THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY HORNING, APRIL' G, 1313. iHEJOURNAL an , J rK it spent newspapeii, b. JAC1 .Pahllnir 1 iit'liiMrtl n1nf ni'pt Buii(lr( and fwrj giim!y morning at Th Journal Bull InR, Broadwaf and Yamhill ' Portland. Or. fcntaraa at tha poatofflce at Portland. Or. fnr tratiKmlaalou Uiriui tit !! MCOD' -i numva ui 1UH- Home. , li-eoSl All departments reached by theaa numhara. 1ll tn operator what iwrtmnr T"i K.KKIUN 1DVBKTISINO KKPBEHBNTATIV H.nJ.mln K.ntoor Co., Branawlrk ai' . ta HUH ne. N.w Vorkl VJi Peoplee l,m BnlMlnif, Chloaro. auhacrlntloB 'farrna by mall or in of eddon to U Oultad or Maxic-oi DAILY '.' " On jair.'.......3 ( OM Booth. .......I .M ' ":' " ' ' BUM1AZ On rr......2-30 I Oo , . DAILt AND SCNDir Dt rr....i-T-60 I One month. ....... . faSja""" V. . No Mf Cm b pure in Its purpose mi . strong tn its strife, Ana all 11 f not be purer and stronger thereby. f i - Owen Mereaiia. FOUR YEARS HENCE ' JJ THE third -of a series of ar I ticles, Frank A. Munsey, one oi the ' consequential ;. men '. Of the third narty. discusses the future chances of an amalgamation of the Republican and Progressive parties. ' lie. says:, .. , So, with the Republicans We jjow have a body of men stubbornly op vov to the Progressives. They have B0ttuttresad themselves In their po sition that they lean backward la their prejudice against tba new party. : On th other hand, the Progressives, for the most part are even more open, ly hostile to the Republicans than the Republicans are to thorn. . A There la Just about aa much chance of the Progressives groin over to the Republicans aa there Is that the Repub licans will come ever to the Progres slres. - And there Isn't the slightest probability that the Progressives as a body, or In any considerable number, will ever return to the Republican party. Indeed, If the Progressives were to disband, . not more than 16 per cent of them would Join the ranks of the Republicans. . ',..;, .' Nothing Is so uncertain as the question of what will be the status of political parties in the United States in 19 16. - After the great Democratic split of. I860, there was a far re ac h 1 n g realignment ot parties and vast changes by Indi viduals from one political organiza tion to ' another. Unquestionably, there are forces and elements for similar realignments and changes as sequel to the great' Republican split of mt-f-, -a-'- :-. y-.rH; -' ' Mr. .Munsey eorrectly says many ; Progressives of . Republican antece dents will never-' return to the Re publican Tarty, jjNor is it likely that the) Progressives wllL be able to re cruit a ; great deal .more strength from; Republicaii.i.sources unless the Republican party actually goes out of existence, an eventuation that seems altogether unlikely. v v Meanwhile, Woodrow Wilson and the Democratic congress will have a great deal to do with the disposal of political strength in the next presi dential conflict, - President Wilson la undoubtedly an extraordinary leader. . It is dqubtful if , a more tactful or a clearer headed man has ever occupied the j White House. It is improbable that he wilt have dif ferences with his congress. It Is within the easy possibilities that Woodrow Wilson's administration will bring large prestige and greatly augmented power to the Democratic party, an eventuation that would have very great effect in the party alignments of 1916. f ..: ;Anywaythera never was a time when party ties, rested so lightly on the individual. The proof of this l8iajthowithdrawal -Of -4,000,000 voters, nearly all from the Repub lican organizationand their en listment under the banner ot a new political party. In such a status, nobody can prognosticate with certainty as to -the probabilities-four-years-1ience.T The condition that can , be surely counted on, is that there will be three -great parties, with Theodpre Roosevelt once mor as a formidable factor in the situation. : IMPENDING CATASTROPHE CONSTANTINOPLE is facing to : day a more tremendous peril' . than has hung over her since the conquering 'Turks entered tho city th-ough her battered gate ways and over her ruined walls four hundred and fifty years ago . The danger today Is from the muttaout arid-idlsorganlzed army of a quarter or ' a million men that holds the .Tchatalja forts and lines. These men have been half starved. and exposed to the rigors of a ' se vere and long winter. There are ! distinct lines between the men of i Old Turkey, recruited and officered in Asia Minor, who are Moslems one and' all, belonging to the old school, and men controlled by the young Turks and obeying Shefket ' Pasha, Klamll's successor. . : When Shefket rose to power by jihe engineering of the young Turks, and over Nazim Pasha's dead body. his declared object was " to savrf Adrlanople. But wise, old, Kiamil, varied it thus, "Better save Con Etantinople,"!" and, having turned the charge over to Shefket," Klamll and his ministers. One and all. fled from the city. ; ." ': As soon as peace is ' signed the young T u r k crowd, Enver Bey, Talaat, Djavld,' and "the rest of the ' old committee will turn on $he pres-4 enit government, with, c rjes . of "Traitors,, destroyer's of Turkey," . . . l . ... j 1 j. 1 m x : The enemies of the committee will try then to extirpate it, root and ' ranch. The tw parties are about ly balanced. About the same t?r cf troors will follow) each of them, and that means over a hun dred thousand men. Thert the streets of the city will run blood Revolution, counter revolution, and counter-counter revolution will be tried In turn, and the scenes In Mexico City will be child's play compared' to those appearing within the next three weeks in the city , by the Bosphorus. '.., ' The last efforts of Shefket's mln istry will be to crowd every vessel they can get hold of In the Golden Horn 4 with, troops from Tchatalja, and ship, them back to Aula Minor whence they came. ; Without stores of food, without a sign of commiS' earlat, starvation impends over the whole movement Rather than see the soldiers die the European now- ers may, very possibly come to their aid,; and rations by the million be shipped In. ' So will disappear, In all probabil Ity, the last great Turkish army to organize on European soil under the green banner of Mohammed COMMISSION GOVERNMENT T HE present status of the move ment for commission govern ment is reviewed by Clinton Rogers Woodruff, secretary of the National Municipal league. He is behind the scenes of many cities, being one of the experts most gen erally consulted by t h o s e cities which are- "lingering shivering on the brink, and fear to launch away." He. bids them be of good comfort He. tells them that the records of iuubo uuev iiiiau iava 4i au (.nv V1!) formly encouragingexcept Why exceptions? Because of disappoint ment In some cities in . the charac ter of the commissioners elected. Still there is hope even: there since "the present character of officials in commission - governed -cities Is - very much higher than prevailed under the older forms." How clear it Is that the people, not the law, is responsible for any disappointment. The law excludes no citizen from office. . Every one really eligible, for commissioner, and many who are hot eligible, may run. But it is all but criminal to elect all or any commissioners whose characters and whose special quali fications are not well known to the electors. It should be a matter of conscience to act' on the familiar notice "No stranger need apply." There should be no chance of a mistake on character. About, that there can be no disguise. What the men may possibly not .know in this respect the women will. As to qual ifications there is, of course, room for error. It is a pity there Is no device for a kind of term, where a failure could be quietly dropped without a stain on his record. The election of a commissioner, much less of a mayor, should not be" an experiment No man, how ever ingratiating,, however agree able and pleasing, should be chosen without a history of proved' success in at least one line that parallels a city department. . Every month city commission gov ernment Is moved farther from the plane of experiment A week or two ago there were inrith oil, and burned. One thrifty the United States 257 commission governed cities. There are others in a condition of incubation. And still others, like St Paul, with 214;000 people, ready to begin January 1, 1914. Which are the states that have gone farthest? Kansas, with 24 cities, Iowa with 17, Illinois with 17, Oklahoma with 15; Texas with 16, and South Dakota with 11. Cal ifornia treads on their heels with nine, and Alabama with eight. The rest are distributed In threes and fours and so on. Unless, the most unlikely happens we shall soon have to try our hands at electing in Portland. It is well to be prepared. r ? A HEAVY RESPONSffilUTY S CHOOL books to be selected in June are to be used in the Oregon schools the coming1 six years. ' That fact lays a heavy responsi bility on the text book commission. Charges 'are made that Oregon is paying too much for school books. It is the commission's duty to go to the bottom of these charges, and If found true, to provide a remedy. Oregon children should have books at prices as low as In any other state, and the text book commission shduld -both know-that the prices are as low. and that the books are as good. If the commission cannot do all this, Its members should re sign. The authority"- they are to exercise in behalf of the public is very important. The selection of the" books, the fixing of the prices, and the determination of the terms on which the changes are to be- in troduced comprise an extraordinary lunction. . There are 175,000 nersona -ot school age in' the state of Oregon. mere are approximately 125.000 pupils in the elementary schools. The. selection of books and the flx- ipg of the prices of books for this great army of children is a heavy responsibility, a responsibility; to call forth the serious reflection and the best endeavors of everr member of the text book commission. ' It is a duty-that goes' far to involve the welfare of the common school sys tem ior a period, or six, years. - Not only should ( the; books be priced, at the lowest' hotch, but the arrangements for Introduction t of BW VoushTOTdeerfeqCTTEeT is no use io permit an introductory price Jr changed books that will be an undue tat nn arhnni I The figuregj in such cases should be I cut to the bone, and new books go !. 4V.A t,ii,,.nn r,n iiiti tipmi' Hin t nn imrriiiin will ha wnrlinil on the many honiea of poverty. " . One of the most important prob - Jems to "be worked out la Oregon this j-ear, lies before the Oregon Text' Book Commission Oregon ex- pects every member of that Import ant' body to do full statured duty. DR,l'RU:i).MAXN G' R A DUALLY Dr. Friedmann ap pears to be making friends in this country. Ho certainly has not been allowed to come In over the wall Into the medical sheep fold. ; He has had to go round and come in by tho door, Probably he has alleviations, when the first criti cisms. o( h I s operating , methods gradually - give-place to admissions that he knows his business and is a distinctively skilled operator. . Two accounts of his progress have recently appeared in the papers of this coast ithe one from Dr. August H. Kinney of Astoria," still in New York and the other from Dr, Charles H. Noble of- Seattle, who has Just returned from his New York visit,, where he went to gain knowledge of Dr. Friedman'- and Bis 'methods at first hand.;.. In the case of both doctors a to- ceptive state 6f mind seems to have been produced.. Both of them ap pear to be looking for confirmation of hope already produced by what they have seen, of the patients who had. received the vaccine treatment. Dr. Noble says "it will take from three to six. months to demonstrate whether those who have-been treat ed will become perfectly well 'again. This much, however, Is absolutely certain to me, that a great discov ery has been made by him and that t will greatly aid In the relief for this . disease." This declaration may well be taken as a corrective to the 'leaning over backwards" tone of the Journal -of the American Med ical Association. Probably that pro fessional paper would now hesitate to repeat what it said a week jpr two ago, shortly after the arrival of Dr. Friedmann In this country. Its statements were to the effect that no discovery had been made, all facts cited as to immunizing by inoculation being old that if Dr. Friedmann had discovered anything it is "only a culture which "possesses unusual immunizing powers for hu man beings.". Only?, If that and nothing more .were verified tho roan would: be onb of the greatest bene factors, whose name would never be forgotten. The truth seems to be that, hope may burn bright, since nothing has been brought out to dim it. But that it is no more reasonable now than when Dr. Friedmann first made his appearance here to assert as fact "that which is still a matter to be proved in Its entirety. CHINESE IDOL v SMASHERS I N MANY and many a - temple. writes a missionary from Nan king, the Vgods" have been torn from their seats and smashed into bits with hammers. Some were dragged into the streets, soaked pnesi scrapea me goia iear rrom tne idol which he had tended, and sold it for eighteen dollars. Some ot the popular temples held hundreds of idols. The troops came in, smashed the gods, turned - out the sellers of Incense and . paper money, and, having clea'ned out the temple thoroughly, converted it into barracks for the soldiers of the re public. , : 7 " Among the rubbish and debris of . the old gods at . the famous tem ple in Nanking called Ch'eng Hua one little idol six inches high was found, and given to the missionary as the Bole visible relic of the idol worship of the past. The Chinese are evidently mak-ing-averr-complete turning- rora their religion of. the past What they are turning to, in place of it, is in serious doubt. Among the many millions of China a few thousand Christian mission aries of many denominations are giving their lives to prevailing on the people to exchange their idols for the worship of the one god that the Christians preach. Not as Mo hammed and his followers, by the proffer at the sword's point, "be lieve or die." But through the at tractive and vivifying power of the new faith believe and live. In face of this tremendous task the conversion ot a nation the mis sionaries have found their strength to lie, not in the mazes of an an cient theology,; but ' in the sim plicity of the gospel of Christ which they proclaimed to those who had abandoned ' the bid without yet adopting a new religion. To simplify, to reduce to the few est possible dogmas, to cut down old creeds to the bare statements of a common faith, ; was the necessity that reached first of all the mis sionaries themselves. In the loyal and , earnest endeavor to succeed these teachers found 4 1 1 a t the boundaries and shibboleths of their own original . denominations prac tically disappeared, or at least: were retired to the background in their own minds. And this was their Common report to the great inis-- sionary conference at Edinburgh two or three. years ago.: The impression sunk deeply into many mtads that if the basic 'faith offered to the-Chinese was a saying faith it was good enough and strong ligious power in white, and brown, and red men as well as In yellow men. r ' The simplicity of the gospel has been found to contain in it the es sence of social as well as of e- ' 1 icrfnna hrnl horhfifiil. Anil this thera Is little doubt, will be tho doc- trine, that Id tlie teaching of the j Christian citizenship conference to meet in tnis cuy in a rew monms- time EVENING AMUSEMENTS T HE London County Coutfcll has for several . years made great efforts to provide "Evening Continuation, Schools." Good teachers and Interesting courses were at first great attractions and large numbers were enrolled. But this last winter session' has shown a sad falling off. Out of 13,500 classes opened 260.0 have had to be closed for want of pupils: i . v Only one third, ot the 125,000 stu dents enrolled gave even 14-hours' attendance in any one subject. It is not that the educational ar: rangements are at fault. The coun ter attractions . of theatres, music- halls', and last but not least, the "movies," are responsible. ; Not one but several remedies are available on both sides of the At lantic. The first Is. to restore, and add to the attractiveness of the -home. .If society in the home Is encouraged, if the friends of the girls and boys are welcomed as guests, If the atmosphere is that of friendliness and cheerfulness, if amusements" are provided which are both , lively and : modern, : then I the vaudeville performance, and even the moving pictures will not have an unchallenged .pull. .:.," ''' Here there rises the.vlslon of, the school house 1 as, the social I center. The circle of friendliness is there enlarged, there is a larger group of possible entertainers, more variety ot amusement can be devised, and to find unexpected reserves of Interest and amusement In acquaintances of the '. streetcar, or. of ..the church . Is no rare experience. The specter of dullness at home must be driven out if the boys and girls can reasonably be expected to forego the brightness of the theatre, or moving picture show, and stay, within the four walls of. their par ents louse. If it be objected that such plans will lay more burdens on the houses mother there are several answers. There Is no more real pleasure to tbgood mother than to gather her children round her in" free and hap py converse In her home. Her bright eyes and genial smile tell the tale. ir some otner motners cnna snares the'piastlr ,.01 the evening, so much. the better". ' Those who know have told how the opening to them of the door of the home in a strange city meant keeping closed for them other doors where spirits of evil dwelt. ". Returning for a moment to the London County Council, we find that 'Mr. Edison's great invention, linking together sight and sound, and the use of the. moving picture in general, are being considered as possible counter attractions in the evening schools to . the theatre and the music hall. FIRE WORSE THAN FLOODS w HEN the news of the San Francisco earthquake and fire was flashed to New York on April 18, 1906, first the Stock Exchange rise in prices" stopped, then occurred some thing like a panic, with declines of from five to fifteen points in stocks before the week was over. Nothing of the sort has been seen during the past week. First, be cause the pews of the ; Middle West disasters came to New York at the Bame time as reports of the proba bly approaching end of the Balkan war, and the release from lioard ing of about five hundred million dollars In France, Germany, Austria, and other European countries, with the consequent stoppage of the drain of gold from- New-York whieh-hait been In progress for many weeks. Then the floods -took on at once the a s p e c t of various disasters rather than , of one great catastro phe like that at San Francisco, and the news of , the money losses were discounted,, by New York financiers as they came In from day to day. The Evening Post of New York notes the shrinking of the first es timates of 'losses In Ohio and In diana from $100,000,000,; first re ported. That paper gives a series of such incidents in recent; history, such as the .Charleston earthquake of 1886, the: Johnstown . flood of 1889, the Louisville cyclone of 1890, the St. Louis cyclone of 1896, the Galveston tidal wave of 1900, the Baltimore fire of 1904,, and the Mis sissippi valley floods of 1902. In each Instance history repeated itself. The San Francisco fire and earth quake Is the single exception. The revised losses In' the end are stated at $500,000,000, though deaths only numbered 500. It will be many days before the iron T and steel industry west of Pittsburg regains- its normal output. Nearly the whole of the iron and steel plants of Ohio have been put out of commission. In addition the Shenango valley in Pennsylvania, seyeral plants In, the:.Pitt6burg dis trict, and la the Wheeling 'district east of the Ohio river, have been closed down. 'In all, It is said, that thirty per cent of the iron and steel producing- pov er of the .coun try, which represents about 175,000 tons a week' of output, has .been halted and seriously damaged.' All the industrial railroads west of pitts bnrg; are great" ' s u fftrers) ' ' ' ... . .. . y ,. . ,, . HermlBton Herald: Spring work Is at Its lielght and every farmer Is busy. Such la the demand just at thla tini that It ia not beltevd Ibere la an Idle nifcn pr team. There waa never a time whtsn conditions a!?ourHettnlstOB looked brighter thaa they aa right now. Letters From the People 1 K'onipiiiiilcatlona, aent te Th .lonrnal fnr publication Id tlila dupartuient ahonlil he writ ten on only ona alrfa of tin paper, ahuuld n 't tlrard 3iH wurria la lngtb and DJtit ha ac mmiaclel br tha nattia cud adilmt of tb radar, if tha nrllcr Jo tint rtolro to barr tlia uatnt publlabad, b abould aa atate.l - IVescnt and 'Future. Fruit Crops, Covn, Of.. April S.To the Editor of The Journal Th6 fruit, crop of 191? is driw,lng to a cIohc. and It la iiendlese to nUy It has proved the, moKt disas trous to the producer in the history of commercial friirt growing: There must be some strenuous efforts put forth by the producer or fruit growing In the future will be a-repltltlon of that of the past. What we need Is a strong organlratlon among all fruit growers, ard sell direct tp the consumer ' when ever, possible, so es to cut oat the mid dleman. The only solution to the congested fruit situation would be to compel the retailer to sell on a fair inargln of "profit;? and If , they ar un willing tt do Jultlce to the producer and consumer, let the fruit growers or ganize and. establish distributing points in all the ckles of any size and im portance, and sell direct to the con sumer at wholesale prices, and eliminate the retailer. If the 1913 crop of ap ples had ueen handled along these lines there would not have been, an over-supply of fruit thrown on the market; but with one of the largest apple crops on record,rand tlie retailers Belling for practically the same prices aa they did when apples , were scarce, no : wpnder there waa an over supply. Apples have been selling to the retail trade from 60 cents to U per box, and from 11.75 to $3.60 per barrel, and re tailing from $10 to $18 per barrel. Of course tho price had to" be regulated according to the victim. With apples retailing at such prices very few people of the poorer classes could afford . to use them.- They were bought only as a luxury, and this witatnoaands jupon thOusandsof bushels jof apples going to" wast, and the grower not able to realize enough from the proceeds of the sales to pay freight and other expenses. Wc will. look up tho commission man and Jobber and see what part they are taking to help the producer arid con sumer. Of course, we have some hon est retailers and jobbers as well as honest commission men, but we are not over-supplied. We will start with the grower, or the man that produces the fruit. The fruit Is packed and turned over to the railroad company to be de-: llvered to the commission man or. Job ber, who will trv - ta sell the fruit as cheap as he possibly can Instead of try ing ta make a small margin for the grower. Why does he not exert him self for better sales? Is his heart In the right place and Is be trying to buy as cheap - us : possible to help out the consumer, or has he some hidden mo tive in view? We will try and Investi gate and see if he is not bidding the fruit in at about the cost of transpor tation, and sometimes even lees, and then reselling to the retailer, making two commissions. C. A. SMITH. Stephen Kennedy Not Accused. Portland, April 6. To the Editor of The Journal Will you please correct an error in a. story published a few weeks' ago in your paper about Stephen Kennedy helping the St. Clair boy and others to steal boats and oars. I am Stephen's sister. ; I ata 13 years oltj. Stephen Kennedy was not In it. He was at the court house as a witness. He knew absolutely nothing about it, -only what the boys told him; so he waa sub- penaed as a witness. I am often morti fied when asked about Stephen and the boat stealing. To make public ia bad enough when one Is guilty; but he Is Innocent of the stealing and does not even keep company with those, boys. Thank you In advance. MARQAHET KENNEDY. (The case referred to Jn the above let ter was heard March 1 tn the juvenile court. Stephen Kennedy was called as witness. The Journal published two stories about the case, on March 1 and March 2. In neither story was any of the boys- Implicated mentioned by name. The story to Which reference Is made must have been given out by the policeman : who arrested the boys, at the police station.) , Why a Mllijtant Suffragette la. Portland, April 5. To the Editor of The Journal The attitude of the Eng lish suffragette is deplorable- The in clination of her American sisters to imitate her Is a matter of grave con cern,, , ; Love is the greatest power in the universe, and woman is preeminently fitted to use It. It is, in fact, the only weapon she should ever use. Her love for truth and rightousness on the social and civio plana will prevail. That, Is It will prevail in so far as jt is undi vided, single In purpose, free from eel- flsh or personal enas. woman's neia is in the realm of causes; mans in the world of effects. Let her desire right- neaa with aligner mighton-whatever plane, and man will work out her de sire, sometimes with bloodshed, often with force. The manner and the means lie in man'a judgment.. This is his field. and her invasion of it results Inevitably In the topsyturvydom the British suf fragette Is achieving. She breaks civil and moral law in her fight for what she deems a personal right, ana then re treats to the cover of her sex. IJrom that vantage ground ehe calls aloud to the civilized' world to bebold man s in humanity to woman. The odium of "the spectacle : which ahe creates she en deavors to throw tipon man, thus cqn fuslng rlghtous publlo judgment. She : (Copyright, 1913, by Frank Crane.) Throughout this north world is tKa feeling that, something wonderful U about . to happen. VW feel it in our bones, Men twist uneasily in their or flee chairs Women are;.; discovered gaz inr nnslvelv into space. Children are restless. Something is coming. - Something the most marvelous, the most sweet conceivable, IS on the way, It Is Spring, the annual miracle of life, the recurrent angel that keeps the world from going mad, from becoming hard and cruel. -' 'V; ; '"i;; t ..- -- -U In the lowef woodlands the skunk cabbage is pushing its cowled head through the . cold turf. Crocuses, the boldest pioneers in flowerdom, are set ting tnnir flaca of color In sunny snots. i . -nhln tir anri ihmrm ! rennrtpri v ...... . , i if means lire, ure. me : treasure oe-j yulifi ait ircosuioQ, ma tvati u, fi,av price for which the merchantman will sell air that h has, the ens thing need- fUl.-' f.','"''".;.. -rW' ':'-: -o:" ,.') ' ; Life! The brown soil is full, of It. Under the ground He In wait th myriad rml,, nt tlttla recruits walflnir for th signal to com out and conquer the spring beauties, ... dog-tooth violets, Woodroot; and bleeding hearts are. ready, eager to start at the signal of the sun, meir captain. - v All treetips ar swelling. Budt most adorabl Of nature's confection are dotting -alult " branchew, " The " worldig pregnBiw-wiin- a migniy ana uncon querable joy. ,s N , ! Do you feel It? As' there a strange hew hope in dt? Have you a premo nltiori of adventure? Do you find your self at tlmea during the day in the grip of a dream, a fresh, foolish, wild dream? Or la your dream dead? Hav cynicism SPRING, declares tlie .-aJU," destroy property and euduHger IIIV, if licr liii'aiuln uro not grunteil. Then, if sl'e he rcsUratncd islie mHkes lneretrlcloiiH appeal for sympathy to the whole world liy reKortlng to the "Hturvutlon cure." This seems as child lnh SH tho case of the three-year-old who screams hiinstOf black iu the face when the fie screen Is placed between him anj and the flame. Not being a child, the tliitlsh government would 'do wlwely to treat her as a grown upl A 40-tlay rant might even reHlorc to her a sanity which would enable her to fcee that by power fuly loving righteousness in any field, she -an bring It to paws. , MAUEL.W. PLOWMAN. The Mouse and the Bumble ilec. Salem. Or., April 3, 1013.- To the Edi tor' of -The journal The young ' man who dashed ou of the crowd on a Portland street to stamp a, little mouse to death may have been, as "Easterner" says, nicely , dressed and intelligently featured, ut lie 'will have to go wome to acquire that sympathy of soul which, to quote from Brand' Whltlock,, "more than; anything else forms the hallmark of truo culture," So will those' by standcre who took pleasure In a cow ard's act . ; The incident recalls an experience of thy own, I was staying over, night at, tne no me oi a minister, h very gouty man, "much interested in foreign mis sions, At family worship he prayed moati earnestly for the .''stood Lord to deliver him and his from hell fire, and then,' as he rose from his knees he picked up a young bumblebee, ; which had somehow-got .Into the room, and dropped it into the lighted lamp. The lamp didn't explode, but I did. I gave the reverend gentleman my opinion of him. in terms mora forcible than polite, pointing out that some of those heathen he longed to convert not only would have refrained from harming, so inof fensive a little creature, but would willingly take some trouble to "let.lt live its little life." It took only about a minute Then, ot course, I eame to nyjenseajind apologlseoVJThemlnls ter, having recovered from his aston ishment, not only forgave nie,; but thanked me for calling his attention to a matter he had never thought of be fore. And he and I arc still th pest of friends. -.-': . ; . r But isn't U strange how totally lack ing in feeling for dumb things many people can be, especially for little dumb things! 7 - . , I shake hands with you. Easterner. I'don't know your name and never heard of you 'before, but Just the same, I claim you for my near kin, though I myself am a ., - WESTERNER. ( . Answer to Small Dealer. Portland, April 4.To the Editor of The Journal I have read with interest and indignation letters from the mini mum wage knockers that have appeared In your paper recently. A man in one of last week's papers stated that this min imum wage law was just a scheme to freeze out the small dealer. I assume from his statements that he Is one of the said "small dealers" (in more ways than one) and for fear that this frees Ing process may affect his process, he voices his protest, preferring, it seems, to see the working girl do the freezing. Then he has more consideration for the working girl than he. .How grateful they must feel tn their hearts for his touch ing sympathy! Now we all know that the small dealer does, no't hire so many clerks as - the large dealer, and therefore his expenses would be no greater In proportion than tha latter's; and in any event, should w sacrifice our working girls for the sake of preventing some small dealer from going out of business? Surely this would not be granting "the greatest good to the; greatest number." A woman' a few days later expressed her opinion, her chief reason, It seems, for not wishing to see the, working girls get better wages was just because she didn't get any more when she was a girl. That same old, woe-begone, sel fish tale! She neglected to mention the change that has taken place in. the cost of living" since that time. And because "in her day" girls worked for starvation wages and stayed at home with no other ambition in life than to marry- the first man who came along, probably does it follow that all girls should have such a fate meted out to them? - If the working girl was paid, a fair wage she would neither have to sell her virtue nor marry Just for a home sure ly neither choice .si very uplifting. Cer tainly, we knowT there, are girls ' with characteristics - strong enough to carry them through almost any fight, and we know, too, that some are not so for tunately enddwed. Perhaps if the girls In this woman's time had not been com pelled to work so hard and could have given .more time toward mind and body culture some of our present day girls might not have been such easy victims. At any rate, the least we tan do is to give them a chance to make an honest living. 6CHOOLMARM. The Case Against the Mouse. Clackamas, Or.. April 4. To the-Ed ltor.of The Journal I love those who love their fellow men.. Human beings sometimes are cruel to animals. But give the animals power, and man soon would not be able to live. To kill a little mouse seems like a cruel thing. But a little mouse might destroy some great painting, or gnaw some lace gown that took some hard working woman half "her life to create. Human beings are God's creatures. What do we owe our fellow man? The little mouse might get kite baby's milk and commit many mother depredations. Love your fellow men and women and children. : VIOLA BURR. and bitter knowledge triumphed and made your heart a graveyard? "Ex perience worketh hope," said -the seer; buMn you has it worked only dullness, drabness. ashes? Has the boy, the girl, all died out-of you? , ; For the greatest truth of truths is the resurrection. It is not life, for life wearies and goes out. It is not death, for death is grim and silent. It la resurrection, which means that life sputtering in the socket shall gleam lambent again', that hope, sick or mnr. dared, will once more Uprise, that the dea,d branches of your life will put forth new blooms. Again! ,. The word ,1s th wine of life. Believ it. Give yourself up to It. Listen to the instinct of yoor deepest self re sponding to the Spring. Again love shall come, not as before, out more real, more spirit like. Again the blue bird of happiness shall eall at . your window. Again courage Shall run in your blood. Again success shall hall you. -v-Nevermorl . That Is the raven-word of hell. That's the' blackest. thing your heart can say. Never say. It. Even vver the grave never say it. It Is the deepest lie ever coined. All the universe denies It. " Listen! There is a low hum every where. It Is the sound of the green things growing. It la new life for old. It is love standing and singing upon conquered death. 'i ft is'jwutTectmn:'i'ThrTltarTTaesllOu' Is not "Do you believe it?" but. "Do you feel it?". , '.' .Open your soul, receive the message of earth, wluch.is the truth of heaven, that vljfe and love are the Inextinguish able facts, Though dead, yet shall they live again. . Think It. Trust it. Say it. Today, . , WHAT IS CONSTITUTIONAL? From tho Detroit News Tribune. - It doesn't'matter where jou take up the debates od ongrcss, whether In the year 1845, or 1865, or 1885, or 1913, you will find a wholo phalanx of rep resentatives and senators Insisting with , all their strength that reform measures ; before the congress are ."unconstitu tional." . ' . : H is a little dlKterblng If you cpn flno your reading to 1913. But if you go back 50 or 6.0 years you will get the true perspective, Turning from, the'ar gumeitts of those years, you may look upon the country and seo how many "unconstitutional" matters are so Im portant a part of qur national prlncl- pies that to remove them would seem like ft return to the iark ages. . And yet you may read volume after volntn of debates In which the strongest rolq'U of the then congresses declared upon their.-solemn belief that the proposals were not only, '.'tirfcdnsiltutlonal," but would result in the destruction of the government. , ' . . ' :,:.,'.'. i; -' It is a wholesome exercise, this read ing of old -t(me questions, and )t Is ' heartily recoirilrifended to present day legislators. What was once avowed with so much legal reference and such stress of eloquence appears so strange today' that sometimes we must ooli at tha Record to see If tf Were really, uttered ' In modern ' Unies., ' And ,Jt is Just ar . likely that v10, ,20 or 30 years hence curious, investigators- will study the debate of the present day and see in them the same tendency to atav.lsm that . marks the earlier pages. - And for us of today it yields the hope that, as tu cry of "unconstutiopaiity" never yet did destroy a leal rerorm,"so now the " people of, sense of what is right and ' needful will triumph over all the ar guments of the dry as dust legal lights.' ; .Three things are noticeable all through the history of congress. First; that every proposed reform was de clared, hot by little men, but by the highest minds, to be unconstitutional." Second, that there were always supreme judges enough to hold temporarily that view. Third, that the, proposals were constitutional, were adopted and remain to this ,day" AC the very worst, we may hope for the same procedure and event ual success tpday. ' The net result; of tiiese decades of argument is this: Whatever is right is constitutional, Whatever is necessary is constitutinal. If not in so many legal phrases, then the people will easily sup ply the legal phrases. -All down oul history Jbig, men , have interposed thelf Influence in the path of progress. Yet their arguments, and In some cases their very names, are forgotten, and the re form they . fought ' is now an integral part of our system. That is something for the ,, obstructionists of today to think about. Truth has a curious way of making the big obstructionist appear as a gnet-itr after years, and the weak knight of reform a giant who Uvea in the grateful memory of generations. : It wasn't so many months ago that . senators and representatives declared .. that the white slave law was "uncon stitutional." ' It wasn't sd many years " ago that congressmen were proving by constitution and Bible that black slavery was the salvation of this nation. Today senators and representatives are not Wanting who protest with great ve hemence and with whole pages oi legal argument that It Is unconstitutional -for this government to regulate the traff lo In Intoxicants though , those same men 'have no question whatever ' about the government's power to regu- -late the use of opium. What is being done today will read very strangely a decade or two hence and many of the things which are - held to be "uncon stitutional" In eongress will be seen to have been constitutional everywhere, because they were parts of the unwrit ten though eternal constitution of Right. NEWS. FORECAST FOR THE COMING WEEK Washington, D. C April 5,--Occupy-ing first place on the calendar of events for the week will be the assembling of . congress in extraordinary session Mon day. The revision of the tariff is the purpose of the session, Radical Changes. in some of' tha existing tariff schedules are certain, though the multitude and diversity of the interests affected will . necessarily mak the task a difficult one. ' . ..... ..... ....... ;',... The possibility that the long expected decisions, in the Minnesota and inter- mountain rate cases may be handed down will serve to attract publlo atten- . . tion to the supreme court of the United States, when that body reconvenes Mon- day after a recess of two weeks. . Michigan's election of minor, state of ficials on Monday takes on added im portance since the electors will vote at the same time on several proposed con stitutional amendments,, among; them one giving women the right of suffrage and another providing for the initiative, referendunrand recall. Detroltwllt tss upon a charter amendment involving the principle of municipal ownership of. pub lic utilities. State authorities, farmers, bankers . and railroad officials are to meet In conference in Chicago Tuesday to devise simplified methods for the marketing and distributing of food products.- The idea ia in line with the letter addressed by President Taft to the governors-of the different states' proposing a farm credit system as a means for reducing . the cost of production of food products and resulting in ultimate relief to tha consumer from the high cost of living. Miss Jeesie Woodrow Wilson, daugh ter of President Wilson, is to be a speaker at the national convention of the Young Women's Christian assocla tion, which will meet In Richmond, Va., Wednesday for a session of four days. - The Chinese assembly will convene Monday. One of its first duties wiU.be to proclaim a new president of the re- . public. Much will depend upon the pro ceedings of th assembly in regards to early, recognition of the republic by th nationa-of the world.'"1'' :. '.. '"".'" J,:-r. The week will see the real beginning of -he professional baseball season of 1913. The American 4 and National leagues will start their championship races Thursday, The Southern league, American association and several other of tha minor Organisations will get under way the same day. . Other events of the week will include the meeting' of the National Drainage congress In St. Louis, the convention of the Navy league in Washington, the -cable chess match between American and English universities, and the dinner , of the Gridiron club, at which president Woodrow, Wilson is to b the guest of -honor, Pointed Paragraphs Watch out; the plum" are about te drop. . - . . Honesty never looks better to a man than when It comes home to roost. ; . ' ; ; .".y.sv.V' A''y".- jjV.viV, -AKr,.,i. iwn thtitfa of th averaa-e man'i laughter Is inspired by his own alleged 1 ftft' 4i hraven are never 'used for the purpose of lighting agamies. ... . , . . a r When you see a woman getting off s , atreeicar it's hard to beliae Bh is mors. . graceful thsn a man.