The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-01-23

tucao pVORt1 No 3Ho tIausheIttI4 tuetu iruhH
one despoeism 70 anothers Thvss people
are being bought like cattle at 80 much
per head. This government Is entering
| upon . course OF conduct which IL In Ia
grant Violation OF the Federal compact
| and which MARKS the decay and will sure
" lead to the destruction OF those sacred
| principles for which our fathers fought"
with mingled Amusement and wearf-
ness we follow these footprints in the
rocks Of history. They are scientifically
valuable because they are fossil evil
dence Of the persistence Of type among
the lower forms OF intellectual life. His
tory h repeating itself now: and the
tremendous found and fury. the life de-
votion to republican Ideas, the dire mis-
givlngs Of the opponents of expansion
are only echoes OF the warnings Of near
| ly q century ago, which our actual expe-
rience has turned into sport for the cu-
rious. The "antr' should be duly la
beled and set In place beside his fell
lows on the shelf OF the museum of his
torical curiosities. He is not a modern
at all. but the feebly wiggling survival
of a species uutgrown and vanishing.
Mr., r. d. Biackmore passed his life
under the shadow Of one overwhelming
literary success. Few novels have been
more widely read than Lorna Doone,"
The secret OF its charm II not single.
| Partly II Is the setting In that old-fash-
toned world Of England's yeomanry
| that has vanished an completely as
| Robin Hood. Partly II is the prom
| inence Of the contrast OF manly strength
| and steadfastness with womanly beauty
| and sweetness that Is the foundation Of
| all true love stories. To q considerable
extent II Is the rhythm Of the form In
which the work Is cast. Page after
page. nearly the whole OF Lorna
Doone." in fact, can be scanned as read
lily as the verses of Pope. 1t is a prose
poem; and although Blackmore has
done as good work since. there are hum
dreds who are familiar with the book
| by which he IL best known for every
one who has heard Of Exit and Kitty"
With him passes the last Of the old
school, whose traditions were carried
to such exquisite completeness by
Thomas Hardy before he fell into the
slough that leads to Hall Game
An Impudent Pretence.
The Portland Oregonian makes the
alleged opposition Of some members Of
the Washington delegation in congress
to the location Of permanent general
hospital at Vancouver it's text for
touching lament over the neglect of
Southwestern Washington by the rest
of the state. and an assumption Of at
fectionate care for its interests on the
/ art Of Oregon. 1t says that the Wash
ington congressman have never recog-
nised anything as worthy Of their notice
except the Sound country and the area
surrounding Spokane. but for the In
| fiuence Of the Oregon senators and rep
resentatives, it Southwestern Wash
ington) would have Jared badly in the
past" And 30 II assures the people Of
that section that Oregon members may
and must be depended upon to secure
rights for territory that has never re-
ce'ved it's just due.
We do not know whether to admire
more In this the perversion of fact or
the impudent assumption that cold self
interest Is a high form OF virtue. Above
that motive neither the representatives
OF Oregon nor the Oregonian has ever
risen in dealing with the matter con-
cerned. They have had In mind solely
the interests of Oregon, and particu-
larry those Of the city Of Portland. VAN
coUver is substantially suburb of the
latter. Whatever business Is created
! there by the increase of Federal inter-
| ests Is meat for Portland's NAV. Ex-
getty in as far as this selfish interest is
served. the Oregonian and the delega-
| ton from that state can be depended
upon. Aside from that. they care pre-
| cisely as much for Southwestern Wash
ington as they do for Madagascar. We
do not quarrel with energy that has
| self-interest for Its handspring. We
| do object to having It set on a pedestal
and wreathed with heroic garlands.
The facts in the case, as far as Fed
eral improvements in Southwestern
| Washington are involved, are these. The
| only important improvement in South
vest Washington is the work on the
| Columbia river above Vancouver. Port
| millions spent to create a channel at
| the mouth of the Columbia, this work
met with the most persistent opposition
| from the Oregon delegation in congress
| and from the people of Portland, not