other political "ism" has
to do with the "great demand for
bonest laborers in all parts of the
state." Probably in elucidation it
would be ssid that the high protective
tariff does it all a system that en
riches the trusts by extortionate in
direct taxation of all the farmers and
other laborers of Oregon and gives
them nothing in return but sophistical
softsoap, but the number of people
who can be hoodwinked by such stale
clap-trap is becoming beautifully less.
Perhaps the Corvallis Neophytes in
Oregon journalism are not aware of
the recent record of "Republicanism"
in Oregon how and why the state
bad for a considerable time but one
member of congress arid will have
but one when congress meets in De
cember. Perhaps these welcome im
migrants are not A yet familiar with
recent proceedings, to be continued,
in the federal court for the district
of Oregon. Really, the less said about
"Republicanism in Oregon" the bet
ter, especially for the "Grand Old
'Party."
It seems, also, that the new editor
has yet to be informed that Oregon
has had for nearly four years past
and will have for over four years to
come a Democratic governor. How
tinder such circumstances has it been
Jpossible for crops to yield heavily,
Or industries to flourish, for the early
bd latter rain to fall and the caloric
Ct the summer sun- to ripen golden
harvests, and for an unprecedented
. demand for labor at good wSges to
i txist? How does it coma that Oregon
lor this great mistake and sin of elect-
ing s Democratic governor, commit
ted even the second time, has not suf
fered from a withering blight.
The fact is that Oregon has suf
fered a good deal from too much "Re
mblicanisrn." If it had been closer
politically and doubtful the Republi
cans would have behaved themselves
great deal better, and whichever
j party won most of the time the state
would have been better off.
DRY LAND FARMING.
" THILE IRRIGATION is to
be more extensively em
ployed in eastern Oregon,
(southern Oregon and even the Wil
'Jmette valley, there are extensive
J retches of country, particularly in
plfte eastern part of the state, that
ifpannot be irrigated because water for
that purpose is not available, the land
n some cases lying higher than any
', Sufficiently near sources of water
supply. These uplands are in the ag
gregate vast in extent, and contain
lements of fertility, and experiment
I fa "dry farming" upon them are being
watched with much interest In not
It few canes oj&ailent results have
ifceen obtained, and, while it Is not
tpected that such large-and varied
By can be produced by dry farm
pRaf M by irrigation, farmers who
t)eve necessarily resorted to the for
mer method are much encouraged.
A method of dry soil culture that
eing widely discussed is that
ii as the Campbell method,
eby it is sfsimed that dry, bar
ands can be converted without
Htion into productive and profit-,.-Ple
ft not exceedingly prolific grain
-adows and orchards This
a wonderfully important dis
Hill has impressive-
urges) better and more scientific
treatment of the soil, which is in
deed becoming a necessity, and if in
addition to this large areas of land
heretofore supposed utterly worth
less for agriculture can be made pro
ductive the gain will certainly be
very great
A writer in the Century magazine,
after criticising the non-progressive
spirit of farmers who have been long
in the west, saying they sre "full of
bigotry snd prejudice," and "set their
faces like flint" against improved
methods, says they can seldom be
persuaded to give dry land farming
a trial, but that "newcomers are near
ly always willing to learn and profit
by the experience of others and the
younger element among the farmers
hail dry farming as the dawn of a
new era." There may be some truth
in this, and if so western farmers
should awaken to the importance and
necessity of Improved methods snd
of the best possible utilization of
the soil.
A significant news item states that
a farmer on the dry uplands along
the upper Deschutes river harvested
40 bushels of barley an acre from 40
acres by the dry fanning method,
which consists principally in packing
the ground underneath a loose sur
face. On this 40 acres he followed
the plow with a subsurface packer,
while on 80 acres adjoining he did
not use the packer, and this land,
though of the same quality, yielded
less than half as much ss the sub
packed 40 acres. If this instance be
illustrative of what may be done on
large areas in eastern Oregon, and
it seems to be, it shows how millions
of bushels of gram can be grown
where only thousands are produced
now.
Thousands of peojjge mourn the un
timely and tragic death of Mr. Reno
Hutchinson, who was a very excep
tionally useful man, and in the early
prime of his noble life, and their
grief is enhanced by the mystery of
the terrible crime by which his life
was so suddenly terminated. An as
sassin's bullet is no respecter of per
sons, and he who sped this one prob
ably recks not that few young men
in this region could have been spared
with greater loss or. been more
missed. It would be no new thing
in the history of crime if this victim's
active though always helpful and
kindly and never offensive activity i
nl
usefulness were the cause of his death,
though in his career there seems to
be found no peg upon which to hang
such a theory. Whoever committed
it did a dire and dastardly deed, which
can never in this world be adequately
punished or atoned for.
In the case of the beef packers,
the defendants were adjudged immune
from punishment because they did not
dispute some open, gross and pal
pable facts. In the case of the Stand
ard Oil, on trial at Findley, Ohio,
the judge holds that it cannot be
bound by the acts of its agent unless
there be proof that the agent was
specifically instructed to perform the
acts constituting evidence of guilt.
Both decisions strike the lsyman as
absurdly contrary to reason and
equity, but almost any excuse will do
for a judge who is bound to secve
the trusts. When the people get fair-
Jy into the reforming business, one
of the first things they need to turn
their attention to is the bench. The
time has come when the people hsve
got to insist upon men who will serve
them and not their enemies there as
well as in other positions.
Our good friends who work on the
waterfront and our other good friends
who employ men on the waterfront
are apparently laboring under the de
lusion that they alone are interested
in the contest that is driving business
from this port to other cities that
will make every effort to keep it,
whatever may be the outcome of thje
strike. As a matter of fact, all of
Portland is vitally concerned in the
unhappy conflict, and all of Portland
hopes, for the present and prospective
good of the city, that all the ques
tions at issue will be solved peacefully
snd finally, by arbitration.
The people who feared that Mr.
Shepherd had reconsidered his reso
lution to resign see in his motion to
prevent smoking at meetings, of the
city council an evidence of irrevoc
ability of decision compared with
Which the laws of the Medes and Per
sians were Ss stories writ in sand.
It may interest the historian who
writes of the "Whys and Wherefores
of Discontent in 1906" to knOw that
the Ohio judge who ruled that Stand
ard Oil had not been guilty of rebat
ing was named Bsnker.
Mr. Taft hat profited by the ex
perience of his friend Palma in Cuba.
The first words the secretary uttered
on kis native heath were: "I am not
a candidate for the presidency."
Unrighteousness received a shock
and attempted bribery a deserved re-
A Little Out
THINGS PRINTED TO READ WHILE YOU WAIT.
Records.
In the number of his titles the Dune
of Atholl, with IS, holds the record.
The record bean for costliness Is the
vanilla, which sella at til a pound re
tail. The record of ham sandwich making
is 1.000 In 11 hours and 16 minutes.
The record lodging-house la one for
pllgrlmt, at Mecca, which accommo
dates 6,000 persona.
The record steam heating apparatus
coat tlto.000. It la that which heats
the 11.000 roams of the Vatican.
The record soprano voloe was Lu
creala Agujardi's. This lady, who died
In 178S. could easily atrlke C In altls
elrno. The record for millionaire honesty
was held by the lata, Charles T. Terkes.
who, on recovering- his fortune after
his failure, repaid the claims of all
his old creditors, with per cent com
pound interest
The record for letter deliveries Is
dally made on the 760-mile route be
tween Parle and Berlin. Letters mailed
in Parts often reach Berlin In tt mln
utea, and never In lees than an hour.
Thry are transmitted, of course, pneu
matically. October 18 in History.
lilS King John of England died.
141 Eugene of Savoy born. Died
April 11. 17(1,
1775 Continental congress adopted
the pine tree flag.
1781 American congreea voted to
disband the Revolutionary army on
November 1.
Hit French military forees aban
doned Moscow.
Kit Bonaparte defeated at Letpstc.
1826 Lest lottery sanctioned by the
British government held.
1111 Emperor Frederick III of Ger
many born. Died June It, 1818.
1881 The Confederate. General Mor
gan, occupied Lexington, Kentucky.
1898 Spanish evacuation of Porto
Rico officially completed.
18SS Arthur T. Hadley assumed the
presidency of Tale university.
101 Typhoon on coast of Japan; 60,
000 bouaea destroyed.
- Colds Are Contagious.
"The common cold Is, no doubt, a so
ealled bacterial .disease," aaid Dr.
Frederick Treveo In an sddress printed
in the Grand , Magaalne. "It can be
caught, It can be conveyed from person
to person. . The germ would seem to
linger In the haunts of men, and to And
pleasure In the madding crowd. When
I was concerned In starting hospital
ships In the North ess I found that
fishermen, returning to port after a two
months' voyage, were very prone to
catch cold. Many told me that they
developed a cold whenever they went
ashore. It la often claimed that the
common oold is due to cold. The chilly
blasts of the North see in the winter
were unpleaaant enough, but they were
not laden with the cold-tn-the-head
bacillus, while the air of the cosy sea
port was."
Largest Prison in America
MISSOURI'S STATE
"Thl city of crime," Mr. Thomas
Speed Mosby. pardon attorney to Gov
ernor Folk, calls ths Missouri state
prison, in an article In the North Ameri
can Review, which will confirm many
theories ef the criminologists, but must
be "read In the light of the fact that
ths statistic" were 'gathered during :i
period of treat industrial prosperity.
At no time during the lest twelve
yesra have there been less than 2,000
convicts in the Missouri stste prison,
and from lot to 1,000 are received every
year. This great number of prisoner,
which makea the penal Institution st
Jefferson City the largest of Its kind m
the United State, is explained by the
fact that, unlike moat of the populous
states, Missouri has only one peniten
tiary. It is a rich Held for the study .if
criminology, but the influence of hered
ity did not enter Mr. Moaby'a investi
gations; and his method la statistical
rather than acientlflc.
1 fljy"fgnBaBSsasp ! " ' -se$isvSn
The theory so tenaciously held by
prohibitionists that the rum traffic Is
responsible for a very large proportion
of crime Is not borne out by the recoMe
of tan Missouri state prison. Of 1.794
convicts received during a recent two
year period, 152, or nearly one-half, had
led temperate lives. Religion, it seems,
was slightly more of a deterrent than
education; for 71.S per cent of these two
year eonvlcts had received a fair degree
of education, and 71 per eent of them
professed belief In religion and belonged
originally to nine denominations. . Of
the 1,794 prisoners, 1.689 were native
born American, and 105 were foreign
born; and of the American tit were
born in Missouri. There were only s
female prisoners, and 61 of thorn were
negroes. Nearly one-third of the m.ile
prisoner, or SIS, Were negroes. ' The
buke when Officer Roberts, on whom
s citizen tried to force a piece of
money as purchase price of freedom,
hurled the nickel in the miscreants
face. That the citizen may have
thought the coin was a $5 gold piece
does not detract from the magnifi
cent honesty of the policeman's aot.
It looks as if every time Mr. Har
riman buys or gets control of a rail
road he uses it to raise means with
which to buy another. All that is
necessary is to increase the stock.
The people pay the freight.
Judging from most of the reports,
sside from those from Hearst sources,
it seems to be only a question of
Hughes' majority ia New York. But
surprises in election results sre not
unknown.
A conundrum which hopgrowers do
not understand any more than in
some former years is why hops should
be 6 or 7 cents lower here than in
New York, when the difference ap
parently should be not over 3 cents.
Ths Milton flour mill is complaining
of Jack ef oars and unless the situation
Is relieved within a few days will be
forced to dose down.
I 1 M
l 1 1 ii n-iYi litsftl nffaV - i-
of tke Common
Nikola Tesla's Birthday.
Nikola Tenia, the famous electrician
and Inventor, was born at Smlljau.
Servla, October It, 1SS7. His father
was an eloquent clergyman of the
Greek church, but Nikola probably de
rived his inventive genius from his
mother, who constructed looms and
churns. As a boy In the Polytechnic
school -at Grata he became Interested In
electricity and secured a position as as
sistant In the) government telegraph
engineering department at Budapest.
In 1881 he came to America and Edison
eon became personalty Interested in
him. News of Tssla's wonderful dia
ooverles was spread abroad and ha
leaped Into the foremost rank es an
electrician. He was one of ths first to
suggest the electrical possibilities ef
hsrneasing Niagara falls.
Hear the Belles.
Heer the chatter of the belles!
Rival belles!
What a round of Jealous gab their jab
bering foretells.
As they knock, knock, knock.
Are they not a precious flock?
I'm alluding to the belles, belles, belles.
Heer the scandal of the belles!
Shrewish belles!
Human tongues ss well ss brasen may
ring knolls.
Reputation sent to pot!
Aren't they Just a lovely let?
I'm referring to the belles, belles, belles.
A Year of Bibles.
The total Issuee of the American
Bible society from May, 1908. to May.
1908. at home and abroad, amounted to
1.216,756. Of these 040,887 were Is
sued from the Bible bouse In New York
and 1,298, 3tS from the society's
agencies abroad, being printed on mis
sion pressee In Chins, Jspan, Slam,
Syria and. Turkey. These figures show
an Increase over those of a year ago
amounting to 406,669 and are the larg
est in the society's history.
The Rarest Autograph.
Shakespeare's autograph la the rarest.
There are only seven In existence, snd
three of these sre doubtful.
The best Is in the British museum, in
a translation of "Montaigne." It cost
816,000. and would sell readily today
for 125.000. The next two best are In
conveyances of property. Three are in
Shakespeare a will, but two of these
are doubtful, and there is a doubtful
one In the folio edition of his plays.
Brains of Great Men.
Brains of great men vary very much.
It is found that men of encyclopedic
mind have large and besvy bralaa
Gladstone had to wear a very big hat
with an enormous bed of gray matter
and numerous convolutions; on the
other hsnd, men whose genius is con
centrated upon one line of thought are
of small brain and, consequently, 'have
small heads. Newton, Byron and Crom
well were In Ibis class.
HSjaejlt'lM-jafe
PENITENTIARY.
percentage of illiteracy among the con
victs wss 26.6, which was four times hs
great a the averages percentage Jf
illiteracy among the non-criminal popu
lation of Missouri.
"
It may be Inferred from Mr. Moeby's
figure that la Missouri at least the na
tive Born are more addicted to crime
than the Immigrant poulatlon, the per
centages Indicated being respectively
.0068 and .0049; but of the 51 criminals
In everv 10 000 nf t h nnm.i.
one-third may be presumed -to be ne
groes. The ago of greatest criminality
Mr. Mosby found to be from 20 to it.
and "singularly enough it appears that
ths crimes Involving the sexual passions
sre proportionately small among this
class of criminals." It wss no new dis
covery that the great majority of con
victs sre unskilled laborers; of the total
of i,74t there were 1.118 who had no
trade. Leas than one-third of the whole
number had been married. Elghty-eix
per cent were serving a first term.
One-third came from cities containing
one-fourth of the population of the
state
Mr. Mosby does not give us compara
tive tables to show the progress of crlms
In Missouri. Between 1160 and lttt
crime in the United State Increaaed 445
per cent, according to the 11th census,
while the population increased ITS per
cent. The moot hopeful deduction '.o
be drawn from the recorda of the "olty
of crime" Is that punishment does deter,
for only 14 per cent of the prisoners
were serving a second term or were old
offenders. We are a little pussled liy
the proportion of only one-third of city
crlmlnsls, for it eonfllots with the esti
mate of criminologists that ths cities
furnish a far larger portion of crimi
nals. Mr. H. M. Bolss making it aa high
as SO per cent
Humors of the "Terror."
Amid the grlaly horrors of the Rus
sian "terror" humorous incidents hsve
not been wanting, end erlmntals have
not scrupled to play upon the nervous
fear of the populace in a way that af
fords amusement at a distance, however
real the danger seemed to the Victims,
aa the following stories related by a
St. Petersburg correspondent show:
Aa a passenger was waiting for hi
train at a station on the line between
t. Petersburg and Moscow two stran
gers came up to him, shoved their hands
Into his pockets, told hiss net to move,
as they had Just placed a bomb there,
and then vanished aa suddenly as they
had appeared.
, The passenger waa frightened out of
hi wit and screamed aloud, begging
everybody, almost with tear In hi
ye, not to come near him aa there was
a bomb in his pocket which would ex
plod if any one touched him. It we a
long time before he could be persuaded
to allow some oft to look carefully Into
hi pocket, and when this waa don
only some bread crumbs wsre found.
But his pocket-book with several thou
sand roubles in it, wee gone
Entering a tobacconist's shop at Kher
son few men placed a big "bomb" on
the counter and rtemnndeH ,n -
they would blow the whole place to
piece. The shopkeeper wsa terrified
Into helplessness while the men Quickly
cleared awar all the rmh mnA Amsm ,
leaving the bomb behind them. Not till
a considerable time arter the men had
gone did the shopkeeper dare to glvs
the alarm. When the police arrived on
the spot and took many precautions to
carry away, the bomb, the latter turned
out to be a watermelon oevared with
tar.
Small Change
Fins weather 'for football all right
How many more ef that original Flor-
oaora sextet are there to hear of T
Now that Taft and Funston are gone,
the Cubans may try to have a little fun
with Magoon.
e s
Who said Senator Fulton was an ant I
Simon mant Why, he was a leader in
making Mr. Simon senator one,
, e
The last revelation in Ben Domingo
attraots about as much attention as a
row between police court lawyers.
n
Ws really hope Corey end Msbelle
win marry; the subsequent rows and
scandals would be a change, at least,
s
Hew can the rest of us have the heart
to boaat of prosperity when the wood
and coal dealer are losing money sot
e
On of the moat ardent friend ef
good road la Mr. J. D. Rockefeller;
he want all the road thoroughly oiled,
e
It Is thought by many that the Otm
cratlc nomine for governor of Ms see
chusetts 1 Moran likely to be defeated.
If Diss gets Into difficulties and
een't manage his affairs, here's our
Taft reedy to est on and quiet any
country on earth.
i
A London doctor says the whole
world ie becoming erasy. Maybe he
ha been concentrating his attention
too much en football.
e e
It is easier to be a United States
senator than a esar, yet the office has
its difficulties, especially In the dis
tribution Of "patronage."
e
A New Tprk man think that he ts a
monkey But none of the rich Newport
dudes ever thus take a tumble and eee
themselves a other see them.
Oregon Sidelights
Many families in Echo are living in
tent.
e
Farmer around Athena burn stubble
to get rid of weed seed.
Several new buildings ere
being
rushed to completion in Vale
Bourbon young men are so economi
cal that they, take their girls riding on
warehouse trucks.
A Brownsville man picked the last of
his ripe strawberries last week, and will
prepare to raise fall strawberries for the
market.
.
Speaking of ths prospective fuel fa
mine the Baker .City Democrat asks:
What are the people to do? Must, they
submit to this condition? Will the rail
roads afford relief?
Jobn Damm was married In Pendleton,
and the Tribune saya that neither the
father, mother, nor sister of the groom,
nor even the Damm dag. were prssejgt
during the performance of the ceremony.
"The community of Weston feels
somewhat relieved, now that a pressure
of nearly 400 pounds has been removed
from Its moral atmosphere," say the
Weston leader, alluding to the depart
ure from that town of a particularly
odious saloon-keeper called "811m" Wat
tar. Letters From tke
People
St. Incest's XorpltaX
Portland, Oct. 18. To the Editor of
The Journal In no publication regard
ing Portland, so far a the writer 1
aware. Is any mention mad or pro
vision for earing for the sick. The
consequence is that the possible home
seeker Is left In ignorance of the ex
cellent hospitals here, the knowledge of
whoee exletence surely might prove aa
additional Inducement. There are sev
eral, among them EC Vincent's, a brief
account whereof may Interest the
reader.
This hospital Is located en the east
ern slope of ths range of hill which
border the Willamette river to the west.
From that point a magnificent view of
the entire city of Portland, of the river.
and of the hills on the east side I com
manded. In front of the building Is a
terrace with gentle declivity, covered
with a lawn, shrubbery and flowers. A
stone sidewalk and a flight of steps
lead to a streetcar branch, which con
nects with the entire electrto car sys
tem. Tb elevation of the building 1
bout too feet above the level of the
river.
The hoapital la an ornamental brick
building with four lofty stories, a base
ment and an attic with dormer win
dows. The length Is 200 feet, but an
extension of SO feet on each end is de
cided on. At both the south snd the
north end is a very broad covered ve
randa to each story. Insids ampls cor
ridors run lengthwise through the mid
dle of every floor; there is excellent
ventilation and pipe for steam-heating
ere everywhere In the wards, corridors
and rooms. There are 11 wards, with
from flvs to 10 beds apiece, and numer
"ous rooms with one bed apiece The
total capacity la for 100 patients.
Fifty sisters take ears of ths sick
and sre assisted by many well
trained nurse, stewards and other em
ployes. Everything le as neat and
clean a possible, and the food i ample
and well prepared and served.
Twelve Portland physicians, among
whom are some of the moet prominent
practitioners in the city, send their pa
tient to St. Vincent's, and treat them
only there These physicians are called
the hospltsl staff. Besides there are
over to other physician who occas
ionally have patient there. A patient
ean employ whatever physician he may
prater. Thre house doctors, advanced
medical students, are employed In ss
slstlng the physicians. Bom ward are
special, as for aeafaring man, railroad
men. ete. Of course, there le a phar
macy. On the upper story Is a vary pretty
rbspel. where religious service 1 held.
R.
lea van Meet
Clsm. Or., Oct. 11. To the Editor of
The Journal I noticed a abort time in
The Sunday Journal an article on
'Weeds That Are Worth Money," and
those among mentioned wae hoarhound.
This weed abound in eastern Oregon.
If there is a market for it you would
confer a great favor en myself and,
perhaps, the wives of many other farm
ers, If yoa would kindly suggest
through the medium ef your paper how
w might find a market for this weed,
and bow ta prepare It for market.
MRS. MABEL PlH.
Government-Owned Railroads
WHAT MR. BRYAN SAYS ON THE SUBJECT.
What W, J. Bryan says about govern
ment ownership of railroads Is some
what different from what the Repub
lican papere say he says. Ths last Is
sue of the Commoner contains an artl
ess giving the speech which Mr. Bryan
made in the south on the subject, from
wblch the following le taken:
My object In presenting the dual
plan of railroad ownership Is not to
enter on a discussion of tt In detail, but
to present the plan so that you may
discus It Intelligently If you think It
worthy of consideration. Having be
come convinced of the futility of rail
road regulation to protect and safeguard
tne right of the people, I announced
that conclusion some two years ago.
In answer to the charge that I am
attempting to force this - Issue on the
party, It Is sufficient to say that when
the plan was first proposed, just after
the St. Louta convention of 1904. I waa
in a position to speak for myself with
out being suspected of en attempt to
force my vlewa on anyone. I had Juat
been relieved of responsibility of lead
ership by a convention that did not con
ceal Ita hostility to ma and if ever a
man waa In a position to speak for him
self and express hie own views, I was
in such a position.
A number of thing have contributed
to convince me of the Impossibility of
the effectlveneaa of regulation aa ap
lpled to railroad, the main thing being
the corruption which the railroads have
brought Into politic. In my own state
we triad, some IS year ago. t ob
tain a reduction In railroad rate. After
a hard struggle the bill was passed
through the legislature, but the gov
ernor vetoed it. At the same session
the railroads bribed one of the members
of the legislature, and as he did not
dare remain In the state and face hi
betrayed constituent, the railroads took
him on a special engine to the state
line and he has never returned to Ne
braaka since. At the next session the
bin passed la spits of the efforts of
the railroads, and thla time we signed
by the governor, but the railroads lm
mediately enjoined the enforcement of
the law and we are still waiting for a
reduction of freight rates, although the
railroads are able to pay dividends on
a large aaaouat of watered stock and
fictitious capitalisation.
In several of the states Democratic
candidate have been nominated for
governor on plank demanding effective
control of the railroad. I would have
sooner reached the conclusion that gov
ernment ownership will ultimately be
necessary but for the fact that I
feared and atill fear the centralising
Influence of national ownership to have
all of the railroads owned by the fed
eral government, and to have the sta
tion agenta, freight handlers, track re
pairers, bridge BbOldere and trainmen
all appointed from Washington would
practically obliterate state lines and ab
sorb the state In one consolidated and
centralised system.
I am a believer in our dual foren of
government, under which the state Is
supreme In it local affair and the
federal government supreme in inter
state and International affair. I would
not admit th necessity for government
ownership until I had worked out a
plan by which ths federal government
would own only the necessary trunk
lines and the stats governments ths lo
cal lines. By a trunk line I do not
wean every line which runs through
two state, but only those trunk Una
which may be necessary to regulate In
terstate rate and give the state a
national outlet for their loeal lines.
Theae trunk Unas need not be numerous,
and the states should be permitted to
use them on equitable terms for local
trains run In connection with ths stats
railroads. I believe it would be an ad
vantage to allow all railroads even
those In private hands to use the trunk
lines, for the consolidation of Unas has
been forced upon the smaller roads,
which found In consolidation the only
outlet for their freight. If Iocl line
could tap one of the main arteries. It
would be Independent of the large sys
tems end able to hold ita own.
Ths state ownership of railroad la
not only free from the objection baaed
upon centralisation, but really strength
ens the position of the state. The tend
ency of a century ha been to enlarge
the power of tb federal government
and to decry the relative Importance of
the state State ownership of all the
railroads but ths few trunk lines would
very much strengthen the states' posi
tion and make the states a bulwark
against centralisation.
The dual plan Is a demo ssa tie plan in
harmony with democratic teachings and
gives the advantages of government
ownership without the dangers of na
tional ownership. Thla system of con
fining nations' ownership to trunk llnee
and reserving the loeal tinea for the
states has another advantage, namely,
that It makea the adoption of the aye
tern gradual. No matter what the fed
eral government may do in regard to
trunk tinea, each state will be at liberty
to retain private ownership of local
lines whenever the people desire It.
What la more democratic than to let
the people do as they pleaae and have
what they like?
The advantage ef the dual plan,
therefore, are, ft rat, that the import
ance of the state ia preserved and the
danger of centralisation reduced to a
minimum, and second, that the system
can be adopted gradually as ths people
of the various state are ready for It,
and each etate can profit by the ex
perience of other states.
It is argued that the government can
not operate a railroad aa well ss a pri
vate corporation. A single trunk line
operated by the government, would do
mere to settle thla disputed .question
than all the argument that could be
made. If experiment prove that pri
vate ownership Is better, the states
Dog Died of Grief.
The devotion of a Newfoundland dog
waa pathetic His master had gone out
in a boat whloh had overturned and had
been drowned. A rescuing party ar
rived on the scene Just too late, and
took the body to the other aide of the
lake, a mile away.
The dog arrived at the edge of the
water Just In time to see the body of
his mastsr lifted out. Plunging In. he
swam across the lake The poor ani
mal lloked the hande and face, and when
he aSw. that his oaraesea ware In vain
he seated himself at hi msster's feet
and refused to move. Be followed the
heer to ths burying ground .and
seated himself disconsolately at the
id ef the grave until the eervtce waa
over. Then every day he made a trip
to the little cemetery and lay with his
head between hla pa we beside the grave
A few wseks went by end the dog
began to pine. He refused to eat hie
food, and hie visits to ths grave became
mere frequent. And then one night
when the wind was howling h started
out stone. A fsw days later they found
hla body the shore, east buried hiss
beside hi master.
need not attempt public ownership. If
on the contrary, experience prove aa
It ha In Europe that public ownership
la beffMr the Mtmtmm Man i4Ai,t tt a .
Khelr leisure.
I need bnly repeat that government
ownership Is proposed not aa an imme
diate remedy, but aa the ultimate rem
edy. If Democratic friends declare that
they prefer private owaerahlp to pub
lic ownership, I anawer that I would
prefer private ownership to public own
ership if I believed It possible to regu
late the roads In a manner satisfac
tory to the public
No one will deny that the trend of
eventa Is toward government ownership.
Ten years ago when I waa denounced
aa too radical, I neither advocated gov
ernment ownerahlp nor suggested the
possibility of It I waa still hoping for
regulation. Since that time the presi
dent himself has held out the possi
bility of government ownerahlp as a
threat to compel the railroads to con
sent to regulation. I was only about
six months ahead of the president In
suggesting government ownerahlp em a,
remedy, ths difference between hi po
sition and mine being thst hs regards
government ownership as fraught with
danger and atlll hope that successful
regulation may make government own
erahlp unnecessary. I go a step farther
and expreaa it aa my opinion that ex
perience haa already proved the futility
of regulation and propose s plan which
eliminates the greateat evil of govern
ment ownership the centralization of
so much power in the hands of the fed
eral government. Without thla alterna
tive of government ownerahlp, it would
be entirely impossible to drive the retl-
sda out of politics. Even with this
threat I am very much afraid that we
shall net be able to keep the railroad
representative away from congreaa and
the state legislatures.
en
There is Just one ether' objection to
which I wish to refer, namely that un
der government ownership an admini
stration could keep Itself In power. Un
der the dual system proposed only the
trunk llnee would be under the control
of the federal government, and their
employes would be few compared with
the entire number of railroad employes
In the country. As the various states
would own ths local line within their
borders, the Influence of one state would
counteract .the Influence of another
state. Then, too, under a proper civil
service the Interference of the railroad
employes la politics would be reduced
to a minimum.
But as my only desire Is to study
ths qusstion and leave you to consider
It now or at such future time aa you
think It an issue. I will, not go into de
tails. When the time cornea for the
discussion of the proposition aa an Im
portant lasue I shall be glad to take
up all branches of the subject and show
that ths dual plan la not only demo
cratic but practical and that the dan
gers of government ownership under
such a plan are lees than the dangers of
private ownership if we can Judge pri
vate ownership by past experience, and
I believe that the advantages of gov
ernment ownership under this plan are
wisefe superior ts the advantage of
privet ownership as we now have it.
see
While a majority of the Democratic
Isadora of ths south ta fact, nearly all
of them are opposed to government
ownerahlp at this time, they, with but
few exceptions, admit that government
ownerahlp will be necessary If regu
lation falls. No Democrat ean stand
before an intelligent body of cltisens
and declare himself in favor of pri
vate ownership without adding that he
will tavpr government ownership If he
haa to choose between the government
ownerahlp of the railroads and the rail
roads' ownership of the government.
This la the position which the leading
Democrat a of the south now oeeupy,
but It ts too early to know the opin
ion of the rank and file of the party.
It must be remembered that the Popu
list party developed strength all over
the south, in soms places having al
most if not quite a majority of the
white vote. These Populist have gen
back Into ths Democratic party, but
they have aot surrendered their belief
in the government ownership of rail
roads, which waa one of the main
planks In ths Populist platform. If the
Populists of the south would favor na
tional ownership, which Involves the
enlargement of the Influence of the
federal government at the expense of
the stats, they would be much more
apt to favor stats ownerahlp, which
would add to the Importance of the
state and at the sam time glvs the
people the benefit of public ownership.
President Roosevelt haa sounded the
alarm and warned the railroads that
their continued management of the pub
lic highways will depend upon the ef
fectiveness of the legislative control.
What Democrat ean say less? What
Democrat would advise making the
Democratic party the champion of the
railroads In the fight whloh la ap
proaching? Aside from the principle
Involved, tt would be suicidal to ths
party to take a position whloh would
alienate the patrona of the railroads
and pleaae only the railroad magnates
who have for a generation been dis
criminating against persons and places,
extorting from the public through
ratee unreasonably blgh and corrupt
ing politics In every part of the coun
try. Regulation la to have a fair trial, but
the railroads muat know that their In-,
terference In politico will only haatsn
the day of public ownership, and the
people ought to be considering whether
In event of government ownership they
will prefer the centralisation plan of
national ownership or the dual plan,
which contemplates the national own
erahlp of the trunk line and the stats
ownerahlp of all other lines.
-' Aa Intelligent Canary.
An Instance of animal devotion was
where the lives of a man, hia wife and
daughter were saved by a canary. Th
fM belonged to the daughter, and at
night when the windows were closed It
wss allowed to fly about the house at
will. About midnight the fathsr wss
awakened by the loud chirping of the
bird. He started up, to find the house
filled with coal gas. Rushing to th
room of hi daughter, he found her
gasping far breath, and the little senti
nel of ths household perched upon the
bosom of its mistress whence It hsd
given the alarm. It died soon after
ward. Lucky Jones.
From the Success Msgastne
The editor ef a paper in western In
diana declares It to be a feet that a
"oub" reporter on an Evansvtll sheet
in describing the murder of a man In
n adjacent town wired hie paper es
follows:
. "Murdered evidently in quest of
money. Luckily Jones had deposited
ell his funds ta the bank day before, as
tost he last nothing but his Ufa."