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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (July 12, 1908)
THE JOURNAL - AW IKDIPEN'PKNT NKWBPAritR. a a JACKSON... . . . PutitUhrr Published Trj a nf (ex.-ept flunflay) nd , every Bnndaf Brornlnf st The Journal Bulll ' tng. nrU and ymhlll str-ts. PurtUng. Or, Entered at tht pnstorfle t PortUnd. Or., for traneulaslua tbrougb (lit unlit n'oml (Iim Smtter. TKT.KI'IION IH MAI N TITS. HOME, A). Al department! renrliod hy tbi numtwira. Tll to oosrstor th department you wnt, Kt Bldo offlc. H 2444 : tout 83. rOEEIQN ADVKKTISINU KEI'KISICNTATIVK Vreelurd Benjamin Sperlnl At!virtllnf Airr-nry. , llrumwick HiiUdlnir Stitl 1-tfth arenae. New , York; 1U07-4M Hvjre llulMluf. fhlc-ago. obacrlprtrin Trm bv mall or to nr ddreai n til Dotted UUtre, i aoaila or Mexico. DAILY. ..3. 00 I One mcmCk I J BUN PAT. 12.60 One month f . DAILY AST) b! Nil AY. 17.50 I One month $ 83 0a rear. Ob fmr. Ob Gentlemen, while we read !, plstory. e make history. Be cause our fathers fought la this groat cause, we must not hope to escape" fighting. Be cause, two thousand years ago, Leonldas stood against Xerxes, we must not suppose that Xerxes was slain, nor, thank God, that Leonldas la not Immortal. Every great crisis of human history Is a pass of Thermopylae, and there la always a Leonldas, and his three hundred to die in It, If they cannot conquer. And so long as, liberty has one martyr, up long as one drop of blood Is poured out for her, bo long from that single drop of bloody sweat of the agony of humanity shall spring hosts as countless as the forest-leaves, and mighty as the sea. George William Curtis. the money assessed was used, or wan to be used, lu building a railroad over In Washington and In acquir ing terminal grounds cm l'unci sound. This, If corn5Vln fairly 11 rase of acM-lng Innult to lnjur. fur the road to the Bound wan of flight If any benefit to l'ortlnml, or t. Oregon, and wan In fuel built, or t It o preparations to build It wen1 made, principally to antagonize Hill, be cause he was building ft roufl to Portland. That In, Oregon people's money was upent to fiitht Oregon's friend and t runsporf.it ion liberator. For 10 years a lurge annual .sur plus lia.s been taken out of Oregon to be used for whatever purpose Mr Harilnian desired, but none of.it, or but little, has been used to build new llneB or make extensions In Ore gon. The people of Oregon have been pouring millions a yr into Mr. Harrlman's coffers, beyond good fair returns on the Investment In the O. R. & N. and getting nothing hack. And now when they try to collect taxes on the surplus Mr. Har rlman pleads that he needed the money not to benefit but to Injure Oregon, or a friend of Oregon. If this tax won't stick, perhaps some other tax will. In one way or another the people of Oregon should actively refuse longer to be Mr. Har rlman's serfs; 6hould show that their power In their own state is greater than his: and that he cannot con tinue to plunder them and do noth ing for them In return. attend to your affairs; yon are thick-headed and muddled and vis ionary nd Incompetent; If you try to do anything to help yourselves, you will get into all sorts of trouble; rom th. A THE PARAMOUNT PURPOSE. PARTIES AND INTERNAL IM PROVEMENTS. 1 A, AKTIUL.H puDiisnea else where In this paper Interest ingly narrates the position of the two principal political parties, so far as their platforms show It, since the time of the earliest political conventions, on internal im provement. It will be seen on a perusal of this resume that during most of this time the politicians paid little or no regard to this great sub v Jecf. The first national convention, that nominated Jackson and Van Bar en in 1882, declared for Internal improvements; bo did the Free Soil , party In 1836, and the Whig party In l&52--thongh very mildly. The . Democrats in ,1856 "denounced" in ternal Improvements, and there was no declaration on the subject again till 1880, Blnce when one party or the other baa intermittently and to a greater or less extent favored this policy. Now both parties are professedly la favor of a broad, liberal and bus! nessllke system of Improvement of -our rivers and harbors. This awak ened Interest in this great subject Is due partly to the president's persist ent advocacy of it, and to his ap .pointment of an Inland waterways commission and Its work, but It is due even more, probably, to the en ergetic and able work of the rivers and harbors congress, In which Ore gon and Portland have had a con spicuous part. It is regrettably true that the last congress did nothing in behalf of ' this work, or In aid of this move ment, Just as it did nothing to carry ' out any of the Roosevelt policies or any movement or measure In the - people's interest; yet the next con gress, even If of the same character. and disposition, can scarcely resist the pressure that will be or can be brought to bear by the people of all ' parts of the country in behalf of this movement. Still, preparation must fee made to exert all the pressure possible, for the railroads and most of the allied monopolistic corpora tions are as a rule against this plan for opening up our rivers to trie greatest possible extent, and it. is by no means certain that their influence can be overbalanced by that of the unorganized and for the most part onrepreser.ted masses of the people. Either Mr. Taft or Mr. Bryan will undoubtedly do all he can to carry forward this tremendously important work, but what the country must do, In order to git vhat It n-ds In this refpet ns well a.-' In others. Is to re place a lot of corporation congress men with people s congressmen. A9 has often been demonstrate I, plat form declarations union'. t to Htt'.e or nothing; what is needed i ext year Is men In congress who will carry out the project of the rivers and harbors ongress. and to this end an irr. 'iiMible pressure should be brought to bear upon them. HE PORTLAND morning paper says that all it knows is that the Democratic party of the old days is dead. This being so, is It not "Immaterial, Irrelevant and Incompetent" to urge, as that paper Insistently does, that the Democratic Tarty of today, and the Republican party, too, must be Judged entirely by what they were in "the old days"? No party fit to live and do business is just what it was in "the old days," of course, because these are new days. We have all read the consequences of putting new wine into old bottles, and new patches on old garments. Parties cannot be entirely disas sociatedfrom their past history, yet their attitude toward present issues, problems and conditions should be the main point of consideration. The Republican party is more easily to be Judged and estimated than the Democratic party, because It has been In power most of the time re cently. And the more recent Its rec ord the more la it worth for the pur pose of judging and estimating. The Republican party made some good declarations at Chicago, and rejected other good resolutions, such as the people favor, but even if it had adopted them all, there Is its horrible record, not 50, 20 or 10 years ago, but from December, 1907, to May, 1908. No amount of de claring or resolving or profggstag or promising can whiten or cleanse that record, the worst, everything consid ered, that was ever made by any congress in the country's history. This is what gives the Democratic party some ground for hope of suc cess. May not millions of voters say: "Whatever the Democratic party may have been in the past, it could not do worse than this, could not more completely betray the peo ple's interests. And if the party could not be cudgeled by Roosevelt into doing anything whatever cal culated to benefit the people, what can be expected of another like con gress under the mild and politic Taft?" Bryan, admittedly the personal incarnation of present Democracy, "does not represent the earnest and settled purpose of the American people," it is said. He represents, the Oregonian says, "the reactionary pplrit of the past," "the accidental aud superficial," the "untried ideas," the "vague longings of those who think they want something but don't know what they want nor how to formulate their desire." Vet in the next sentence it is said that "every thing his party has contended for these fifty years is now abandoned." How can a man abandon all that Is past and at the same time represent "the reactionary spirit of the past"? The whole criticism shows that the writer was merely grinding out ob jections, and that they were con tradictory or without foundation In fact made no difference. Insist that the people, shall not have the right to make laws. No more conclusive proof of the Incomparable value of the Initiative could bo given. It Is a proof so patent, that If on sheep, Just quit thinking about I the corporations attempt to break public affairs and leave them to I down the system shall succeed, the I Amoni the most important projects , ,.,,r c-n,d frlnnda iSn nnl,, I m that nrtll anama will in th Mo-, wnicil railed Or PHMHOge In the late BUS- 1 F " 1 Blon Of eonirroK lu th- Imnrnv.m.M ,.f I ) . . 1. I 1. I . I - V, 1 I rrnar a I n " .... - r A -v e 4 . I . . a 1 mil wrj 1 11 in n. it is iiecuminsT &n K"bi otdi bocu iu vuisuii, uuu uuj iu i wur imiiunui wuierwuvH. earnest and settled purpose" among which the corporations will discover LJAi''n ah,ttte.ve" y'.anX. of. ou. I a t . . . a - I - ' v i t vn,, i u w win unni an increasing numoer of people that I mac mey nave Bown me wina ana I ne principles involved in the iroin.ed n truer, more real Democracy shall reaped the whirlwind. Those Ore- "51lut!,,5 "'Tf0Pr,!?'lonj Ihe ,"1't ,ls lie established in this country, un-Bon people are In the right; they I pent, much ha been practically der which the masses of the people have their minds fully made up, and shall know better what they want the corporations and others who an- nnd how to get it, shall become more tagonlze the electorate's purpose of capable of deciding and obtaining, participating more extensively In FOR WATERWAY IMPROVEMENTS lermon tor Tol ay V 1 mencan .Lumberman The Heavenly Vinion. Hy Henry V. Cope, "I was not dUobedlent to th h,eavn vUlon." Act, xxvl, 19. boon wln wasted not because it Vaa tmont In every case on an unworthy project or llOt Slclllfljltv Avnn.i.. Kut- t.i.i.. n ui. there wae elinply no money enough to uu ii. nun worm wnno. There ha been ton much KtmrnnrU and shall be far more correctly and public affairs are certain some time of nioney for the Improvement of .... .. v. , . . I tream which could not be imoroved or whieh. If Improved, would huve navigable outlet nowhere. But even the honestlv represented than they are to be central figures in a terrible - i now. It is for this main general awakening conspicuously purpose that Pryan 6tands. It Is this gospel that he per Blstently and effectually preaches, As led or dominated by Bryan, the Democratic party stands now for this general purpose and policy. And this is not a mere frothing. eddy-movement, trivial and lnconse quentlal; on the contrary, on its ul IiET THE PEOPLE RULE. T money exrjenilod nn th ! nH wnr. thy project ha been eo Inadequate to inn no iriai mucn or it might an well have never been appropriated or in vested. Imagine a man hiring a laborer py ine aay to lift a thousand-pound block of stona to the top of a building iiaiiieieu Dy machinery or other FHE JOURNAL Is not solicitous about the success of any party except as it appears probable I laborers. that this or that nnrtv will best serve the interests and rnntrl-N . a"." au ! engineering- , . A " . l ucynnmeni or xne army ror accompllsh- uuie 10 me wenare or me common '"if muon ti it na with the appropri quenua.. on iu. i . u. ' , . " " " "w-T ation. given and the ri. rlctlonV upon tlmate success or failure rests the PooP'o- inis is an mat maires in thm. Too often thay have been put in destiny of democracy, of republican ism, of a people's government In this country. favor of a party; it is all that Jus tine government at all. THE LOOT OF TnE FORESTS. T HE loot of the forests has been the bane of the middle west and east. It is fortunato for Oregon that her forests have not suffered more at the hands of the despoller Chief Justice Bean of the Oregon supreme court, who was one of the representatives of Oregon at the con ventlon of governors at Washington, brings home testimony In point. He had doubted the propriety of forest reserve policy until he went east and there learned from experts that the destruction of forests Is what has brought on the "evils of spring floods which spread devastation and ruin through the valleys of the Ohio and other streams of the east." There was no effort to protect the young growth or to encourage reforesta tion, and as a consequence the hills and mountains that formerly bore heavy forests are now bare. "Down the unprotected elopes the water from the rapidly melting snow rushes In torrents, overflowing river banks, destroying farms and flooding cities." The people there did not realize un til too late what would be the con sequences of the mad policy of waste fulness. ' The Journal has often pointed out that the same conditions await Ore- the position of the laborer with the (noueanci-pouna block of granite. So far as their authnrltv riorrr.lt tnrf rrm The Journal wlshns thn muRnoua of I have used luinronrifttlnrm viai' - w neODle to hav nnrl seelrn tn ntd telle that in a good many cases they peopie 10 nave ana seens to am have overstenDod iimnhni h .rr tnera to gain DOin more power ana I oounanrit-s or their authority for the more intelligence, and believes that ""un wort y 0 a each Will develop the other. With But too often they have had to spend power more directly resting on the Z" w?.b8ih.ro many, the mass, they will feel more enough money to accomplish the pur- responsibility and become more fit nd iP0ohye?l9y to exercise power; and the more fit when each year would render the ex they become to use power for their Pn?'u VSTi0, j. .1 . . . . i: .. " i.. uuoiu navr own gooa, ror ine gooa oi me many oeen expemiea in one year the Improve- rather than of the few, the more power they will take upon them selves; the less they will leave to representatives and other officials who, as has been pretty well learned by this time, are prone to betray them. The government must be to some ortont ronrssflTifaHvA' thr Tnimr he I 000.000 a veer for a nerlod nt 10 rsara public servants chosen to attend to So? nsZnTlT the people" public business; but let tire field of the work to be accom rh nonnln mnro nrl mm-A Ween the pllshd' h,,t that the engineers In charge 7 ..v. , K pendent road within the means, of ice within their own grasp, more (K. ., . , . . t , ... and more require faithful service to . . . .. . . .. . .... aid to such an extent as to insure Its building. Just what this road will ment would have haen nrrmmant Enough money has been expended on the rivers to have accomplished something though nut all that Is needed but in stead of being concentrated and making the work permanent as It progresses It has ben so scattered that It has largely boon wasted. The new proposition is that appropri ations should be large enough to amount 10 sometn:ng; mat they should be 150 should be allowed to spend It so as to produce permanent results, witn a view oventuallv of havlns- th whole work accomplished In a workmanlike and n r1iittm? inuniiar The obstacles are, first, th lack of appreciation by congress or these raeis that should i) patent to any wieiu H' 'B WHO has fully followed hi ideals may have missed all other prises in that pursuit, yet he has found happiness and riches that could have become his In no other way. Her is the seoret of gent mun, but which, of oourso, appeal satisfaction, her la high success In most stronclv to the business man, and second, the anxiety of congressmen to plonse their constituents. This latter influence is understandable and the remedv should lie in public education. Assumlngi for example that the Ar kansas river enters into trie -general any life, that one uhall have followad fully his Ideals, shall hav kept th best steadily before him. Heavenly visions com to all. They may not come with the rushing or nKels wiuks. nor with straime and mysterious signs and appearances. Per haps some or the old time visions of char- e sup- seem so normal av- bus should be content to eari; N.one poorer than who ha, n(,v- nuai expenditure lor u nones ui vrnrs i !,, v,ih am.irotim.. ihn ku. made elsewhere than on their tream. n ,fte(1 Mm b to ea th- ,0 There is the rub. They would not like 8t before Mm, After un the measur It and would tell their congressmen so of any uf9 t9 the extent to which such verv emnhatlcally : and. of course, the i.i. n r nr..a0.niti inn congressmen would want to have loma tasks has entered Into the being and nuniua i "uo i" men umuii.i vu I dominated ine ueeas. iilnn for the Imnrovement of1 the Mis sissippi river and Its tributaries, and ftVV'fo rhfiTnvtl fni biln". "done .J 'ti ? It) ilio f i iu.iiMo.r until iiiQ inniii v uuuiin i Arnntnrfll nn v hAnita (hav of the Mississippi were improved; In much above the pla ne of the n that case the people along the Arkan- eraa expeHence please their constituents and promote their .own reelection. The people ought to be brought, by honest methods In congress and by a campaign of education, to understand what should be done; to believe that this whole matter will be handled in a bus! ness way: that no real interest will be neglected and that every real interest will be taken care of and promoted in the best manner. If the people along lihJ ii J. Vn ihiV. iii certain nvor anew inai oy wamng ntv. nr ..rvi,. f ..r-rf-. Na There is nothing like this to make a man strong to endure, to mako him de spise th paltry prizes that seem so at tractive to eyes blind to the greater glory. This Is the food that angels envy, food that has sustained the soul through long days in the deserts, through weariness, toll, disappoint ments, fears, ljorsaklngs, lpssus, and loneliness. They are able to despise the cross and to endure the shame who have seen the glory set before every ?h ve years they would get a permanent an or WOman ever attained anything benefit but that if they demanded an wlthout this: nothing is Impossible to Immediate expenditure of their rr thn.. Uri.Yi tfii. uv,f .nri k.,i capita proportion they would get noth- this call lng whatsoever except by the mere Livingstone, Lincoln, Oaribaldl, For spending of the money among them, as enc9 Nightingale would have failed sensible People they WOllld Withdraw wlthnnt th vlnlnn Tn fh nvinli nt opposition and we believe insist on such wage or fame there would be no power businesslike methods as those for which to bear thorn up. on the contrary their we are contending. datly experiences were enough to turn One of the strnnsreur arrumtntu them from the chosen path, but for the against the proposed plan of river im- lofty confidence that they were doing provement is its cost; but if the entire tne one work for them, but for the in cost had to be met by bonds It would aplratlon of the Ideal before thehi. be the best Investment that the national . And '!lla1 ""V man's religion, to government has made in the last hun- follow his idenl, to seek to b the best dred years, aqd the plea of economv I"a day nav. "8 k,nc:w,',,01 ao, 'J1,9 does not come with good grace from a highest duty that any lofty desire Indl- congress which appropriated notwlth- ?at?s' to tBke ,h Path that leads up standing the cry of economy the funds n lov"t and ,,se,rvlcei,an1 p.,,T,t.-of ,Llv: them, more and more remember that "eternal vigllence is the price of liberty." The most powerful man In public life today is Joseph G. Cannon, and who would lnformedly and candidly say that he uses his power in the In terest and for the advantage of the people? There is needed in that position of great power a man of great ability, broad-minded, pro gressive, who has no other thought do for one region other roads would do for other regions. The farmers and business men of each locality where such an enterprise is practi cable should bestir themselves and proceed to help themselves. The sooner "they make .themselves Inde pendent In transportation ways the sooner the Lord will be on their side. Similar projects could doubtless gon unless there be a husbanding of concerning his public duties but the L carr,ed Qnt ago ,Q 0re the forests. Overflowed rivers In new. eervicB vi me i the spring and dry river beds in the PePle- w,h&t an Indictment ot the summer will be the price of any policy of waste. It can all be avoid ed by a policy of conservation. Tim ber growth is faster in Oregon than In almost any other state, and re forestation proportionately - easier. Reasonable care, in prptecting tim ber against fire, the unnecessary de struction of young growth in logging operations, and maintenance of a wise policy of forest reserve, is an easy means of preserving our inval uable timber, and a sure way to make Oregon, 'as Justice Bean says, one of the wealthiest states In the union. If public sentiment will crys tallze along these llnee, and Insist upon this policy, the loss of the for ests will be prevented, and an Im portant factor In the trtate's future be preserved, to the benefit of gen erations of mankind. THE OREGON STATE GRAXGE. T HE Oregon state grange has done many good things. It has earned many commendations. It adds to the list in its an nounced purpose to break a legal lance with tb Pacific States Tele phone company In the corporation's effort to overthrow direct legisla tion In Oregon. The grange has set aside $500 from Its general fund, and will by subscription add enough to mako an aggregate of $ 1 ,5 00 for hlrlDg special counsel to fight the telephone people to the bitter end. I'nder the Initiative, the grange se cured passage of the law taxing tele phone franchises, and the Pacific States taxes under the law was $9,00. The corporation resisted payment, and has gone Into the fed eral courts to destroy the law, and If possible to break down the Oregon initiative. Its hope Is to Invoke con stitutional or representative system and of party Ism the spectacle of such- a man as Cannon In such an office Is! The Journal would diffuse power among the people, the common mass, to the utmost practicable ex tent, believing that even If they made mistakes they would not mis use power to their own hurt so much as party leaders, misrepresentatives and private-snap officials have done. That Is to say,' The Journal believes In a democracy, an Increasingly in telligent, capable, progressive and enlightened democracy. If we are to admit and believe, with a local contemporary, that the people are not fit for self-government, are a "mob," a "rabble," "groundlings," "geese," "frogs," Idiots and lunatics, and must remain so, then let us move to abandon a republican form of government en tirely, for which we are totally un fit, and call for a despotism. But If we are to have a despotism, let it be one of brain and blood, rather than one of vulgar wealth. gon, so as to reach the Willamette river or a trunk railroad. Electric roads run out In several directions from Forest Grove, for instance, would work an amazing development and increase ot production and real values In that region, so finely adapted either to dairying or fruit raising. And the same could be done In other towns and localities. The well to do farmers and other property owners of the interior re gions where such projects are pos sible should not wait forever for out side capitalists to come In and build roads for them. Why not make a beginning themselves? Capitalists and railroad builders would soon sit up and take notice. The people of Oregon, and of the Oregon coun try, should do more flying with their own wings. They have stronger and broader wings than they know. The trouble is, they fear to use them, or have not learned how. Self-reliance is a great virtue. We should keep a-goln'. io erect postorrice bu ldlngs In towns . , i. V i. " "". of 6,000 people of with a total annual move; up into Its Tilgher self and so revenue of only $10,000, and some of ever find's new heights before It whose members openly stated on the Th(a rfat action for-every man In floor of the house that they demanded ,Kin, J8',Jiot, tn Z" these nhsiirrl innrnnriaMnn. t will obey the 10 commandments, not -?-:!:--' " '"-""ISO i iiioir vuiimi tuciiis, A Poem f or .Today Emancipation. Bv Maltble n riahcocfc fThe Rev. Maltble Davannnrt llalixiKV the brilliant Presbyterian clergyman of New York city, whose splendid career was cut short while he was yet a young man by his death in 1901, was as well m dictate of church or preacher, but whether he will be obedient to the Inner vision, of the voice from heaven that speaks In his own heart and bids hlrn forsake his dull ways of self-content and rise to higher living, to sac rificial service. That vision calls up to paths of pain. that vision. If you but heed and seek to obey, makes tremendous demands of you. It la not the easy, heed- less following of an emotional, ro mantic love for .glory; it is the thorny known for hV inlrnr;'. m . Path f tho cr- Tho ' burden wr?tTr?r nnri lu Jl!f 0 reJ"1'',!s bearing; it is po hard rts to be heroic. rll "v,Taind hlS short poemB " for hls The thing that Is eating like a can- T O Tes, doubtless some things the Denver convention did or refused to do were somewhat "humorous," as the morning paper says, but- Its hu morous phases were dull, tame and HE FARMERS and business nolntless in comparison with those men of Walla Walla county, 0f the Chicago convention, that de according to a recent news dis- flared for a lot of things that the A WALLA WALI,A-WALH'LA RAILROAD. Why be afraid of death. As though your life were.breathT Ieath but anoints your eyes "With clay O glad surprise! "Why should you be forlorn? Death only husks the corn; Why should you fear to meet The Thrasher of the wheat? Is sleep a thing to dread? Yet sleeping you are dead Till you awake and rise Here or beyond the skies. Why should It be a wrench To leave your wooden bench? Why with happy shout Run home when school Is out? The dear ones left behind O, foolish one, and blind I A day, and you will meet; A night, and you will greet This is the death of Death To breathe away a breath. And know the end of strife. And taste the endless life. And Joy without a fear. And smile without a tear. And work nor care to rest. And find the last the best. Running Sliota (Written for the Journal by Fred. C. Denton.) Denver and Chicago namnrl irnrwl man In whom the American npnnln hnva confidence. It is not going to be a mud and "bloody shirt" campaign. g our power, and stealing of possibilities Is our love of enso, our hatred of the things that are hard; we refuse to obey the hestyenly vision because o-do so would he to endure hardnsj, to for sake our soft and pleasant ways. 8o seeking ease we lose life Our days are filled with a dull dis content, not because we do not possess tne things or tnis lire, out because ve have missed its greatest prise, the 1oV of following growing Ideals. There la nomine we need to cherish more, to guard more closely than this, the visions that stir to greatness, the passion for perferttonr the hope of high living and serving. patch, are planning to build a railroad between Walla Walla and Wallula, on the Columbia river, by next spring. The farmers are tak ing the lead. They have a coopera tive union up there, at a recent meet ing of which plans for this project were adopted. It is proposed that after the harvest and fall seeding are over, several hundred farmers shall turn to this Job with their teams and grade the line. Right of way and a franchise have already been secured. Republican party has for years stub bornly, persistently and scornfully rejected, and that while yielding to Roosevelt's Dig Stick In the matter of a candidate, overwhelmingly and contemptuously voted down several of the more important "Rooeevelt policies." The motto of that con vention must have been, "Motley'i the only wear." What is "the earnest and settled For years there has been Intermit tent talk of an emergency hospital. Many farmers up there are wealthy, (and between these talking spells, for al technicalities for j and with other moderate capitalists ! long intervals, the subject seems to THE O. R. & X. Sl RI'Ll S TAX. know THE JOURNAL does not whether the O. R. X I pny Is or will be obliged to Max,ui tax leviea on certain large eorplu earnings or not, nor whether the company is legally lla " ble therefor or not. This is a mat ' ier for the courts to decide. Bat The Journal' doe know that In eoKy. In Justice, as a matter of fair play, the people of this county and of other countiei of Oregon, too. caught to fcft back In taxea. if they ra get It bo other way, a pertnt f of the Mi annual surplus made ia Oregon y that coinrT- A rrrort etaies that a part of the vrriry" t!a afaJnat the payment c f t; : tax 1 tut larjre part cf purpose of the American people" to which Bryan is hostile? High pro tection" Government by the trusts' Power In the bands of the railroads and other corporations? Preda tory plutocracy in control? The rrassrs relegated more and more to ty-r. rrlP of "dumb, driven cattle"? Government maintained and oper ated for the 1 nc fit of the few at the expense of the many? If this be "the earnest and settled purpose com-1 of the American people," then cer tainly Bryan does not represent their thought and desire. And here rec irg the old reaction ary. stand;at Jargon "untried ideas." "vjrn longings." "chi meras," and so on, used whenever an; thing 1 proposed for the bene fit of the manse and their increased poiter. They "don't know what they want," therefore should leave It to the trust magnates to tell tbem. They "doat know how to get It": therefore they thonld turn the job over to the machine politicians. It U the old. old theory by which the poplo bare. Veen fooled through all tUtory yon are not capable to evasion of payment of Just taxes. It j can supply the necessary funds. This in a manifestation of that principle In road would occupy the routo tra- whirh lntcrrpts have enjoyed im-. versed by the old Baker railroad, miinity from Just taxation so long f"the first one built in that region, and that they think It ought to be per-(which helped to make its builder petuated. It Is notorious that the I and owner very wealthy. have been forgotten. It takes some thing more than talk to get such an establishment, and that needed "more" ought to be provided with no great delay. It is literally shame ful that a city of Portland's slie small property owners, and holders of lands and visible property bear the principal burden of taxation. It Is equally notorious that syndicated j and franchise created wealth sue-1 ressfully dodges nearly all taxes. No-' end wealth is yet without such a necessary institution. Whatever This seems like an entirely feasi ble and thoroughly worthy enter prise. This strip of railroad would : Bteps are necensary to take to pro- bring Walla Walla and all its rich , vide it should be taken at the ear immediately surrounding country ; liest opportunity. into direct, close connection with the body denies it; everybody confesses j Columbia river and the boats of the It. When, however, here in Oregon, , Open River asFoclation that are to through the initiative, a way was bo put thereon. The farmers could found to enact the franchise tax law own and operate this road and prae- which the legislature had refused to pass, and when lta provisions became operative for forcing the telephone corporation to pay Just taxes as other people are compelled to do, the fury of the company Is let loose on the initiative, on the salutary laws en acted' under It, and federal courts and trust lawyers are Invoked to kill the people's system. The very fact that If Is evasion of taxes that Is sought, and that the corporation seeks t by' destruction of the Initiative Is a significant ex ample of bow and why corporations tically fix their own freight rates. At least they would get the benefit of water transportation for their products from Wallula to the sea. So would merchants and their cus tomers for merchandise. The road ceuld scarcely fall to do a large business, and to be a paying Invest ment at low freight rate. It would save and make for the people up there millions, eventually. What It is proposed to do here should be done elsewhere, wherever a productive regVon can be con nected with the rirer by aa Inde r V - The railroads, It is reported, have decided to appeal the lumber freight cases recently decided by the Inter ttiio tvmmeree commission. This is all right, provided the rates fixed bv the commission remain in force ; in the interim. TCe law 11101 an ' 1 Km tinHT m rflTIft CJk Tl ltnOW ItLfTBI, IS1 I - - - - " better than the commission what the rates ought to be Las never been explained. Manchester. England, has an artifi cial ship canal over hill and dnle for 80 miles which maintains her commer cial prosperity. Portland needs only 1 to keep n cnannei open along the great est or rivers to r?corae the port on the Pacific. Whether one arrees with Tom Watson or not and most men wont, altogether be Is to be re spected for bis candor and outspeak ing. He is ao eqnivocator or com promiser, but says what be rnean, whomsoever It may displease; ' In many parts of Oregrm people are very 'sore' on the local land monopo list. One of the lareest in southwest ern Oregon recently said that he was the worst hated man In that section. He further remarked that If same method was not devised tp compel the use of Idle land thar thn rjconlp would take it all away by pure confiscation, and that they would be justified in so doing. From some landless Socialist this would be treason and anarchy, but when delivered before a commercial body by an experienced and successful land-grabber It caused thinking men to think more. The people of Coos Bay want some body to build them a railroad to east ern Oregon and southern ldnho. The people of the upper Snake river coun try and eastern Oregon want somebody to build them a road to Coos Bay. These two sections are going to get to gether and talk things over next month. Out of such a talkfest may come some practical Ideas, but both sections should remember that 'Qod helps those who help themselves.'' Borne of the Coos Bay people seem to have It In for Congressman Haw ley because that gentleman Is working to establish free locks at Oregon City He should not he blamed for trying to tree ine v niamette valley. Con gress can build locks and pull snagi out of rivers, build Jetties and tHke Junketing trips, but It cannot bulM railroads. W hen 11 nets around to actually building railroads such sec tions as Coon llav will Ions before hsve been hooked up to civilization. Portland capital should be eoual to building a railroad to THInmook. and irom there it might meander down the coast Indefinitely. greatest Any man moving among the people of Oregon Is struck by the confidence they hsve in themselves to keep the political machines out of business. There Is no use crvlng over sptlt political milk, and some hungry Hps are solns to be ti.rn loose from public feats they long have ciunit arouna. 1 re common riwxen or Oregon has rot yet spit on his hands to hit established graft a lick; he has only tapped in the Wedgs of the initia tive. It la sad to witness th Impotent rage of ye old-time machine politician. It Is recognized that men behind the plow, the as and the workbench r m, and sven the prortsMonaj ana business men are reading up on pub lic questions, economics. statecraft, arty history and principles and are llspnsd to set on their Independent convictions The tnu-hln politician may succeed la getting th oid-fssh-twrea conventions t going again, but Ihrr-vlll rut fee ! la deliver-the yoodS as of yore I Sentence Sermons. Bv Henrv F. Cone. Self-mastery is half of all morality. Life without difficulties Is but death. It takes a tender heart to do the really hard things. The desired haven Is not reached by sailing before the wind. No man becomes a hero by dreamln of knights and ladles. There are no bargain ssles at which character can be purchased. Many are willing to be soundly pious so long as piety Is all sound. No man has said Amen to his prayers until he gets busy answering them. at He who never said a harsh word of any one failed In his duty to every one. The problems of any day are the indi cations of the keenness of its conscience. Bad times often come as a result of too much living for good times only. Cynicism is the atrophy that comes from refusing to realize our own Ideals. The needv ca,n better afford to miss your gifts than you can afford to miss the giving. It is a good thing to belters in others; It paves you from believing too much in yourself. It Is hard to see In what way an Im puted rlghteoueness Is better than a borrowed reputation. - If the man who boasts of always say ing what he thinks wars honest ha would say mighty little. There's a lot of difference betwssu serving one of these little ones and kowtowing to one of our great ones. He who enly prays. "Olre si our dally bread -with some butter, too," doen not pray at all and he dies of hun- ger. No man is of much use In this world until he has found something more at tractive than his personal happiness. a a It Is a good deal easier to shut out the sights of the world s needy than It Is to evade'your answerability for them. Rome think they must be In the beat-t en way to beaveu because thsy seem to be so successful In beating their way there. It makes a lot of difference whether you think of religion aa a system of medicine or as the simple life of full moral health. It has always been evident that It was easier to talk about saving smils than it was to serve for the salvation of society. Tills Date In History. llT4Willlam, ths I.ion, defeated at AJnwIck 15 Erasmus died at Basel. 1712 Richard Cromwell died. Born October 4, J2 1704 Alexander Hamilton. American statesman, died. Bora in .Nevis. W. 1. January 11. 17(7. 1M Pweden concluded an alliance with England. 114 Willtsm Osier, physician and author, born at Tecum sh, Ont. U7ft Admiral J. A. Dab If ran died. Bom November IS. JI0. 1V02 The Porte demanded ths sup pression of Cretan money with Prince Uoorre's efflsy. Ives- Drvvfus finally Vindicated hy the Court of Cassation.