The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1878-06-21
EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.

aboard the elegant steamer Wide
Vest at four \. N. on the 10th inst.'
her destination walla Walla and the
Constitutional Convention.
After a season Of vigorous yawning,
we get wide enough awake TO take
mental inventory Of the handsome
steamer, which was best described by
laconic immigrant, who styled it the
"widest kind of west" There was a
very large list of passengers and much
freight for the upper country aboard,
among the latter being many wagons,
horses, and agricultural implements for
the Palouse and Spokane countries, and
not little general merchandise for
Walla Walla. Colonel Stone, Captain
Babbitt, and number Of their brother
officers were also on board, en- route for
the seat OF Indian hostilities in Idaho.
Besides these, we had Mrs. Poe and
daughter, of Lewiston, aud the Misses
McCord, of Portland, for travelling COM
pani0ns, and there was no time for any
tbody to be dull.
, The Columbia River is on its annual
"spree," aud is "higher' than any cats
back in Christendom. IL pokes its wet
and muddy nose in every nook and
; Granny of the mighty colonnades of rock
that guard its boundaries, goes creeping
into the lowest gaps Of Sauvie's Island,
crawls over farms and gardens, expands
on the meadows, bOOms through the
cahOns, roars aud surges through the
Cascades, squeezes through The Dalles,
bathes the feet Of the Umatilla House,
is placid at Wallula, and, we know, a
booming, roaring, white-eapped, crash
ing, irresistible torrent at Astoria. 1t
backs into the lowlands Of Portland,
marches solemnly in front Of st. Helen,
plays in eddies in the lap Of Kalama,
and ceaselessly dashes the spray from
its open mouth upon the resisting and
: defiant fronts of Capes Stevens and
: Hancock. But the Columbia is behav-
ing better this season than sometimes,
and we contemplate its swollen features
in placid contentment, for its hour Of
widest delirium is already past, and we
know the worst is over.
At the Lower Cascades the sound OF
the saw and hammer are heard, as also
at The Dalles, Cello, and Wallula.
Everything and everybody has an air OF
hustle and confusion. The "Wide West
gives place as we advance to the
= Mountain Queen" she to the "Annie
Faxon," and she i'm turn to DIR. Bakers
railroad. And all the time how awfully
hot the weather is!
We reach Walla Walla covered with
dust, but aglow with patriotism. The
fifteen picked men who have been sci
P: apart to guard the liberties of the peo.
J. pie have assembled from anear and afar
e and for the most part they are men o.
e brains and influence. Like all the other
n public men we know OF who are wearing
e out their lives in the service Of an un'
It grateful country, they have thus fal
]. spent the greater portion of their tim,
e in adjOurning. But what Of il? WhS
n shall question the rights Of an Ameri
i eau sovereign, or circumscribe the i'm
3 munities and privileges Of the ofiicia
e free white male? The outlook for th,
lr enfranchisement Of WashingtOu's WON
It en- is especially encouraging. The un
It dersigned is to be granted a hearing be
n fore the convention early in the coming
> week, the leading lady citizens Of Wall'
r. Walla having petitioned for the higl
e privilege Of allowing us to be heard.
= But there is one great drawback, yes
Is two OF them, to hinder our work. Tn,
e first is constant indisposition, the resul
e Of years of overwork, and the other tn,
It excessive heat, under which we hav,
n always withered from early childhood
e But there is no such word as fail. Onll
;. stand by the paper, ye friends of tn
l. cause, and help us to pull its expense
i through the coming months of our cam
n paign duty, and we shall try as best ",
Is can to hold aloft the banner of woman
d liberty in the new State Of Washington
Y But, friends, we mean business when W,
= tell you that the paper must have IT.
e dues, or our border work must stop, anI
It we must abandon this field, and resum,
II our lectures in the places where our ef
), forts, being better known, will be mor'
a remunerative. You cannot know how
h anxious we are for the finances Of you
n paper when you are lax in your duty
b and we are watching upon the walls o
our political Zion. Five hundred Of you
: owe various sums, ranging from three
= dollars to nine. Remit at-once, and oul
# mutual work can go on swimmingly
i. But the reader who punctually pays bis
3 dues will pardon Us. He is not in 6
I. minority, and he shall not suffer toe
n much of his space that is paid for to b'
J. taken up in dunning delinquents. Le
II us change the subject.
is Walla Walla, city and county, is i'm
,r proving rapidly. The excessive hea
:. and dust does not seem to annoy the ac
climated citizen. The three newspaper
keep pace with the sense OF the peOpl,
in everything but their infrequeney o
publication. A daily paper is badly
y needed. The Oregonidn is three dayi
ID old when it gets here.
il Candidates for the prospective Stat'
J. offices are thicker than flies, which las
e, are not scarce. Ice is a commodity II
ie great demand, and an ice factory would