La Grande evening observer., September 05, 1910, Image 1

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LA GUADE, IJ.N10N COUNTY, OKEGON. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5-1910.
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ADVOGftTES ABOLISHMENT OF THE
TIBER II SUE ACT ID
DEVELOPMENT OF GOAL LftHO
St. Paul, Sept. a Although . tiie
national conservation delegates clwer--cd
lustily when President Taft enlered
the convention . hall today, formality
marked every feature of his reception
until he reached the platform when
he looked Berious while Archbishop
Ireland worded the Invocation which
opened the congress. ;
When the president , arrived 10.000
were at the station. lie went Immedi
ately to the reviewing stand where he
watchede laboiulay parde of 20,000
laborers marching. Afterward he went
to the hall where Governor Eberhart
of Minnesota delivered the opening
address. After declaring that poor
and unintelligent farming is costing
the nation $23,000.0ti0.000 annually and
asserting too many farmer boys go
to the city he introduced the presi
dent. . -
Cheering commenced, and then Taft
said in part: , j
Gentlemen of the National Cons?rva- ;
tion Congress : . ' . , J
Conservation as an economic and
political term has come to mean the
preservation of our natural resour
ces for economical use, so as to se
cure the greatest good' to the greatest
number. "
The danger to tho state and to the
people at large from the. waste and
dissipation of our natural wealth is
not one which quickly impressed It
self on the people of the older com
munities, because its most obvious in
stance do not occur in their neigh
borhood, while In the newer part of
the country the sympathy with ex
pansion and development Is so 6trong
that the danger is scoffed at or ignor
ed. Among scientific men and thought
ful observers, however, the danger
has always been present; but It need
ed some one to bring home the cry
ing need for a remedy of this evil
so as to impress itself on the f ub
lic mind and lead to the formation
of;public ppinlon and action by the
representatives of the people. Theo
dore Roosevelt took up this task in
the last two years of his second ad
ministration, and well' did he per
form it.
As President of the United States I
have, as it were, inherited this policy,
and I rejoice In my heritage. I prize
my high opportunity to do all that
an Executive can do to help a great
people realize a great national ambi
tion. For conservation is national. It
affects every man of us. every woman,
every child. What I can do in the
cause I shall do, not as President of
ple. Conservation is not a question
of politics, or of factions, or of per
sons. It is a question that affects the
vital welfare of us all of our child
ren and our children's children. I
urge that no good can come from the
meetings of this' sort unless we as
cribe to those who take part in them,
and who are apparently striving wor
thily in the cause, all proper' motives,
and unless we Judicially consider ev
ery measure or method proposed with
a view to Its effectiveness In achiev
ing our common purpose, and wholly
without regard to who proposes it or
who will claim the credit for Its ad
option. The problems are of very
great difficulty and call for the calm
est consideration and clearest fore
sight. Many of the questions presented
have phases that are new In this
country and It in possible, that In
their solution we may have to at
tempt first one way and then anoth
11(5 BE11
DELEGATES TODAY
er. What I wish to emphasize, howev
er, is that a satisfactory conclusion
can only be reached promptly if we
avoid acrimony, imputations of, bad
tann, an dpolitical controversy. '
I Bhall divide my discussion under
the heads of (1) agricultural lands;
(2) mineral lauds that is, lands con
taining metalliferous' minerals; (3)
forest lands; (4) coal lands; (5) oil
and gas lands; and (C) phosphate
lands. " '
I feel that It will conduce to a bet
ter understanding of the . probiems
presented if I take up each class and
describe, even at the risk of tedium,
first, what has been done by the last
administration and the present one
in respect to each kind of land; sec
ond, what laws at present govern its
disposition; third, what. was done by
the present Congress In this matter;
and fourth, the statutory changes pro
posed in tne interest or conserva
tion. (1) Agricultural Lands.
Our land laws for entry of agricul
tural lands are now as follows:
The original homestead law, with
the requirements of residence and
cultivation for five years, much more
strictly enforced than ever before.
The enlarged homestead act, apply
ing to jionirHgable lands only, re
quiring five years' residence and con
tinuous cultivation of one-fourth of
the area. .".'"'-''
The desert-land act, which requires
on the part of the purchaser the own
ership of a water right and thorough
reclamation of the land by irrigation
and the payment of $1.25 an acre.
The donation of Carey Act, under
which the State selects the land and
provides for its reclamation, and the
title vests in the settler who resides
upon the land and cultivates it and
pays the cost of the reclamation.
The national reclamation homestead
law, requiring . five years' residence
and cultivation by the settler on the
land Irrigated by the Government,
and payment by him to 'the govern
ment of the cost of the reclamation.
There are other acts, but not of
sufficient general Importance to call
for mention unless it Is the stone and
timber act, under which every in
dividual, once In his lifetime, may
acquire 160 acres of land if It has
valuable timber on It or valuable
stone, by paying the price of not less
than $2.50 per acre, fixed after ex
amination of the stone or timber by
a government appraiser. In times past
a great deal of fraud has been per
petrated In the acquisition of lands
under this act; but it Is now being
much more strictly enforced, and the
entries made are so few In number
that It seems to serve no useful pur
pose and ought to be repealed.
The present congress passed a bill
of great importance, severing the own-
ershlp of coal by the government in
the ground from the surface and per
mitting homestead entries upon the
surface of the land, which, when per
fected, give the settler the right to
farm the surface, while the coal be
neath the surface Is retained In own
ership by the government and may be
dlspossed'of by It under other laws.
There Is no crying need for radi
cal reform In the methods of dispos
ing of what are really agricultural
lards. The present laws have worked
well. The enlarged homestead law has
encouraged the successful farming of
lands in the semlarld regions. Of
course the teachings of the agricultur-
w
I al Department as to IijW these sub
i arid lards may be treated and the
soil preserved for useful culture are
of the 1 very essence of conservation.
Then ' conservation of agricultural
lands is Shown in . the reclamation
of arid lands by Irrigation and J
should devote a few words1 to what
the government has done and Is do
ing in this regard. . '
Reclamation. .
P.y trie reclamation act a fund has
been created of the proceeds of the
public lands of the United States with
which to construct works for storing
great bodies of water at proper alti
tudes from which, by a suitable sys
tem of ca'nals and ditches, the water
subarid lands of the Government to be
sold to setters at, a price sufficient
to pay for . tne. Improvements. Pri
marily the projects are and must be
for the improvement of public lands.
Incidentally, where private land is
also within the reach of the water
supply, the furnishing at cost or pro
fit of this water to private owners by
the government Is held by the feder
al court of Appeals not to be a usur
pation of power. But certainly this
ought not to be done except from
surplus Water, not needed for govern
ment land. About 30 projects have
been set on foot distributed through
the public land states in accord with
the statute, by which the allotments
from the reclamation fun are required
to.be as near as practicable in propor
tion to the proceeds from he sale of
the public lands in the respective
states. The total sum already accumu-
FEW BUSINESS HOUSES THAT
KEEP OPEN ALL DAY.
Splendid Dcntlicr un Aid to Laboring
And Excellent Weather Blend.
.Labor elements came into their own
today while industries marked time.
Few who were designated' as laborers,
were called upon to work during the
entire day and following as it does
after Sunday, laboring men are en
joying a long rest. The Eagles's pic
nic at the Proebstel grove was the
mecca for a large number who went
there to spend the afternoon or to
partake of a picnic' dinner. Weather
conditions were perfectly id harmony
with the day. This is the first time in
several years that there has been any
semblance of Labor day observance
In this city and it is believed that the
day's events will be so popular that
hereafter labor day will be an annual
event of much Importance.
Paving at Standstill.
Surface men with the Warren Con
struction comnany are Idle todav. Tho
quarry and crusher crews were kept
at work but the streetn r mtna
that stir which characterizes work
ing days this month.
Machine Shops Idle.
. Except for a few absolutely neces
sary men, the round house was desert
ed all day. Train crews were of course
Bent out as usual but the "big stir" In
the yards so common on workdays
was entirely missing today. .
Many Stores Close.
La Grande was practically closed
tbis.afternoon. Groceries, barbershops
and sever?! uthe-- places of business
observed a half holiday.
i ne post orace. was open on holl-
day hours. a, fj 2rt. vj
DAY OF REST IS
OBSERVED BY
TOE CITY
lated in the reclamation fund is $00,-
! 273,258.22, and all of that but $6,491,-
955,54 has been expended. lt became
very clear to congress at its last
land offices and public buildings in
general were locked up tight,
session, from the statements. made by
experts that these SO projects could
not be promptly completed with the
balance remaining on hand or with
the funds likely to accrue iu the near
future. It was found, moreover, that
there are many settlors who have
been' led Into tr.king up lands with
the hope and understanding of hay
ing water furnished in a short time
who are left in a most distressing sit
uation.'! recommend to consress that
authority tie given to the Secretary of
the Interior to issue bonds In 'antici
pation' of .the assured earnings of. the
projects, so that' the projects,, worthy
and feasible, might be promptly com
pleted, and the 'settlers might, be. re
lieved frcm their; present inconveni
ence and hardship. In authorizing the
issue of these bonds, xongresn limited
the application of their proceeds of
those projects whtfh a board of army
i engineers, to be appointed by, the pres
ident, Bhould examine and determine
to be feasible and worthy of comple
tionThe board has been appointed
and soon will make its report. .' ;
(2) Mineral Lands. ,
By mineral lands I mean those
lands bearing metals, or what! are
called metalliferous minerals. The
rules of ownership and disposition
of these lands were fixed by custom in
the west, and then were embodied In
the law, and they have worked, on
the whole, so fairly and well that I
do not think it is Wise now to attempt
to change or better them. The apex
theory of tracing title to a lode has
led to much litigation and - dispute
and ought not to have become the
law, but it Is bo fixed and understood
now that the benefit to be gained by
a"chap,e is altogether outwetsbed
the, inconvenience that would attend
the Introduction of a new system. To.
too, the proposal for the governm.f nt
to lease such mineral lands and de
posits and to impose royalties might
have been In the beginning a good
thing, but now that most of the min
eral land has been otherwise dispos
ed of it would be hardly worth while
to assume the ' embarrassment of a
radical change. . (
(3) Forest Lands.
Nothing can be more important in
the matter of conservation than the
treatment of our forest lands. Tl was
probably the ruthless destruction of
forests in the older states that first
called attention to a halt in the waste
of our resources. This was recognized
by congress by an act authorizing the
executive to reserve from entry and
set aside public timber lands as na
tional forests. Speaking 'generally,
there has been reserved of the exist
ing forests about 70 per cent of all
the timber lands of the government.
Within these forests (including 2C
000,000 aercs In two forest' reserves
in Alaska) are 192.000,000 of acres,
of which 100,000,000 of acres Are in
the United States proper and Include
within their boundaries something like
22,000,000 of acres that belong to the
state or to private Individuals. We
have then, excluding Alaska forests,
a total of about 144,000,000 acres of
forests belonging to the government
which Is being treated in accord with
the principles of scientific forestry.
The law now prohibits the reservation
of any more forest lands In Oregon,
Washington, Idaho, Montana, Colorado
and Wyoming, except by act of con
gress. I am Informed by the Depart
ment of Agriculture that the govern
ment owns other tracts of timber land
In these states which should be in
cluded In the forest reserves. I expect
to recommend to congress that the
limitation herein Imposed shall be re
pealed. In the present forest reserves
there are lands which are not prop
erly forest land and which ought to
be subject to home tsaedtrne89000
be subject to homestead entry. This
has caused some local Irritation. We
are carefully eliminating such lands
from forest reserves or where their
elimination is not practicable listing
them for entry under the homestead
act. Congress ought to trust the Exe
cutive to use the power of reserva
tion on'y with respect to land covered
by timber or wfoch will be useful In
the plan of reforestratlon. During the
(Continued on page .)
POLITICS AWAIT
USUI'S
mm-
STRUGGLE BETWEEN LA
ELITE AM) MELIUS
.NEAR A CK1MS.
FOL
IS
E AN i
Whole Country is Awaiting Wisconsin
Frinisirlos Tomorrow When Strug;-
le BctnccU'La Follette and Reg
ulars Will Come to a Head La Fbl.
Idle luis Won Everything He Has
Aspired To- : ,
"'Milwaukee, Sept. 5 lu the nornlnd'
tion primaries tomorrow which la Sen
ator Lafollette's struggle against the
"regulars" for renomination to the
senate, is , occupying the attention' of
the whole, country today. It is pre
dicted in progressive headquarters
that he will be renominated by an ov
erwhelming plurality, despite the op
position of the national administra
tion. ' , ' '.
Fairfield, a regular and McGovern,
progressive, are running close for tho
republican gubernatorial nomination.
Zvoryotie expects ?. hsavy -vote.
As Norrls is the father of Insurgen
cy in the House, so La Follette is the
father of Insurgency iu the senate and
political seers will be guided to n
great extent on who is who in Wis
consin by the showing of the primary
vote tomorrow. . -
TALKS TO NOTED
AFTER DEATH
PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS AGOG
OVER EXPERIENCES.
Brooklyn Preacher Talks With Spirit
of the Dead for an Hour.
Boston, Sept. 5 Spiritualists and
physchology 6tudents are excited, ov
er announcement by Reverend Fred
eiick WIggin, pastor of Unity church
of Brooklyn, that he had held a con
versation with the spirit of Professor
William James, ' America's leading
phyBicholpgist who said he had a
talk with the living after his death
which occurred ten days ago. Wiggln
said he talked with the spirit of the
dead savant over an hour and expect
ed soon to have his control attuned
eo thoroughly "that he will be able to
talk plainly with James.
JUDGES WILL TOUR CITY TOMOR
ROW AND AWARD PltlZKS.
Warm Weather is Bringing: Blooms
Into Full Maturity This Week.
Tomorrow La Grande residence
yards will be minutely Inspected by
a competent corps of Judges sent out
by the 'Astor show committee to se
lect first, econd best and third best
yards In La Grande. Various matters
will be considered In the Judging but
of course asters play the most prom-
T
1ST
JUDGE YARDS FOR
DISPLAYS
U
PARADES OFF
SEVERAL OF THE LA KG EST til.
1ES.ITT "HIKES" OFF DAY'S
CELEUHATION.
PARKS ARE MORE POPULAR
ClilctiL'o and Denver Anions Those
Negrlertiu? the Parade Features
Portland, Seattle and San Francis,
co Howeier, Conduct Monster Pa
rades RooscyoU Chief Fljruro la
Fargo Celebration Today.
Chicago, Sept. 5 The monster la
tor clay parade which has been "the
feature of past celebrations ou labor
(jay In this city was not on today's
program. Laboring men went to the
park3, and almost every , union had .
a picnic. ' '
. No Parade at Denver. '".
Denver, Sept. 5 Worklngmen here
spent the day plcnlclng and there was
no parade. Twenty thousand laborers
with their families went to 'the parks.
50,000" In 'Frisco Parade.
San Francisco, Cal., Sept. 5. Be-,
tween forty and fifty thousand labor
ing men paraded the streets. H was
th most gorgeous pageant seen on
laor day celebrations here. Tin; pa
rade consisted of eight divisions and.
there were many, elaborate floats.
- Seven Thousnnd Iu Portland.
Portland, Sept. 5 Seven thousand
marched through Portland, streets.
A him d red thousand persons 'Witness
ed tne parade in cloudy weather,
Roosevelt at Fargo. ;
Fargo, N. D., Sept. . B Roosevelt
was the principal figure In the la
tor day celebration here. The city
was crowded to the limit by enthu
siastic person In honor of the day
and the Colonel. , 1
Ralu at Seattle. ,
. Seattle, Sept. 5 Despite threaten
ing' weather thousands lined the
streets to witness the labor day pa
rades here. " ,; ;
lnent parts. The yards are Judged be
fore the blooms are plucked to go oil
display at the aster show September
eight. '
Warm weather this week will do
much to 1 bring' the blooms lntcvfull
maturity' and it is apparent that the
show will ,be replete with many ele
gant exhibits. There is every Indica
tion at this time that it will outdo all
others. .
The judges tomorrow will be Mes
dames E. E. Kiddle, U. G. Couch, W.
L. Brenholts and Mr. Bruce Dennis.
An amended and corrected list of
prizes for the, aster show week, fol
lows: Most artistic yard display, three
prizes: 1st $3; second $2;; third $1.
For indoor display of single col
ors, separate from general display;
1st. $3.00; second $2.00; third $1.00.
For Indoor display of boquets of
single colors, separate from other dis
plays, white, purple and pink,' each, J
prizes; first, $1.50; second $1.00;
third 50c.
For, Indoor display of single speci
men, white, purple and pink; 2
prizes; first $.75; second $.50.
For best general Indoor display:
First prize $5.00; second prize,-$3;
third prize $2.00. , - :
Anyone wishing to enter the yard
display should notify the general com
mittee tonight.
a Steamer Crew Poisoned. ,
Seattle, Sept. 6 Twenty members
of the crew of the steamship Prince
Rupert are In local hospitals, suffer
ing from ptomaine poisoning. Several
are still in a dangerous condition. '
The vessel carries a crew of a hund
red men 83 their departure for Van
couver kst night was not delayed and
physicians have net determined th
cause of the eptdsmlc. ,