Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1910-03-26
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= THE PEOPLES FORUM.

K (PortIand Progressive Political X
Review Prepared for the Cap x
X ital journal. !;
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Hereafter Vancouver, British Co
lumbia, will not collect taxes on i'm
provements. The empty lot will pay
as much tax as the improved lot.
Vancouver is the most enterprising
city In all Canada, and the council
there was elected on the pledge to do
away entirely with a tax on improve
ments. Oregon is safe from such an
awful fate. It's constitution prevents
any new features being tried in any
city or county. The two Grange
amendments and the labor amend
ment on taxation, if passed by the
people, would allow something of
this sort to be tried some time. Per-
haps, in few years, Coos Bay or
Portland or Tillamook, or some such
little place, might try it, If they were
allowed to do so.
Salem is the Capital City of Ore
gon. On that honor it has been too
content to rest. 1t should get busy.
II is getting busy. 1t is doing things,
but it needs to shove the lever along
another notch or two.
The forces of labor in Oregon have
decided to do away with the swindle
on the workingman known as the poll
tax. 1t is a graft, a swindle, a gross
outrage, and the thing must go.
Hindus in Portland are kicking up
entirely too much stink. The Cana
dians will not have them, even If they
are fellow Britishers. The British
government would do well to take
them to south Africa to avoid furth-
er unfriendly suggestions from Amer
lean people, who prefer to keep their
children untainted from the big and
dirty dinks.
The machine in Portland hasn't
opened one eye yet, to see what this
vote for one" wrinkle is. It may
not be worth noticing, but just sup
pose that the supreme court was to
decide that vote for one" was all
citizen could do? Wow! Statement
No. / would fade into the distance in
Importance. Some of the best law
yers in the state say vote for one"
may be an imperative application. If
so the machine in Portland will sim
ply be in fragments.
The assembly organs whisper that
man might be nominated on party
ticket by a minority of the party vot-
ers. Yes. he might And in con-
vention he might be nominated by a
bought and paid for lot of delegates.
In the good old times when primary
voters drew down $3.50 each from
the Simon sack in Portland, men
were nominated who were not the
choice of one per cent of the party.
The primary law needs to have the
preferential power given the voter,
but it beats the assembly plan so far
that the assembly will look like
lame pup chasing an automobile down
an asphaltum road
Conventions sold nominations as
a secondhand dealer would a lot of
old clothes. That Is why the people
of Oregon adopted the direct primary
law That is why Illinois, Califor-
mia, Wisconsin and Washington have
primary laws more or less giving the
people power. None of them are any
better than Oregou's on the whole. /
Some of them are worse. But the di-
rect primary has come to stay. The
assembly boosters will be asking the /
next legislature to change their
names so as TO avoid the political .
blacklist each and every one of them
will be placed on by the people
There is an immense amount of
energy being wasted on the Repubi- I.
can state assembly. II the prime moE-
ers will offer about $3.50 per diem
to about 200 North End buns to run
through the program the results will
be about the same
If the contention of the minority .
parties of Marion county is correct I
that citizen can vote for but one
for the legislature, there
will be some awful .yowls going up
from the Oregonian. II will give the .
parties representation i'm /
the legislature, on the supreme bench /
on the district bench The last legis-
lature should have passed the pro-
portional representation bill
The tough steak you tried To mas
f.a.N a.. -. \.