V;
THE OBSERVER
BRUCE DEN N i S
EDITOR AHD OW5EB. , .
ere4 at the fettolflee at Lm Grande.
Orerem, m eeeend class natter.
8CB8CBIPTI0N BATES.
'JlT. alngle eopy U
(It. ner week
Sail, imp month .
WILSON AND THE PHILIPPINES.
President Wilson m declinnig to set
, a definite date for the independence
of the Philippines U taking the wise
course. That the inlands are far
from ready for independence is an
admitted fact When they will be is
a question that cannot be answered
at present. Growth in powers of aolf
government, self restraint and gener
al education is necessary before the
: natives can be trusted with contra' of
their own affairs.
. As the situation has developer
there is not a great deal of difference
between the Republican and Demo-
cratic parties o;i this question. When
Bryan ran for the presidency in 1D00,
imperialism was an issue. It is such
no longer and fhe administration rea
lizes that fact. The United Slater
has entered into world affairs, defi
nitely has become a factor in world
politics. However we might like to
turn back to the old isolation on this
continent we can not. Ridding our
selves of the Philippines would mean
THE GREAT FLOOp OF WIS.
The nation which ha solved the
greatest engineering problem of the
age, the Panama canal, apparently
stands helpless before a nooa srcua
tion within It own boundaries that
already in our short history has cost
iiiiianifa of lives and millions in
property.
The . Mississippi river, the largest
in the world, and its tributaries for
nearly a century has been the great
est interrogation point in this coun
try. That the cfuestion it raises has
not been answered has been due, not
to lack of facilities, not to lack of
knowledge, not to lack of warning,
but simply to lack of common sen.-
The crime of the pork barrel is re
ihla for the inundation that
made 400,000 homeless last year, de
stroyed many lives and laid waste
the area of many principalities.
palities.
This government already has spent
more than $200,000,000 in confining
the Mississippi and it sfeeders which
wisely expended, spent according to a
systematic and comprehensive plan,
would have wade life and property
safe forever in the myriad cities,
towns and open country situated eith
er on the main river or on one of its
many branches or sub-branches. Be
cause it has been foolishly, heedless
ly expended we have year after year
a flood situation that only China
would tolerate.
For half a century the engineering
department of the government has
been recommending, almost implor
ing, a definite plan of flood protec-
only a partial lessening of. the bur
den. We can not so easily get clear . t,on' gr the Kreat va,ey that ,ieg be.
or Hawaii, Guam, and the otner ra- tween the Appalachians and the
cific dependencies, to say nothing of Rockieg. it we nave permitted the
our moral obligations in Cuba and periodictti nida on the treasury that
Latin America. hag defeated this end we have done
The Democrats have found it euny jt against the advice of our own ex
to criticize the Republicans on the perta,
administration of the Philippines and . This ig a big country..but it is not
other possessions, but now that they 0 Wg that jt cannot meet thig prob.
are in power it is hard to take any (,em and conquer it it can, if it will,
other attitude than has been taken. Ph.nillfiv nmcnt the noliev that has
.VUw.H.rf j t w
man of the board of the St. Louis and
San Francisco railroad,' a line that
traverses a district almost annually
inundated, has taken an especial in
terest in this plan, .and for a time it
looked as though the government
would consider it seriously. The .last
appropriation bill, however, broke the
records for reckless rapacity, and did
not provide any more than has pre
vious bills for permanent and 'con
nected Improvement. . ' .
In 1849 we had a flood that spread
over 160 squares in New Orleans and
submersed 1.600 building's. In 1874
an overflow of rivers . in western
Pennsylvania caused tfie loss of 220
lives. In 1881 thousands of acres in
Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota" and Mis
souri were Inundated with great loss
of life and property. In 1862 the val
ley of the Mississippi and Ohio riv
ers were flooded. In 1883, parts of
Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky
were covered with water. The loss
in Cincinnati alone mounted up into
the hundreds of thousands. In 1881
the Ohio overflowed, drowning fifteen
and making 1,500 homeless. On May
31, 1889, the rising of the Conemaugh
river in Pennsylvania under incessant
drain burst the dam eighteen miles
above Johnstown. The official esti
mates give the dead as 2,142 end the
damage as $9,674,105. The disaster
of last year is too recent to need emphasis.
How -many more catastrophes- will
be needed before the pork barrel and
the policy it signifies is abolished for
ever?
i 1
' i ' i ' ', ' " ' ' ; ' , ,
sri ft Aeolus
MONEY FOR THE FARMER.
To give the islands independence now
or in the immediate future would be
to consign them to chaos and anar
chy. It might mean abandoning them
to the exploitation of a foreign power
permitted various communities to de
stroy any" semblance of systematic
waterway . improvement by reckless
grabbing for purely local better
ments. The politicians who nave
only too ready to grab and adminis- fathered their own nests by absurdly
ter profitable colonies. extravagant appropriations for trif-
Yet to say that the Philippines jng -improvements that only have
shall be independent when they are postponed the adoption of a sane gen
"prepared for independence" is very erai scheme can be made to realize
indefinite. What standards deter- that they are gambling with human
mine fitness for self-government? ives. Better than that, the selfish
Who is to determine when the proper constituents that have measured, the
standard has been reached? These efficiency of a congressman by the
and other questions suggest them- amount of money he was abla to graft
selves. One can not help thinking for unnecessary local vork can be
that if any very rigid conditions were
enforced many countries now nomi
nally independent would be deemed
unworthy of the privilege. Mexico,
for Instance,, would be considered ns
unworthy of control of its own af
fairs. Many of the other "republics"
of the opera bouffe revolution belt
likewise would be disqualified. .
The difference in the situations leis
in the fact that in these cases we
have no present control, whereas with
the Philippines we have. In the end
the natives will be better prepared to
make good use of independence if
' they remain in Uncle Sam's school
for a while longer.
made to feel that thc-y were playing
a game in which death sweeps in the
stakes.
It was suggested last year that the
government take its equipment of
machinery made idle by the rapid
completion of work on the Panama
canal and use it for deepening and
straightening the Mississippi and its
tributaries. It is held by engineering
experts that the opening and widen
ing of the various streams, deepen
ing them and in Rome places canaliz
ing them would remove forever th?
annual menace offered by the sprin?
rains and the melting of the snow on
the watershed. B. F. Yoakum, chair-
The Test of Tirr?e
Time determines whether the policies under which a bank Is oper
ated are safe. - i; " -
This bank haa been In business twenty-six years.
It has grown steadily until It has become one of the atronKt snd
most prosperous financial institutions In the West.
The soundness of Its policies Is attested by the long list of conserv
ative business men who transact their business here: also by an
earned surplus of $130,0i;0.W, the work of time and the res-ill of
conservative management. '
This bank has facilities for taking care of more hlsh grade bm'
ness and offers Its service to those who appreciate the best In
banking.
La Grande National Bank
La Grande, Oregon
Capital. $100,000.00 Surplus. $130,000.00 Resources, 1,100.000.0s
DESIGNATED DEPOSITOR OK IMTED STATES G0YER'J!ET.
UNITED STATES POSTAL SAVINGS DEP0S1T0RT.
!
Currency and banking reform, m
the opinion of many, should come
before the tariff in the Democratic
legislative program. It is held that
our present loose system is a con
stant menace and that hence it is
more important to dispose of this be
fore taking up the tariff. The weak
point of this contention is that it is
made so late in the day. The tar
iff program already is under way.
The importance of new currency
and banking laws, is indicated by the
steps the conference on marketing
and farm credits has taken in draw
ing the attention of the president and
congress to the necessity for making
our financial system fit in with the
farmer's needs. It is a fact that in
few civilized countries of the world is
it so hard for the farmer to secure at
a moderate rate of interest the capi
tal needed for the conduct of his busi
ness. In the last presidential cam
paign the lack of facilities for rural
credit was dwelt upon and various
suggestions for reform made. Em
phasis was placed especially on the
methods in vogue in Europe, particu
larly in Germany.
When we finally do get around to
detailed consideration of the banking
problem it is highly important that
with the relief which is extended to
industry the absolute necessity of
taking care of the farmers also be ta
ken into account. A farm run by an
efficient, energetic man certainly
should be gilt-edged security for an
advance of such money as is neces
sary to enable him to work it to the
best advantage, and the terms of
such a loan should be as liberal as
those given to the factory owner or
the head of a business establishment.
In fact, agriculture should be recog
nized in our banking law as a busi
ness so important from social point
of view as to merit the greatest pos
sible liberality.
The conference which closed re
cently has given us much to think
about as to the pecular position in.
which the farmer is placed as to cred
it, transportation and m.-rketin.
Progress along these three lines
proerress toward a higher standard
mid a lower cost of living.
ANOTHER COXEY ARMY.
What is the attraction in public
office that causes thousands of able
bodied men in this country to make
a wild onslaught on Washington
whenever a new administration takes
the reins of government. President
Wilson, by declining to see jobhunt
ers, has conserved his own time and
energy for larger affairs, but he also
has doubled the troubles of his obi
net. Secretary of the Treasury M-?-Adoo,
beseiged by the hungry throrg,
has been forced to leave his office by
stealth and take refuge in a small
hotel. ' .
TVs fact that we have such a
Coxey's army of place-seekers is
HAS A SPRING SUIT FOR YOU
! From our large s election of new models we can fit the stout or
slender man equally as well as the man of regular build and at
the same attractive prices. . t
Whether You Pay $15.00 or More
You can be assured of perfect satisfaction if you buy at this,
store.
W e're Sole La Grande Agents for
Benjamin, Hirsch, Wickwire, Fidelity Fifteens
, . and
REGARDING ROME.
Sent out her troops and spanked
Rome once upon her seven hills
the world,
Put other lands between the thills,
On ev'ry sea her flag unfurled.
small compliment to the nation at
large. Public office that is filled by
appointment lacks the security which
is the attractive feature of the places
under the classified civil service. The
salaries paid are not large. The
work, however, in some cases, is easy.
Is an "easy" Job the accepted ! And I'm for Julius Caesar now,
ideal? It would be discreditable to A 'though that gentleman is dead,
the great body of self-suppo: tmg, ii f Because of such a life he led,
dependent Americans if this Were J That copped the prize in ev'ry row,
truo. But it isn't Most live men '
like positions that call for initiative, J- Caesar put Rome on the map.
daring, original thought, that have e advertised it near and far;
the stimulus of difficulty, of obstacles
He mixed in ev'ry kind of scrap '
At boosting Julius was a star.
He talked about it when at home,
He bragged about it when awaV,
Until from Britain to Cathay,
They heard about the town of Rome.
I wish we had some Romnns here,
The regular, stem-winder kind '
Who'd whoop it up through all the
year
to be overcome, of knotty problems to
be met.
The truth is that there are no
worth while jobs, in or out of the
government service, that are really
easy. Uncle Sam, because he is not
so careful about the details of his
work as he should be, has numerous
places where oetty men can drone
but when it comes to the big tasks And leave the other towns behind,
he is as strict as the average em-1 1 wish we had some Caesar, too,
ployer. I This gold, old town to' advertise
It would be well if the ofi'iee seekers ' Until it grew to twice the size
understood once and for all that the With brotherhood as thick as glue.
only way to a fat salary is by being
able to do the work better than the
other fellow cr.n do it. Not only that,
but he must be able to do it more
decisively, more quickly jnd more
easily, so that his energy is not frit
tered away in the minor details. If
a man has these qualifications, how
ever, the chances are that he sticks
to private business and is not bother
ing covernment officials.
Let's get together, you and I;
We've got a town that's worth the
while;
I-et's open up, emit a cry
That other folks can hear a mile.
It's talk about this burg so dear
Until it gets so big a thing
They'll run excursion trains to
bring
The folks who want to settle here.
A Bohemian is a man who knows Things are so quiet in Washinetnn
how to eat spaghetti without getting that the country would be awfully
it on the floor or over into the next g'ad if Vice President Marshall would
house. make another joke.
FORMS OF SALUTATION.
Although the French have been
trying for some time to find a form
of salutation to take the place of the
meaningless "How do you do," they
appear unable to decide upon any oth
er form. .
While there are persons who think
"How do you do" is meaningless, pos
sibly they haven't stopped to think
how lucid it is compared to what men
of other nations say when they meet
one another.
The Turk says: "God grant you
His blessing."
The Persian says: "May yoar
shadow never grow any less."
The Chinese says: "How are you
digesting?"
"How are you passing it?" says
the Spaniard.
"Are you in good vigar?" comes
( from the Swede.
j Tlie Egyptian, being a practical
man, says, "How do you perspire?"
The Dutchman says, "How do you
travel?"
Caucasians take off the hat, shake
hands, embrace, bow and kiss, and
pass on. (Fair substitute, that)
The Japanese take off their shoes.
Chileans rub their foreheads. Think
what the poor politicians would do
about election time drumming up sup
port in a factory district.
The Russian says, "Be well."
"How do you do," may be a trifle
meaningless, but unless a substitute
is chosen from other than the pre
vailing styles in other lands, it will
stand unquestioned for centuries.
Maybe Washington society is wait
ing to see the Wilson family wash on
the line before making advances.