Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, August 13, 1893, Page 12

THE OMAHA DAILY BEE: THE ————— DAILY BEE. , Bditor e == = PURLISHE MORNING. TERMS OF £UBSCRIPTION, {ly Boe (without Sunday) One Year.. § 8 00 BAlY And Santay, oo Yaar .10 00 onths. . 5 00 reo Months, . 260 iy B 180 iturdn bee, One nr Ot ekly {Ir-n 3 100 10ES, Omaha, The Beo Bullding. gouth Gmahn, corner N and 20th Streo Sireot inmber of Cor 14 and 1 ribune n enth Streot CE. A1l communications rolat editorinl mattor should be add Editor. to news and sea: To the and postoflicn orders order of the com- ‘tes lenving the city for the summer can THE ek sent to thelr address by leaving an order at this office, TH coM BEE PUBLISHING The Bee in Trr DAy and SUNDAY BEE 15 on sale in Chjcago at tho following plac Palmer h Grand Pn Anditorl 1o, fic hotel. i hotel Great Northern hotel. Gore hotel. Leland hotel, ¥iies of Tie BEE can he saen at the Neo Braska building and the Adminlstration bulld g, Exposition grounds, culation of T} ending Augist 12, 159 Sunday, August 0. Monday, Augzust 7 by 3 Th L August 1 Friday. Avgust 11 £ Baturdiy, August 13,0 21,331 Grongr: I TasoHUCK, _ swonx 1o Awernge Cire atlon for JSuly, THE country is to be eongratulated upon having survived the first woek of congress. WATCH the railways in their efforts to keep the maximum freight rate law in its present state of suspended animation. IN SUCH times as these the principle of home patronage stands most in need of exemplification. Buy Nebraska-made goods, ISN'r it strange how these personal lotters written by public men to pr correspondents so quickly find their way into the newa columns of the daily press? “PANICKY” seems to be anew word coined on the impulse of the hour. It is 80 expressive, however, that its perma- nenco in the language will scarcely be threatene THE dispatches announce that brood- ingover a defeat has “‘nearly broken the heart” of a prize fighter of some notori- oty. Botter a broken heart than a broken head in this case. CHICAGO feels elated bocause it has been able to import gold direct from Burope. If it can import Algerian vil- lages, Irish castlesand Egyptian streets, why not also British gold? Dr. KEELEY now claims that the gold cure provents the development of insan- ity. Perhaps it will soon bo the proper thing to become inebriated in order to o the gold cure for the purpose of avoiding insanity. REPUBLICAN postmastersof the presi- dential cluss are assured thatso long as they are efficient they will be permitted to serve out their whole four the slaughter of the fourth masters goes merrily on. But FVERY day shows that Americans are eminently practical. The latest evi- dence of this is the formation of a com- pany to take advantage of the short hay orop abroad by divect shipments of hay from the northwest to London and Liverpool. ACCORDING to Mr. Bland all that is roquired to keep gold and silvor on a parity at 1 to 16 15 for congress to say so. If the market ratio has so little connec- tion with the mint ratio, might we nat suggest that 1to 10 is a much simpler combination. RUMORS are rife of wholesale nepo- tlsm in state institutions. So flagrant has the practice become in cortain localities that it bids fair to cause trouble if not checked. THE BEE is in position to give a bill of particulars in the matter, but refrains lest it be charged with sensationalism. The abuse, however, must be stemped out or it will scandalize the state. ‘WHILE the customs receipts are fall- ing off it is agreeable to note that tho percentage of import duties paid in gold is inoreasing. During the first ten days in July not a dollar in gold was included in the collections at New York; during the first ten days of August the gold has amounted to $24.60 in every $100, The gold reserve of $100,000,000 has also been restored. These are encouraging indications, A NUMBER of the best business men of this eity have recently been vietimized by confidence men who told of the merits of sure-thing advertising fakes that promised to return dollar for dollar. Now these mevcchants know they were swindled. It is hoped the lesson will teach them to place all their advertising ocontracts with old established, reputable newspapers of known circulation—such as THE BEE. IsN'T it about time the session laws of - the late legislature were issned and dis- ibuted? There are printing offices in the state that ave doing a pretty goud business in the sale of copiesof the more important new laws. Perhaps this may in & moasure explain the delay in the issue of the books. But there are about ninety county attorneys and judges, to say nothing of judges in the higher courts and lawyers throughout the state, who ought to have beon enabled to se- cure the session laws thirty days ago. SUNDAY, AUGUST 13, 1893 || duced EA-GOVERNOR LARRABEE WAY RATES. The work announced some time ago as about to be issued by ex-Governor Larrabee of Towa, embodying his ideas upon the railroad question, has appeared from the press and, despite many points where it invites criticism, it justifies & claim toa place among the standard books upon the railway problem. It is particularly in those portions of the work which deal with the relations of the government to the railroads and the golution of the difficulties that have arisen between the railways and the poople that the exporience of the author, both in guiding and exeouting the rail- way legislation of Iowa, comes into prominent play. His views upon the rate question ave so suggostive that they deserve a widespread and careful consideration. Governor Larrabee recognizes at once the complication of forces that must be taken into account before any determi- nation of reasonable rates can be arrived at. Hosays that it s much easier to say what ratos are unreasonable than what rates are reasonable, an unrea- sonable tariff being one ‘‘that brings in an income in excess of sufficient to keep the road in proper condition, to pay op- erating expenses, including taxas, and a fair rate of interest on the amount, not including donations, actually invested in thoroad.” The doctrine laid down by Judgoe Brewer, that reasonable rates imply three things—cost of sorvice, in- terest on bonds and then soms dividends —is subjected to a destructive criticism. A road, says Governor Larraboe, may be bonded for several times its cost or its veal value, it may bs managed with such recklessness or extravagance that its opo ng expenses may be twice what they would b under a careful and coonomical managoment. yet under this the shipper must pay the premium which bond-watering and bad manage- ment command. The enforcement of such a rule would place the public at the mercy of scheming railvoad manipula- tors. And he comes to the conclusion that “‘tho batter judgment seems to be that to determine what are reasonable is not & question for judicial adjudication.” I'he contention then is that all efforts of the courts to solve the rate question have proven fruitless and must continue to prove so, An inclination to lean to- ward the system employed in Towa leads him further to say that the question of railroad rates will never ba satisfac- torily settlod until it is definitely re- ferred to expert administrative state and national boards empowered and pre- pared to meet the many contingencies that will always avise in the transporta- tion business. The argumonts to sup- port this proposition are clearly and concisely stated. A court has no abso- lute basis to guide its deliberations. While the cost of the service must bs taken into consideration, it is not the only factor to be considered, nor even the essential factor. Rate tariffs are in practice the result of experimentation, and to this a court cannot resort because the complaining companies will never agree to give the objectionable rates a fair trial. Wherever the railroads are forced to give a preseribed tariff a trial it is uniformly their policy to manip- ulate the conduct of their business so as to render the regulating statutes or com- missions as cbnoxious as possible to the people, and thereby to endeavor to se- cure anothor period of uncontrolled high rates of charges for their services. The proverbial slownoss with which courts move is another argument against judicial determination of reasonable rates even if the courts weve in a posi- tion to make & proper determination. Says Governor Lavrabee: “So loig as railroad companies are permitted to re- sort to injunctions and effect other de- lays rendered possible through the ma- chinery of the courts to prevent for years the enforcoment of tariffs pre- Seribed by administrative authorities, s0 long will the public be at their merey." The claim made by railroad men that they should be allowed to make their own tariffs is indignantly rejocted. How- over intricate the subject, and however expert the rate makers must be, the sume men stand ready for the service of the government. The technicality of the process makes it all the more un- fitted for judicial determination since the courts must rely on the testimouy ad- before it. An administrative board has the same sources of informa- tion and has the further advantage of familiarity with all pavties concerned, of devoting itsell exclusively to the set- tloment of railway dieputes, of quick and speedy action. A change in the tariff policy of the railways is not to be hoped for because history has taught us that reforms in this connection must come from without. The plan proposed by Governor Larra- bee amounts substantially to this: Maxi- mum rates should be absolutely fixed by administrative boards, state and na- tional. Before promulgation the taviffs should be submitted to the railway officials, and any improvemonts gested should be given caveful consider- ation. 1If, after a fair trial, any rato ap- poars unreasonable they should be al- lowed to complain and the wrong righted. Prom decisions of the board upon com- plaints of this kind, both railway and shipper should have the right to appeal to the regularly constituted judiciary. Any veduction below the official tariff should be allowed only with due notice w the board. This at least has the meorits of definiteness and comprehen- siveness. Any one who will compare ¥ with what has actually been adopted by recent legislative bodies will see that Governor Larrabee is well in line with the course of modern legisiation. How much further this development will pro- ceed will depend largely on the attitude taken by the courts where statutory regulation is contested by the railways. ON RATL- sug- RAILROADS leading into Nebraskaare arranging for the usual harvest excur sions which have heretofore been s0 bene- ficial to the state. This year, above all others, the success of these incursions should be by this time assured. There are thousunds of men in the east whose highest ambition is to own a farm in Ne- braska. The fame of this state has gone out to all the world. The wonderful pro- ductiveness of our soil, the uniform cer- good live stock markets, a most delight~ ful climate, conspire to attract agri- culturists to locate within our borders. Tt behooves the people of this state to make known to these prospective immi- grants the virtues of favored localities to the end that the state may profit by the addition of a thrifty and industrious class of people. THE UNEMPLOYED. Everybody must deplore the fact that large numbers of people have been thrown out of employment within the last few months in all parts of the coun- try. Such a state of affairs means re- stricted consumption of all classes of commodities and if long continued the result must bo great hardship and pri- vation to hundreds of thousands of our people. Nobody can contemplate with complacency the possibility of & consid- erable proportion of our people, who have made no provision for the future, being in enforced idle- ness during the coming winter, and compelled to rely upon the uncertain and generally inadequate benefactions of charity. Every American citizen will foel that such a situation ought not to exist in this country of unlimited re- sources, and will justifiably reason that it can be due only to the mistakes and follies of human judgment which are not irremediable. The true policy in such an exigency as now confronts the country is for the people to consider with deliberation and patience what shall be done to remove the difficulties that obstruct the way to prosperity. It is not an ocoasion for demonstrations of class hostility, for arraying labor against capital, or for engendering sectional animosity. All intorests are equally involved in the financial and industrial problem. Labor and capital must both suffer in the con- flict. How they shall arrange their con- duct so that each shall doitsduty with reference to the general good Is the question that ought to commend itself to the general consideration. o1t is wroposed to hold in New York this week a parade of the unemployed. The idea is that such an exhibition of the number of people who are idle will make an impression upon the coun- try and will help toward some action that will give the unem- ployed a chance to work. It is a mistaken idea. The parade of a hun- dred thousand men or more in New York City who are without employment will not have the effect of putting a single man to work who is not now needed. It can do no possible good, but it may have the effect of inciting a feeling among the working classes that may do a great deal of harm, and for this reason the project is to be deprecated. It would, perhaps, be less objectionable if thore was a certainty that only legiti- mate workipgmen out of employment would be represented in the projected parade, but it will be impossible to keep out of it thousands of men who never labor and who never intend to labor. We cannot conceive of any good effect to be produced by the proposed parade of unemployed labor, but we can see how it may have consequences inimical to hoth the interests of labor and of the public. The natural and inevitable tendency of such demonstrations is to intensify antagonisms which it ought to be the common policy to avert. The projected parade of the unemployed in New York will undoubtedly be a strik- ing object lesson, but there is the danger that it may incite passions which will be inimical to the general welfare. A GROWING PROBLEM. That the time will come when the American people will becompelled to consider, with much greater earnestness than they have yet done, the question of the future of the negro race on this con- tinent, is notto be doubted. It isa pro- blem which has already engaged the attention of statesmen, and thus far the weight of opinion has been that the negro should and will remain here, both because he has the right to remain and because there is no practicable way of removing him. It was unques- tionably the view of the distin- guished statesmen of the emancipation period that every consideration of right and justico demanded that tho race which had been brought in slavery to this continent, and after more than two centuries of servitude had obtained free- dom through the rebellion of the slave- holding eloment, was entitled to all the prerogatives of free institutions. It was in this spirit that all the legislation of the reconstruction period was framed and passed. 1t was a vecognition by the men of that time of the sentiment enunci- ated in the Declaration of Independ- ence, that all men are created equal and endowed by the Creator with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The men who were contemporary with Lineoln and who had argued and fought against slavery profoundly believed that it was one of the highest and mostsacred duties of this government to place the negro population of the republic upon a plane of political and eivil eguality with the white population. Constitutional amend- ments and statute law were adopted with this end in view. The latter was over- | thrown by a decision of the supreme tri- bunal, while the former have always been inoperative, and 8o far s now appesrs are likely always to remain so. Meanwhile the negro population is stoadily increasing in numbers, and in the nature of things the problem re- garding their future grows in impor- tance and urgency. This is not particu- lavly vealized and approciated in the states of the north, but it is fully under- stood in the southern section of the union and it is there that the guestion of the futuve of the negro race on this continent is even now being seriously and earnestly considered. There the white people can realize how rapidly the negro race is growing numerically, and they foresee that the time cannot be very remote when that race, advancing in numbers and in intelligence, will as- sert with formidable energy the political and civil rights which are now denied it. It is because the white population of the south regards this us & menace to their continued supremacy that they are manifesting such eagerness to attract immigration to that section, while the | brutal and lawless treatment of the tainty of abundant orops,our proximity to ‘ negross of the sonth is at once an ex pression of “‘the hatred of the whites and &' ‘fiotice to the black race that it is regnried as being outside the pale of the law 1n all eases where the interests of tia White people are in- volved, However much law-respecting citizens may deplore and deprecate this condition of affairs; it must be admitted that there seoms small probability of a change for the batter so long as the rela- tions and status éf the two races con- tinue as at preseat, ; It would be idle to ho pe for more stringent legislation than has already been adppted to securo the negro in his rights, and the failure of what has been dohe warrants the belief that no future ehactments will have bet~ tor results. Such being the situation regarding the negro race in this country, the question of the future of that race is manifestly one of importance, What can be done witi the negro is a practical question which may well command the serious attention of statesmen. It has been urged that the wisest thing to do wquld be to deport the race to Africa, and this view has the support of one of the ablest members of the race in this country, Bishop Turner of the Methodist Epis- copal church, whose contribution to the discussion will be ' found elsewhere in our columns. It cannot be denied that Mr. Turner makes a most plausible argument, but on the other side are such able representatives of the race as Prof. Langston and Bishop Tay- lor, who take the position thatthe negro has an equal right on this continent with the white wan and that every con- sideration of humanity and justico de- mands that he be permitted to remain here and work out his destiny. Un- doubtedly the goneral impression will be that Bishop Turner takes a rather 00 pessimistic view of the situation and that he does not fully appreciate the practical difficultios in the way of carry- ing out the plan he proposes. LOTTERIES IN DISGUISE. Attention is invited to anarticle in another column detailing the operations of financial concerns commonly known as bond inYestment companies. The arrest in Denver of the promoters of one of these wildeat financial ventures on charges of using the mails to defrand and violating the federal law prohibit- ing lotteries leaves no doubt as to their character and purpose. The bond investment craze is of recent origin. It is the offspring of & number of ‘‘get rich quick” financial bubbles which have flourished for a brief period in the east and passed away, leaving thousands of wage workers and people of moderate meuns ‘stranded on the barren sands of shattbred hope. The plan of operation in the west overshadows the gigaritic swindles of en- dowment societies in the east and su passes the scandalous frauds of the in- famous Iron Hall.- The former afforded some compensatid i that investors had the pledge of life fnsurance in event of death while the associations lived. The bond investment companies assume no risk, bat on the contrary pluck their vietims of from 10 to 25 per cent of ali receipts for the privilege of handling the money of the gullible, and in return promise profits which-are as uncertain of realization as if gambled on the turn of a card. The only certainty about them 1s the certuinty that the managers will win. The lact that the authorities at Wash- ington, on the representation of federal authorities in Denver, authorized the arrest of two promoters of bond schemes in that city, is sufficient warrant for like action in this vicinity, where similar are daily violating the law ing 10tteries and the use of the mails to defraud. They not only violate federal law, but also under flimsy dis- guises evade state laws and prey upon a class of people easily deluded by lurid promisesand false representations. They borrow the livery of legitimate enter- prise to pluck the uninitiated. Chance appeals to man’s cupidity. The mothods of life insurance companies are lauded as a principal hitherto unapplied to in- vestment companies and the impression is sought to be conveyed that they afford the protection of the former, whereas they seek patronage on success of the former without assuming the risk. Again they pretend to surpass honest building and loan associations without guaran- teeing any return in event of failure to meot monthly dues, Failure to meet one month’s dues means confiscation of all payments made. No matter what misfortune befalls the holder of a bond—if sickness comes to his family, it in stringent times he loses his situation and is unable to meet his monthly dues, all payments hitherto made ave of no avail. His payments are confiscated by the manager and he is left without remedy. The savings and economies of years mayhap are swallowed in one monthly failure. And this system of confiscation without. risk is paraded as a great source of profit to those who persist in paying monthly dues. A system of profit dependent on the misfortune of others deserves the condemnation of honest men. 1t is manifestly the duty of the federal authorities in Nebraska and lowa to proceed against these' fraudulent econ- cerns and wipe thém qut of existence, When the law is violated in Colorado and proceedings ave had to vindicate it and protect the people from swindles, it is equally the duty,of the officers here to heed the lesson and notonly to up- hold the law, but yigdrously to prose- cute those who systematically violate it for gain. In additiony it is clearly the duty of the banking department of Ne- braska to prosecute those who attempt to do business under legally sanctioned principles and at the same time evade the plain provisiond Gt the law. THE current issue of Hurper's Weekly lays open to the public gaze the filthy condition of the New York postoffice building and the inadequate iacilities from which the postal employes ave suf- fering. It declares that the clerks in both general and branch postoftices are being housed in places unfit for human beings to work in, and 1bhat while the buildings may not tumble in, they are killing clerks just as effectually. All this must be attributed to the cheese- paring policy of the demooratic con- gress of late years—to “Holmanism" as IXTEEN PAG the Weekly verms ib. The substance of the whole compisint is that a larger ap- propriation must be made for the osme duct of the postal business in the largest and most important oMee in the country. The remarks that have becn made will apply in a lesser degree to postoftices | with few exceptions throughout the United States. Excluding Washington and a few of the most recently built structures, nearly every postofiics bufld- ing is inadoquate to the business trans- acted within it. It has been erected without regard to tho prospective increase in work and the appropriations for its maintenance are so small that needed repairs and renovation must be neglected, while the health of the em- ployes is allowed no consideration what- ever. A more liberal policy in respect to postoffice facilities is demanded by considerations of both humanity and efficient service. A damper should be placed upon ‘“Holmanism” without delay. Puncture the I'anio Mongers. Philadelphia Times. 1t would bea great reliof to the public mind if a few calamity-howlers wero gently but firmly taken out and shot. ity Economy and ignoranoe. Philadelphia Press. Secretary Morton has stopped the scientific work in the weather bureau and elsewhere in the Agricultural department. 1t was doubtless this sort of organized of- cial ignorance and contempt of scienc which led the Amhorst college professors to cast their voice and vote for President Cleveland in the campaign a year ago. SRR - Personal to Congross. Buffalo Commercial. Thomas Jefferson said toward the close of his useful life: “I served with Ge Washington in the legislature of before the revolution and during it with Dr. Franklin in congress. I never heard either of them speak ten minutes at a time. nor to any but vhe main point which was to decide the question. They laid their shoul- ders to tho great points, knowing that the little ones would follow of themsclves.” P T S Pauper Lubor Proves Costly, San Francisco Chronicle. The movement now in progress in Pe: sylvania to dispense with cheap Hung: libor so2ms to be the result of obse of the fact that low priced is not cheap labor. If the manufacturers have fered as sevevely as claimed from the i ficiency of tneir helv no oue will sympathize with them, for it is notorious ti lated the law to import low priced, ignorant labor and would not avail themselves of the better and more skilled help at their com- mand, because to do so would have olipped their competitive wing: —— BLASTS FROM RAM’S HORN. A bad habit is a chai Birds with vright foathors aro not always at. If our eyes were better the stars would give us more light. “The wounds made by & friend are the ones that smart the most. The trouble with the man who knows nothing is that it takes him so long to find 1t out. There are church members who_call kecp- g the ten commandments going to ex- tremes. “There are communities 1n_ which Solomon would not have received any credit for his wisdom. If sunshine had to oe paid for, there are people who would declare that candle light could beat it. Only three rich men are roferred to as such in the New Testament, and two of \hem were lost. The man has to fight for his life who un- dertakes to tell other men great truths that they do not know. Every timo a stone is thrown straight at the devil it 15 sure to_ hit some prominent man square in the face. ‘There is not much drawing power in the Christianity of people who go through life shakiug hands with two fingers. S i THE JOLLY CREW. Boston Herald: After all, the best closure rule is the golden one. Washington Star: “A kiss for a blow," sald the girl who loved a cornot pluyer. Philadelphia Record: Tho old saying: “Whero there's n will thore's n way," doesn't always hold good. In theso days of siot ma- chings 1t tukes a nickel to get a weigh. Troy Press: Tt you want to make sure your advice will be taken have it engraved on your umbrella bundlo, Tndlanapolls Journal: “It's funny about bridal pairs. They are not like other pesrsat al Why not?" “They're softest when thoy're green." Philadeiphla Times: The great danger of looking too much upon the wine when it's red is that one may begin using it for paint. Washington Star: She—What makos Charley Biggles wear that string to his new straw hat? 1o—To keep it from blowing away when he talks through it. Philudelphia Ledger: The new doorkeeper of the houso Is Hurt, of Tennessee, “icemun” ‘Turner, whom he dofeated, fecls & good deal that wiiy, too. Indianapolis Pournal: Begob, it Ol hit yez wauce yez won't know your best frinds. Grogan—An' if Ol tek wan good crack at you your frinds won't know you, Truth: A man may clothe himself in righteousness, but he will have to wour also sowe wore modern style of upparel if he scoks a well-paying job. “Miss Loftypose is vory her manner,"” sald one young man. roplicd the other, "I g0 around and call on'hernow whonever' I want o pass a Comfortable evening.” Washington Star: chilly i Ry ALL THINGS COME TO IIM WIO WAITS, New York Press. onmy bed, T know not how long, an'L £0 to sleop At all For a wowin next door 1s servoching a song, And tho lust 1ine is “After the Ball.” Iv'e In! But | She has finished at last, und ovor my eyos Tho lashes bogin to fill; Tceuse my cursing und groans and sighs, For ponce comes after the hawl, it A HINT FiiOM PARLLS. European Edition dow York Heralds A ¥OR A FROMENADE. Street dress of beige cloth, double fatsugs. A water green silk edged wilh a ribbon to mateh. Fluted skirt, full sleeves, endiug with a volant (flounce or fall) of the same waterial over close fitting : leeves, NATURE SNILED 0 OREGON And Lavished Thers a Wealth of Resouroes, Olimate and Scenery. FIGURES ILLUSTRATING THE DEVELOPMENT Portland, Enthroned Amid Etoraal Hills, the Mart Wherein the Riches of the State Are Gathered mnd Distributed ~Omahn Men at the Feast. PoRTLAND, Aug. 8. —[ditorial Correspond- ence. | —krom the tower of the Oregonian building & magnificent panoramic view cap- tivates the vye and holds one spollbound in admiration. At your feet spreads the hill- crowned metropolis of Orogon, with its groat business buildings, warehouses and docks, tining both banks of a broad and deop water way plied by fishing smacks, tugs, f boats, schooners, and or and ocean steamers, Boyond the city the pioturesque valloy of the Willamette, dotted with vil- lages and fringed by giant firs and tall pines and cedars, and still boyond the famous val- loy of the Columbia, Looming up in the dis- tance and forming a most improssive hack- ground to this matchless landscape uro the Cascado moontains, streaked with snow, and towering above them, in clear outline, four poaks robed in perpetual, dazling white. The largest and most majestic of these is Mount Hood. Within the range of vision are Mount Adams, Tacoma and St Helens. These snow-capped mountains are from fifty to ninety miles distant, but they appear 1o be no farther away than do the bluffs above Florence from the Omaha High school grounds, With no attempt at booming Portland has, within twelve years, quadrupled her popula- tion. In 1880 she had a fraction over 20,000; today she aggregates about 90,00 peoplo within her city limits. This growth is chietfy due 10 tho fact that she has bocome a groat traffic center, by the coustruction of our trunk line railroads, of which she is the terminus. The Uuion Pacilic, or Oregon Short Line, the Northern Pacific, the Great Northern, or Jim Hill systein, and the Southern Pacifie, togethar with tho stoam- ship lines which vach of theso maintain as feeders, afford unri facil- ities to the Portland merchants and manu- facturers for reaching out for trafic in overy toms Tt goes without saying that Portland, with nearly one-third of the population of the state, is the commercial murt of Oragon, and that fact in itself assures her future groat- ness. The State of Oregon has a total area of 90,000 square miles, of which probably 40,000 square miles are mountains and hardly fit for cultivation. "Ten thousand square miles are heavily tim- bered. Lapping the Cascade mountains ch side distinct and different e enstern scemingly arid portion, 000 or more square miles of treeless is rich in soil and hignly productive under irrigation. Western Oregon is humid and has 80,000 square miles of agricultural land of the greatest valuo. Tho climate o the state varies, according to the location, from that of Maine to that of Florida, por- petual snow in the mountains, the usual four seasonz eastof the Cascades, but two son- sons, wev and dry westof tho rango and perpotual summer in the Pacific const w settler in Oregon neods a much larger capital in money to secure a substan- tial foothold than he does in any of tho praivie states westof the Missouri. Gov- croment Jands and railroad lands ave com- paratively cheap and abundant, but it takes about 50 an acre in_lxbor to bring the land under cultivation. Timbered lands that are near enough to rivers or railroads will return arly or quite all the cost of clearing it the owner has capital sufiicient to handle 1t. Land under cultivation is _held, and when sold brings the amount of this first cost of clearing, say from &0 to $100 per acre, ex- cept in localions remote from waterways or railroads. Fortility of the Soll, The fertility of western Oregon is unsur- passed by auy section of this country. Re- liablo parties tell me that winter wheat av- erages hirty bushels to the acro, oats 150 to 00 bushels. There 15 no corn grown, the nignts are too cold. Oregon is a groat fruit growing state, surpassed _only, T am told, by the neighboring state of Washington. Smail fruits are a sure crop, and apyles, peaches pears and prunes aro cultivated on a large scale. Prunes grow to perfoction and yield abundantly. Fruit lands near Portland bring 8200 und %300 per acre and are evi- dently worth 1t, for the saleable value of each year's crop is sald to exceed the cost of the land, But grain and fruit are by no means tho only products of Oregon. Her annual ox- ports, besides 3,000,000 worth of wheat and flour, include wool, $3,000,000; salmoun, from 2,500,000 to £3,000,000; lumber, $1,500,000, and other products valued at ovor £3,000,000, Her lumber industry 15 destined to assume large proportions, and her coal flolds’ ane iron mines will contribute largely toward making Portiand & manufacturing city of the firsi magnitude. The first stops towarnd utilizing the products of the forest and mines have already boen taken ssing n Great Power. t falls of the Willametto river, thirtesn miles above this city, are being con: vertod into eloctric power, and_this powor will so0n be at_the disposal of Portland for turning the wheels of industry. This is no visionary scheme, but aimest an accomplished fact. A ' parsonal {inspeo- tion of the plant now under construction by the Portland Genoral Elestric_company, of which Mr. Charles P, Thore of San Fran- C18C0 18 managar, was convincing. I'ne com- pany, composed of California and Or alroady exponded se sand dollars, and _oxpects to invest altogether about $3.000,000. The Power was, ready to bo harnessed. no whools have already sition in connection with nd the whole city of Port- boing olectro-lighted from this plant. Several of th L railway lines also re- caivo thoir motor powar from vhe falls. The chief engincer of the e ic company has dosigned a plant that will have a capacity of power distribution for 27,000-horse power when the wories ave in full oparation. When I informed him that Omaha expects to )0-horse power through the Platte al, ho oxprossed great surprise. 000-horso power,” said much power as o excepting Buffalo.™ wnerahip. other city in tl Mu Portland owns her own waterworks, and sho is just about changing her baso of 'sup- ply from the Willamette to Bull Run, n_pure stream_ that courses down the flanks of Mount Hood from a hoight of 13,000 feet. ostimated cost of the undortaking is over §2,000.000. Like Omaha, Portland is a city of wage- workers' Homes. 118 working people and fn- dustrial population live mainly fu their own homes, which average far botter than the houscs of poopo of the sama moans any- where in the states oast of the Rookies. Building material is 80 cheap and the climate 50 mild that 8500 will build as handsome ava commodious a house as can bo built for £1,250 in the Missouri vallay. The industries of Portiund ave, howaver, only in their infancy. The country tributary anderlaid throughout with coal and with cheap coal. lumber ¥ 0 will spring YU raw pro- ducts luto articles of commerce. The job- bing trade of Portland is alroady computed at over $100,000,000 per annuni, and San aneiseo has long since found a formidable al in tho leading city of the north Pacifio ast, Politieal Curlos. Politically Orogon is republican, but hore peoplo like those of othor westorn states are disposed to kick oceasionally. That ac- couuts for the freak who now tills the chair of governor. There is a manifest tendency to keep the reins of government in the hands of old settlors. The city charter of Port- land requires o residence of at least sovon yoars as a qualification for membership in the city council. Another singular thing 1 the constitutional prohibitionof state bauks. It congress should carry out the demoeratio wildeat scheme to fostor stato banks Oregon cannot avail hevself of the privilege withouy amending her constitution, Every city has its drawbacks. Portland is no oxception. Many of her streets are narrow, irregular and unpaved. Nearly sll the sidewalks are planked and sadly dilapi- dated. fFully )X Chinamen constitute part of her population. There is a division of opinton among residents about the Chinese. One man, who has abun. dant opportunity for observing the Mongolians, declared that they are indispensable They are excellont bstitutes for servant girls and do arly all the garbuge work and menial hor” which white men cannot be hired to verform. Another man, who has beon & resident of Portland twenty yeurs, was equally positive that the Chineseare o curse and great drawback. They consume little, import nearly all they need, contribute nothing toward improvements and crowd ?m. white men who would help build up the own, 1 cannot close this letter without acknowl- ni the courtesies and hospitality en »d by me at the hands of former ro nts of Owaha and Nebraska who have made their homes in this city and vicinity, nost among these ex-Nebraskans was D. H. Stearns, who for two years had been associnted with me in the businoss de- 0 ut of Tue Bee in fts infancy. Mr. ns i3 now one of the oldest and prominent citizens of Portland, various enterprises, in building homes for worl men and oxtensively in fr most interested in chiefly ing \ oulture in Oregon and Washington states. Next 1o ordor was Mr. Alfred Sorenson, formerly managing editor of Tus Breand now city editor of the Oregonian. Incidente ally (must make acknowlodgment of cour- tesies by Mr. W. H. Hurlbut, woll known in Cmana railway circles in the eurly days back in 1872 and now manager of the Oregon Short Line for this division. Kx-Counolle man I'red Behm is doing the concrete work for an_asphalt paving company, but still kocps his oye on Omaha. Judge A. Day of Holt county Is practicing law hers. Henry Rustin is electrical enginoer and suporin- tondont for one of the street railway com- ics. Ex-County Clerk Mike Roach i house, D) and Nick O'Brien oocupy important positions in the railway service and William Cuddy is employed in the Oregonfan ofice. 1. ROSEWATER, Cur-tailed — BROWNING, KING Lurgest Manufaoturors an 1 Rotallors ol Olothing In the World. The cur-tailing here depicted was probably children’s done by a boy, and the curtailing that we do this week is done forthe benefit of a boy. tailing expenses, boys' suits. mark down sale of the age in our We are not cur- but curtailing We start the greatest department, curtailing the priee of about 150 boys' 2-piece B J. | suits down to $2, and a lot of others down to $3.50 that are all wool and in ages 4 to 14. Boys' long-pant school suits, 13 to 18 years, our- tailed down to $5, $6.50 and $7.50. Some others for more money, but these three are the dandies. Sehool caps curtailed to 50¢ and up, and shirl waists the same price. in the price of our boys' We done a whole lot of curtailing underwear, hosiery and neckwear; in fact, we have curtailed the price on every single thing in the boys' department to get room for other goods. Now, boys, now is your chance to get a cheap outfit while the price is curtailed. BROWNING, Bt en evory evenlag tll 6.3), ore OPen S braay till 1 I8 KING & CO., W, Cor. 16th and Donglas St3. —<C