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The Crops and Business.
It is the ooin ciop that the country
is now most concerned about in a com
mercial way, the giant crop, the annual
production of which runs into stupend
ous figures, representing agriculturally
the country's greatest source of wealth.
The government made the September
conditions 84.6, or well abovp the ten
year aveiagp of 79.(3. There is a big
acreage and a promise for 2,490,000,000
bushels, which, if realized, would make
a return exceeded only twice in our his
tory, once in 1899 and again in 1902.
The price will be high. Last December
the average puce was 42VLc and there
"will, 'n all probability, be a higher level*
this year. Even assuming, for the sake
of conservatism, that it will be no high
er, there is value represented of $1,057,-
000,000. Thus, at even prices this sea-
'son's crop would rim ahead of 1903 by
$107,000,000, and in the increase in the
corn yield all the tonnage loss in Ttheat
would be wiped out, the money value in
"wheat being already more than main
tained by higher prices foi that cereal.
The one bad feature about it is, that
while probably two-thirds of the corn is
safe, the remaining one-third is late,
and wiU not be entirely beyond frost
danger befoie Oct. 1. Dining the week
aicaw frosts covered important sections
*-in the com belt, doing damage, but
""nothing alarming on the whole. The
^next fortnight will be a period of anx-
/)iety. Reasonably good weather will in-
-'*Sur3 a splendid crop. To how great an
extent our commerce has been disturbed
and our foreign trade has decreased in
Consequence of the crop losses and high
prices ruling, may be -judged from the
report of the bureau of statistics just at
fejhgwid which shows, that while in August.
1^03, our wheat exports represented
$$,218,586, this past month we exported
wheat to the value of only $174,849,
while the comparison in the flour export
valuation is $4,653,723 a year ago,
jjjj^ins $3,202,683 last month.
With reference to wheat we are in a
position unlike anything before known.
We have only enough wheat for our own
requirements, and prices are high ac
cordingly, for there Is not now, and
*"there will be no large exportable surplus
pressing for sale. Nevertheless it will
not do to stand absolutely immovable
on such a statement, for domestic re
quirements are by no meam3 fixed, and
Saturday Evening,
week or two but should not last longer.
Meanwhile Wall street is taking a
rhore optimistic view of the general sit
uation, and on the assumption that the
corn crop will be a bjg one, and much
business activity will follow, is trading
in stpeks to the extent of about 1,000,-
00*0 shares a day, on a market firm in
undertone and apparently headed for ul
timately higher levels.
"As Gorman," says Taggart, when
requested to say whether he is hereafter
to stay in the west and surrender man
agement of the democratic campaign in
the east* So Gorman is "it." Appar
ently Taggart didn't make good.
Misconception of the Primary.
it is quite possible that higher prices "line of communication" upon whieh
may effect such a turning to substitutes so much depends has been definitely
and such decrease in consumption as to shortened rather than lengthened. On
moteiially change the situation some
Months hence.
At the same time, however, there is
not onlv the knowledge that the crop is
Short as a price-sustaining influence, but
the movement of wheat to primary mar
kets is light and there is no opportunity
for any accumulation of stocks, for
fithc flour mills are doing a fair business
1 c|espite the high flour prices, and are
I tyuyers of cash wheat every day.
Over the west the feeling is one of
lfesitation This shoulTl give way to
Aj greater activity within a short time, if
M*there are no more crop scares, Com-
chandise moving into the west is lighter
than normal, and this is only natural.
I Jp an ordinary *year the corn crop pre
sents a clearer outline as to final re-
t^irns by mid-September, than is the
cdae this year. We are in a waiting
^.ficriod which another
The supreme court of Minnesota has
decided that the primary election is a
party primary and not an election.
This may seem a subtle distinction,
but much of the agitation over tho
primary law is due to confusion over
this very point. For instance, many
voters and some newspapers object to
the section in the law which requires
a voter to declare his party affiliations.
They say that this destroys the secre
cy of the ballot and disfranchises many
voters who refuse to declare their alle
giance to any party.
Under the old convention system del
egates were elected at party prima
ries, and the voter, by attending, pro
claimed himself a republican or a dem
ocrat, as the case might be. Demo
crats often took part in republican
primaries, as they did in the guber
natorial primaries last spring, but they
were proclaiming disloyalty to their
own party by doing so. If there was
doubt about a man's political record,
he might be challenged and compelled
to swear in his vote.
There was no objection to this re
quirement. It was always held to be
a proper safeguard for the party or
ganization in order to see that repub
lican candidates were nominated by re
publicans only.
The' direct primary is a substitute for
the convention system. It is npt an
election, in theory at least. It is de
signed to carry the principle of direct
voting by the Australian ballot into the
selection of party nominees. Those
who object to the declaration of party
affiliation lose sight of this fact. The
independent voter has his chance at
the polls, just as he always did. He
has no more right to participate in
party nominations now than he had
when those nominations were made by
delegate conventions.
It is no wonder that confusion has
arisen over the primary law. The law
piesupposes the existence of two par
ties, but there are many counties in
the state where only the republican
partv possesses an effective organiza
tion. In our strong republican counties
the primary has become the real elec
tion. In many cases the candidates
nominated at the republican primaries
have no opposition at the general elec
tion. The democrats, who used to hold
mass conventions and put up a ticket
for looks, if not for results, are de
terred by the $10 filing fee from mak
ing up a ticket at the primaries. Hence,
if the voter wants to take a hand in
selecting county officers and members
of the legislature, he must vote at the
lepubhcan primaries. In fact, a great
many democrats and independents actu
ally do take part, excusing themselves
on the ground that the primary is the
leal election, and they are entitled to
a voice. Naturally they object to the
rule jequmng them to declare affilia
tion with the republican party.
plaint is heard that the quantity f mer-- the other hand, the Russians, able in the
This state of things seems to be in
evitable in districts where the party
balance has been destroyed. Two years
ago, in several counties, the repub
licans had more votes cast at the pri
maries than at the general election, and
this will doubtless occur again this
fall. The primary has all the machinery
of a general election, and the two oc
casions are easily confused by voters
not versed in politics. However, this
is no argument for throwing the doors
wide open and giving every voter a
secret choice of party ballots at the
primary. The law does not require a
man to be a hidebound partizan. It
onlv expects him to behove in the prin
ciples of a party and "generally sup
port its candidates. This is no hard
ship on the voter. Any man who reads
and thinks should be able to make a
choice of paily principles and vote ac
cordingly, not necessarily a straight
ticket. The days of "vot 'er straight
arc passing.
The voter who cannot make up his
mind which partv to tie to should pay
the penalty and stav awav from the
party primaries. He can make his
choice November.
The democratic campaign seems to be
proceeding upon the theory that New
York is about all that is worth fight
ing for. If more vigorous measures are
not adopted by the democrats in the
central and farther west before very
long, -there will be nothing for them
to fight for except New York. Possibly
that is what tho managers contemplate
in ^rder that, the event of probable
defeat, the demands of the radicals may
be the more successfully resisted in the
future. i
Japanese Advantage.
The New Y'ork Globe and Commercial
Advertiser points out that Japan'?
early months of the war to get supplies
thru Niu-chuang from China, now must
rely solely on 5,000 miles of single track
railroad.
This very important point seems to
have been overlooked by the curbstone
and cigar-store strategists. The begin-
ning of winter IM Manchuria will find
Japan in excellent shape. But where
will Russia be, supposing that by some
mischance a bridge on the 5,000-iaile
railway breaks down or blows up?
The Commercial West says it is rather
pleasant after all to be able to say I
told you so. The editor of the Commer
cial West is not the object of as much
criticism for his bull wheat reports as
he was.
Just a Sample.
The Journal will yield to no
one in due appreciation of the services
of Mr. Hulbert as city treasurer, but
we fail to see that his claims are ad
vanced in any way by false and ma
licious and vindictive charges against
Mr. Johnson. Here is a sample of the
argument used:
We return to this tiresome subject only
to point
rfout the man who has prosti-
tuted a state offce of business trust to
base political uses under orders of the
governor is now a candidate for the
chief office of business tiust in the city
of Minneapolis. The man who
was willing to do Governor Van Sant's
dirty work in one office of trust ought
not, we think, to ask the people to put
him in another.
Johnson's offense is that he made
certain corporations pay up back taxes
and under direction of the legislature,
and in pursuance of his official duties,
in\ estigated the office of the state audi
tor and told what he found there.
This is what the Tribune calls dirty
work." It has no criticism to offer on
the record made by the former auditor
the only thing to which it takes excep
tion is the discovery to the public of
that auditor's official acts.
This view taken by our contempo
rary and its reference to the work of
the examiner is a sample of the curious
treatment referred to yesterday as
given in Minnesota to a man who has
rendered that kind of service to the
state which elsewhere commands appre
ciation and decent treatment.
We do not, of course, held Mr. Hul
bert responsible in any respect for this
contemptible and libelous assault upon
his opponent. Mr. Hulbert is a high
minded man and appreciates the expo
sure of official dereliction as much as
anybody but we can readily under
stand how such championship of his
cause is not calculated to do his can
didacy any good, and we would advise
him to have it stopped, if possible, in
his own behalf and in the interest of
decent politics.
Our contemporary which once de
scribed its candidate for governor as a
coarse bullv,'' is doing a stunt now in
the wav of organ-grinding that as a
perfoimance of that kind commands our
unmitigated admiration. We have
never seen it done bettei. It must be
fun. Creating a Demand for Chicago
Girls.
May 1, when the main Japanese army
was on the Yalu, it was necessary to
transport its supplies 300 miles on the
backs of coolies over the wretched roads
thru a barren country. Now, to victual
tho Japanese about Mukden, besides the
local resources of a rich agricultural
region, it is necessary to transport
only from Niu-chuang, a distance of less
than 100 miles, with a navigable river
and a railroad facilitating the work.
Having complete command of the sea,
and Niu-chuang being- as one of their
own ports, tho Japanese Hne of com-
mimication has been shortened. On 1 of these holidays. Not only are these
yjMEliliili tffffifrf Pfi 'W^r^^
Of course, this is a fad, and people
who get redheaded when they see a fad
will show signs of violent irritation be
fore they have read half-way thru the
different kinds of work to be under
taken. At the same time, it is very
probable that a lot of practical educa
tion is going.to be given to a great
many Chicago girls who have absolutely
no other chance of learning these
things, and if the knowledge of these
things is not calculated to make them
better and more useful women it is dif
ficult to see what sort of instruction
would have that effect. There is no
intimation anywhere that the Chicago
girl is not as well situated as her sisters
in other cities in respect to her matri
monial prospects, nor that she has been
neglected in the matrimonial market.
But if it is t}ie purpose of the wise
school fathers in that city to create a
demand for the Chicago girl, they have
gone about it in a very sensible and, no
doubt, very effective fashion.
When men who are as well qualified
for the office of park commissioner and
who are as little inclined to press their
claims on the public as W. Decker
and E. J. Phelps, consent to become can
didates, the city should not fail to se
cure their services.
est to every business man. On that day
men who have the least at stake in the
result are the most active. They have
time to attend the elections and art al
ways Short, yield to them the con
trol of the business of that most im
portant day of the year is to commit as
serious an act of folly as Japan would
have committed if she had permitted
only her riffraff and scalawags to to
battle as if a business men were to
give the management of his business
into the hands of the least intelligent
and least reliable of his employees .and
expect a decent rating by the commer
cial agencies.
This is putting it strong, but it is not
too strong. The city of Minneapolis
is a great corporation, the largest busi
ness institution in Minnesotanot in
volume of business done, but in multi
plicity of interests and in the multi
tude of those affected by the honest or
dishonest management of its affairs.
There is probably no occasion for
making a holiday primary election day
in this state, but it is of the highest
importance that the serious business
of that day should be attended to even
at the sacrifice of every other interest.
Employer and employee should arrange
their work so that every one of them
can reach the polls next Tuesday.
The Injustice of Free Passes.
The practice of giving free passes is
unpopular with the public, and it has
few defenders. Theie is one sort of
pass, however, that is often mentioned
as an instance that is iustifiable. It
is the common practice among railroad
companies to favor large shippers of
freight with transportation. The claim
is made tliat business men who pay the
road large sums of money are entitled
to some special favors, and as for the
railroad company, it is good policy to
keep the good will of customers by an
annual or an occasional pass, according
to the size of the man's business.
All that the Chicago girls will need
when they have gradviated from the
public schools of that citv in order to be
good housekeepers will be houses to
keep. The board of education will have
done the rest.
Industrial training in the Chicago
schools has taken on a very serious
aspect, and the experiment will be
watched with interest. In the seventh
and eighth grades thev propose to in
troduce a course of instruction which
will cover the following subjects:
How to arrange and care foi a kitchen.
How to select, use and car efor kitchen
utensils.
What kind of fuel to use in cooking.
What kind of foods to cook and how
to cook them
The effect of the different foods on
digestion
What foods are fat-producing and
what foods are heat-producing.
How to buy foods with the greatest' a pass, and reducing the revenue of the
possible economy. road. The passes issued reduce pas-
How to write bills of fare that shall
be attractive as well as furnish the right
proportion of different foods.
How to keep their homes sanitary.
How to care for the plumbing.
How to darn socks
How to patch trousers
How to make their own dresses
Worth the Effort.
The Merchants' Association Eetview
of San Francisco for September con
tains, under the caption "The Citizens'
"neglect, an earnest appeal to the
business men of San Francisco to give
attention to the primary election and
take pain,s to see that suitable men are
nominated ^or public office. In his ap
peal the writer urges the closing of
business houses on the day of the
primary, and makes a strong argument
in favor of it by citing the fact that
business establishments are closed on
New Year's, the Fourth of July, on
Labor Day, "on Thanksgiving Day and
on Christmas.
The business men do not regard it as
much of a hardship to lose the business
days observed, but the banks and pub
lic offices are often closed on Wash
ington's birthday, Memorial Day, and
on other occasions. And yet on none
of these is there so much reason for
closing as on the day of the primary
election. On that day there is some
thing doing which is of practical inter-
It may be good policy for the railroad
company, but this sort of a free pass
is just as mischievous and unjust as the
kind given to public officials, tho in a
different way. These trading stamp
bonuses are of the same piece with the
rebate, that crying iniquity of our
transportation system which is so com
monly practiced in defiance of law. In
other commercial lines it is legitimate
to make prices'' and throw in some
thing to make a sale, but it is different
in the transportation field.
Railway transportation is a commodi
ty, but it Js something more. The rail
road exists by the will of the people,
and with certain special rights and
privileges, such as eminent domain, to
say nothing of land grants and sub
sidies in early years. These special
favors have been granted because the
railroad performs a public service.
Under the law as made by courts and
by legislatures, railroads are recognized
as public service corporations, with
duties as well as privileges. The chief
obligation of a railroad is to furnish
transportation to the public at an
equal rate. One citizen is entitled to
as much accomodation and at as low a
rate as anottrer.^M'hethe'r he ships one
car a year or tgh thousand", just as he is
entitled to the 4same'irfr,ate oi postage
whether he mails two letters a day or
a thousand. The railroad company is
entitled to a Reasonable profit, and the
public to a reasonable rate, which shall
be uniform to all. Congress has recog
nized this principle in the interstate
commerce law, by fixing severe penal
ties for giving or receiving rebates or
special concessions.
The large shipper is entitled to
service at the published tariff rates.
He is not entitled to any other favor
or concession. When he rides on a
pass he is getting an advantage over
his smaller competitor, who is denied
sen ge receipts and keep up passenger
rates. If all paid cash, the rates could
be reduced.
This is an important phase of the
pass question. There is less im
morality in this sort of a pass, perhaps,
than in the pass given to a public offi
cial in return for a betrayal of pub
lic trust, but each in its way is a wrong
to the public.
That will be a remarkable tour by
Speaker Cannon during the next six
or seven weeks. The well-seasoned and
vigorous old speaker of the house, one
of the most popular men in America
today, will start on a speech-making
tour which will include practically
every doubtful congressional district in
the country, and probably some others.
Among the others will be Minneapolis.
The visit to Minneapolis is due to the
fact that Mr. Cannon made a promise
to come when it was expected that Mr.
Lind would be a candidate. If the
speaker can stand the strain of a tour
like this it will be a fine testimonial to
the vigor and endurance of this veteran
of many political battles who is now
in his sixty-ninth year.
Perhaps you remember that "liquid
air' excitement a yea* or two ago. At
that time this new product was ex
pected to run all the factories, heat
houses and usher in a pew era generally.
In New York a judgment of $57^3
against the company owning the. patent
has beeft. returned unsatisfied. A re
ceiver has been applied for. Liquid air
is as wonderful as it ever was, but it
has not been able to "mak godd" in a
commercial and utilitarian way. The
same seems to be true of radium. No
mineral, gas or combination of them
will heal all our diseases and make us
good, honest and reputable citizens,
more's the pity. We'll have to keep
working at it ourselves, in the same old
way.
"f
Speaking of the public examiner's re-
ports the Pioneer Press says: "It was
generally recognized that there is noth
ing in them that was not gone over by
the legislative committee." That is
about as near as the Pioneer Press can
get to the truth in discussing the record
of its political favorite. The facts are
that these reports are all new evidence,
and that not one fact contained in them
had been discovered when the legisla
tive committee made its report. In its
present state of mind, the esteemed
P. P. cannot recognize a new fact when
face to face with it.
makes report that the insect can be
stayed in its march by ground scaven
gering birds, such as quails,-meadow
larks and doves. It has been fie habit
of the Texans to slaughter these birds.
Oh, we will learn a little sense after a
few costly lessons.
The Baltic fleet has been delayed
again. Experts at St. Petersburg are
trying to figure out just where it is to
make port after reaching oriental wa
ters. There is,said to be a good har
bor at Nagasaki.
"No More Politics in Offices of
Trust demands the Tribune. For "pol
itics substitute "private graft, and
you will have a watchword that will
better express popular sentiment.
The football season opened up quiet
ly last week by the killing of a stu
dent in a practice game at Pittsburg.
It is thought that a very successful sea
son is before us.
Hillism doesn't Beem to be conducive
to the success of the candidate to whom
it becomes attached, or who attaches
himself to it, either in New York or
Minnesota.
Watermelons growing wild have be
come a pest in Southern California.
Not a bad country to camp out in.
There are more unknowns'' running
for office in Hennepin county this year
than ever before.
THE H0KPABE1L BAR
The Glencoe, Minn., Enterprise Tells
How the Destructive Tornado of Last
Month Bent a Silver Quarter In the
Pocket of Matt Murray of Bergen and
Broke a $5 Bill.
The Glencoe Enterprise is responsible
for the story that Matt Murray of Ber
gen is exhibiting a '"quarter" that was
in his pocket when he was caught In the
late tornado. This quarter was badly
bent He thinks this was done 'when
he was blown violently against a tree.
A tornado that will do a thing like this
ought to be able to break a $5 bill.
Isaac "W. Brown, the Indiana bird
man whom Miss Helen Gould sent to
Texaa.to look into the boil weevil affair, college beggars at my heels all the time?"
Defective Page
The cold snap at Chaska this week
drove Mr Skoog, democratic candidate
for county treasurer, to put up his fam
ily stovepipe. The expected happened.
Mr. Skoog says the stove lifted up one
leg, causing the pipe to fly into sections.
The air -was blown full of soot, Skoog,
stove, language and pipe.
4.u~ vv..,/i eternal oneness man will be as little tempted
however, was nothing compared
toThat, the excitement caused by the base
ball argument between the Chaska fats
and leans. "There was a time, per-
haps," says the Chaska Review, "when
they could play ball, but that was in
the dim and distant past. They fell
down, butted into trees, became en
tangled in barbed-wire fences, rubbed R^tiht but the poetand all between
the buttons from their vests and
one another's shirtsleeves out Yet the
game was just what the public wanted,
and gave Dr Hartley an arnica and
courtplaster boom that was a ereat sol
ace to him.
f_e
The Janesville, Minn., Argus tells of a
citizen in the upper part of that town,
Who was delinquent in paying his doc
tor's bills. The other evening he sent
for his phjsician in great haste. The
father, it seems, had a rnorbifl fear that
the "child would be marked, and while
Waiting anxiously outside the roopi,
asked the nurse, after the critical mo
ment was passed, if it was marked in
any way. "Yes," was the word sent out
by the doctor, "Tell him it is marked
O Haven't we heard this story
somewhere before?
Nettie Nelson is something of a char
acter in Fargo courts owing to the same
weakness that afflicted Horace and other
old classic poets, namely a love for the
fruit of the vine Taken before Judge
Gcarey the other day owing to some
bacchanalian extravagances on the
streets of Fargo during the quiet hours,
Miss Nelson seemed much pleased to see
his honor.
"My," she exclaimed, "but you are
looking well, judge. I hope you enjoyed
your trip to the fair at Minneapolis If
e\er a man needed rest and recreation
that man was you and many's the time
I said that before you went The last
time I stood here you gave me ten days
and when I went back to the cell I says
to Joe Wood, says I, "If that Judge
Gearey doesn't lay off work for awhile
he'll find himself sick in bed. I always
have said that"
"Same old charge, I suppose?" inter
rupted the judge
It was the same. And Miss Nelson
drew twenty days with a suspension of
sentence provided she would make
Jamestown her home.
Did you ever see anything that wasn't
there? There is a curious story told of
a certain "witch farm" that sometimes
appears on the edge of a forest in the
state of New Yoik. No one who has seen
it can ever recall having seen It there
before There is no one about the farm,
no sound is heafl. yet there are signs of
busy occupation. The door is open, empty
milkpails lean against the wall, newly
cleaned pans and dairy utensils and butter
churns are set out to dry clothes hang on
the line in a little drying-ground.
Whoever chances on the farm seldom
stops long to look He will pass on,
thinking to himself: "I don't seem to re
member that farm. I must inquire about
it In town." In town not a soul knows
anything about it, and never will that
person see the farm again, however often
he may return to look for it. Then others
will go out to see the witch farm. Over
and over again, will they pass and repass
the very spot where it had been
tracing their steps and puzzling and say
ing "It must be there' we have mis
taken the way."
James Russell Lowell, the poet, once
had the privilege of seeing this spectral
place. On the verge of this wood he
passed a homestead which appeared pre
cisely as has been described. Lowell saw
it all and passed on without thinking
then suddenly stopped short with a feel
ing of something strange, turned and
sauntered slowly back. But no hduse was
there and he was unable to find again the
exact spot where It had been.
The stories told by the people who
catch a glimpse of the place suggest that
it may be the result of a mirage. Yet,
mirages are almost unknown In tho east
So many people have seen things that
were not there that we are sometimes
tempted to think that perhaps there are
things where they are not, and that the
mind is sometimes tilted at an angle such
that a brief glimpse of them may be re
flected in the upper, every-day conscious
ness. Then you start and say "Gosh,"
and a little shiver goes down your spine,
just as It used to do In the old swing in
the bar*h -tohen you launched yourself from
a beam and swept the whole length of the9
barn in one grand, swoop, Perhaps we'll
know more about it some time.
A. J. R.
COLLEGE BEGGAR8,
Dr. D. K. Parsons, the liberal Chicago
patron of small colleges, says that every
college In the United States except ten
has been after hifn for monoy at one time
or another. He ought to name the ten.
It is a surprisingly large number. He
says that there are three women in Chi
cago who are following his 160,000 gifts
with $10,000 ones, but "tell their hames?
No, indeed. Do you want me to cauie
them all the annoyance I have had with
TO^ffiflb
NEWS OF THE BOOK W0BLD
Treatise on Religion In the Form of a
Novel by Harry Leon Wilson, the Au
thor of "The SpenderV'JoaquIn Miller,
the California Poet, Becomes an Oil
Magnate.
Harry Leon Wilson, the author of "The
Spenders," has written a book which he
calls The Seeker, in which the seeker
is made to find that
Christianity is defective, judged even by poor
human standards: untrue by the plain iactB of
human consciousness.
Yet the book is not a treatise on Chris
tianity. There is too much of the novel
about it to admit of its belns called a
treatise, and too much of a treatise to
admit of its being regarded altogether
as a novel so it lacks strength viewed
from either standpoint. However, it is
for its views as to Christianity that it
will attract attention.
It Is only right to warn readers at the
outset that the seeker's picture of Chris
tianity is little short of monstrous. It is
not to be wondered at, that he revolts,
if he sees Christianity as it is set forth
in the book in hand. Having found the
Christian religion wanting, he begins his
quest for truth He travels a long and
blasphemous way in that quest, and at
last comes to this:
For when vou hate demonstrated the race's
oppresS i
,s his mothershto hen.ss nowwillu
ivel
tor
ceen, re-
ttmpted tohimutilate his own body. The orl hlec lore neigh
bor as himselfstill with a selfish loveseParato
Preach Man as a discovery in Godhood
Then you will make religion the one force, and
you will rally to it those great minds whose
alienation has been both your ieproach and your
embarrassment You will enlist not onlj the
\ou
VG
nlave mp
-will have a God to whom all confess instinct
In what respept could he think that su
perior to the following?
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thv heart, and with all thv soul, and with all
thy mind, and with all thy strength this Is the
first commandment.
And the second is like namely this Thou shait
love th neighbor as thyself.
Yet the seeker regards the Savior of
the Christians as "most beautiful and
moving," and doubtless the two com
mandments uuoted, he would say, were
reasons in part for that estimate He
does not, however, reconcile this beauty
and moving power with what he regards
as Christ's imposture In representing
himself as the Son of God, and which
every act of Christ's life emphasizes
The question, "If a man die shall he
live again''" the seeker regards of sec
ondary importance. He says in part an
swer to it Whether I shall die to life
or to death is not "within my knowledge
but since I know of a truth that the God
I believe in must have a scheme of
worth and dignity, I am unconcerned."
He fails to see in the conception of a
future life the essential complement of
"the race's eternal oneness," as he calls
it, or of human brotherhood, to adopt
the more popular phiase Immortality
clothes the race's oneness, or the human
brotherhood, with that dignity which the
seeker demands of his God. The idea is
one, too, that the Christian church lajs
far too little stress uponthat its mem
bership should live its profession of faith
in a life hereaftei and conduct Itself in
daily life as tho life was continuous, un
interrupted by the falling away of the
house of clay. Such living, coupled with
the acceptance of the human brotherhood
idea, once thoroly grasped, gives life a
wholly new meaning.
The seeker protests against the belief
that the future life should hinge upon the
intellectual acceptance of the claim of
Jesus to god&hip, a belief which he says
the Christian church holds Of course,
this means that the story of Nicodemus
has no meaning for him, yet in it lies the
whole secret of the "acceptance of
Christ," something vastly deeper than
"Intellectual acceptance
As a religious treatise, then. Mr. Wil
son's book, if a judgment may be based
upon its cardinal conclusions, does not
make a strong appeal As a story, more
may be said for it, perhaps But thi story
hangs so completely upon the develop
ment of the religious thought of the one
character, and so much space is taken in
expounding his views, that there is Httle
room for anything else. The first part,
called "The Age of Fable." tho, is less
open to this objection. There the two
grandsons of a Presbyterian preacher, one
of whom becomes the seeker and the
other a hypocritical minister of the gos
pel, are shown as children. Some portions
of this are fine art. The boys display
characteristics from the very first that
continue with them in mature years. They
are in bed, as the story opens. It is
Christmas e\e. The older boy, who af
terwards becomes the hypocrite, has been
telling the younger that Santa Claus is a
make-believe, and he gives this parting
caution:
Now. remember, there cin't any: but don't
rou let on theie ain'telse he won't bring you a
single thing.
There is the hypocrite, just as large as
the boy, never letting on anything, no
matter what he knows, lest he may lose
something. It is doubtful if there is a
more atrocious hypocrite in fiction. His is
distinctly the best delineation of character
In the book, tho the seeker as a child is
well done.
Mr. Wilson's style is fluent, his phrasing
is telling, his characters move naturally,
for the most part. But It is bard to con
ceive of a Presbyterian minister, like the
grandfather of the two boys, meekly sit
ting dumb under the attacks of the
younger ori his most pacred beliefs as tho
those attacks were simply incontroverti
ble. But, all told, Mr. Wilson should con
fine his attacks on Christianity to treati
ses, and not try to thrust them down peo
ple's throats in the sugar-coating of a
novel.
An Oakland. Cal., dispatch says: From
poet to millionaire is the position in
which Joaquin Milter, the "poet of the
Sierras," finds himself. But it is because
of oil, not poetry. While the man of
meter and verse has been gaining a live
lihood, but only a livelihood, by the use
of his pen, he has In reollty been a small
edition of John D. Rockefeller, but has
not known it. And he is lamenting that
his fortune came thru sources other than
his beloved pen.
This is the information that reached Mr.
Miller within *.the last few days at hiis
home. Many years ago Mr. Miller secured
some land in Texas. It produced little
and, aside from the annnal demands from
the tax collector, Mr. Miller heard llttUt
ffom it. But now comes the story that
oil has been struck in and around the
land, and the poet is figuring on a trip to
Texas.
A recent newspaper item states that a
monument is to be erected at Newark,
N. J., to the memory of Dr. Thomas Dunn
English, author of "Ben Bolt." One of
Dr. English's most prominent traits was
a love for children and youths and tho
by accident he was best known and will
be longest remembered as the author of a
song that has been sung in all parts at
the world for more than half a century,
probably he would have preferred to be
known and remembered by his poems and
stories for "boys and girls from 8 to 80
years old." Upon the author's death, four
stories, omitted from any previous col
lection, were discovered by his literary ex
ecutor, in such form as to indicate the
author's wish that they be published in
a book. A. C. McClurg & Co. will publish
it this fall under the title of "The Little
Giant and Other "Wonder Tales." This
book will be illustrated by Lucy Fitch
Perkins, well known for her pictures in
Mrs. Carter Harrison's fairy books.
The Uneasy Chair.
BOOKS RECEIVED
THE SEEKEB. By Harry Leon Wilson, author
of "The Spenders," "The Lions of the Lord,"
etc. Illustrated by Rose Cecil O'Neill. New
York Doubleday. Page & Co. Minneapolis.
Nathaniel MoCaithy Pi ice $1 50.
JELEMENTABY WOODWORKING. By Edwin
W. Foster, instructor in shopwork and draw
ing the Mutual Training high school, Brook
lyn New 'iork city, graduate of the Sloyd sem
inary, Xaas, Sweden formerly supervisoi of
manual training, Utiea, N. Y. Boston: Ginn
& Co.
fliHHESOTA POLITICS
Dunn Reply to the Johnson Reports I
Deferred Until MondayDisclosures of
the Reports the Political SensationThe
Credit for the Gross Earnings Bill
Placed Where It Belongs.
D. C. Dunn's defense against the state
ments in the reports of Public Examiner
Johnson is still in preparation. George
A. Flinn and Swan B. Molander, former
land clerk and stumpage clerk in his
office, were busy yesterday and today
delving into the records of the state
auditor's office digging out the material
that is to clear Dunn and annihilate
Johnson The reply was to have been
published in the official organ this morn
ing, but the task was too great to be
finished so soon, and it is now an
nounced that It will be issued Monday
Meanwhile the facts contained in the
reports have caused a profound* politi
cal sensation The last reports covered
ground that was not touched by the leg
islative committee last year. What the
committee found at that time was suffi
cient to recommend further investigation
but the loose handling of timber per
mits and the use of "inside information"
on mineral leases had not been discov
ered at that time
Indignation has been expressed by
maw republicans since the publication
of tjie reports Thursday, and the com
mon remark is that Dunn owes it to
the r^-fty to make a complete defense
and clear himself of the charges, or else
get off the ticket. The candidate's
friends have little to say, and are de
cidedly glum and cross when the re
jorts are mentioned. They realize that
the party has been placed on the de
fensive, and the state campaign is
danger of disintegration.
When J. F. Jacobson. in his famous
speech at the extra session of 1902, ac
cused State Auditor Dunn of claiming
credit for all the reforms and good meas
ures he (Jacobson) had initiated, Mi.
Dunn had not declared himself the orig
inator of the 4 per cent gross earnings
bill. The Jacobson speech brought up to
date would prove still more interesting
reading.
It is a well-known fact, as stated in
all the Dunn literature, that he recom
mended the gross earnings bill in his
report of 1899. However* all these pam
phlets omit to say that the bill was in
troduced by Jacobson at the session of
1897 and passed in the house, only to
meet defeat in the senate, as it did again
in 1899. When the first bill was intro
duced and fought thru, the state auditor
had not taken up the subject. He did
not do so until its popularity had been
demonstrated by Jacobson's partially suc
cessful fight
In Jacobson's 1902 speech he declared
that all Dunn's success in office had been
due to laws which he had opposed at the
time they were passed, and which were
forced on him One feature he men
tioned is of special interest in the hgnt
of the reports just published Jacobson
said that Dunn opposed the feature of
the timber act of 1895 which required
state timber to be scaled after it was
cut This new plan, said Jacobson, had
proved that the timber was always un
derestimated by the state scalers before
it was cut. In a newspaper interview
replying to Jacobson, Dunn exhausted
his supply of expletives, which the Pio
neer Press was obliged to express with
blanks, and then said that the require
ment for scale after cutting was imprac
ticable, that he had always opposed it,
and never enforced it.
In his speech Jacobson also spoke of
the law of 1S97. granting increased pow
ers to the board of equalization, for
which Dunn had claimed all the credit.
Jacobson recalled the fact that he Intro
duced such a bill at the session of 1893
and made a hard fight for it, only to
have the auditor "steal his thunder" four
years later.
The Preston Times said this week:
Bob Dunn wants that last report of Sam John
son given to the public. He contends that it i
neither fair to him nor the people to suppress a
matter of this kind, more especially now, when
he is a candidate for an important office.
The statement is not quite accurate.
Mr Dunn did not demand that the re
ports be made public. He only demanded
a copy of the report for himself. The
demands made by several of his news
paper supporters, that the reports be
given to the public, were criticised by
some of Dunn's friends as "injudicious."
The populists are counting on a disaf
fection from the Bryan democracy and
a good-sized vote for the electoral ticket
they are soon to name. The Willmar
Tribune, state organ of the party, says:
The vote that Thomas E Watson will get la
this state will be a truer index to the real popu
list strength than the vote of two years ago.
Charles Cheney.
RUSSIA'S BANKRUPTCY LAWS
The laws of Russia pertaining to bank
ruptcy are very st-vere. A merchant in
Russia can be declared bankrupt if his
liabilities exceed $772 and he has not the
ready cash to meet them. He can be ar
rested, and his retention depends on the
good will of his creditors.
FOREVER AND A DAY
I little know or care
If the blackbird on the bough
Is filling all the air
With his soft crescendo now
For she is gone away.
And when she went she took
The springtime in her look.
The peachblow on her cheek.
The laughter from the brook.
The blue from out the Ma\
And what she calls a week
Is forever and a day.
It's little that I mind
Ho the blossoms, pink or white.
At every touch of wind
Fall a-trembllng with delight
For in the leafy lane,
Beneath the garden boughs.
And thru the silent house
One thing alone I seek
Until she come again
The May is not the Mat
i
A
And what she calls a week
Is forever and a day.
_--ThowM. Bailey AWrlek.^'
i