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About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 1919)
o o o o o o o o 0 0 e S U N iAT -co o o o o POUT! i' xl cl i ' " ' 1 " -mi ' - - - - - o - - EDITORIAL V'AGE' 'ncogipetent, Vi$jon?My, Extravagant". TliP ooik o lii'ict 1'. l)is(iic on tlie Pacific const dnr- in the wiii'timo, jiPriod is now Ifciiijj invest iatei!. "livery witiu'ss in tlie Noattje iii(iiiry asserts tluit the work of )itjiK! vns "ifci'oinpetent, visioiwrj' and extntviifjant." Ad of wliiclg eonfirrfis tlif jiulilie opinion tlie people ot tflis wiiirt Jieii fls(iie was liere. His methods wei'c lavishly expensive, Ins Mens were IVrein to all practical timber work, liis rfsnlts'Verc nil. It was n ise of n inan.not knowing his fuisiness, hut wUh retnnrkiiMe nerve and an apparent lielief that he could "hull" thing's tliriuill, taking charge of the largest pieces of work the Kovcrniiiciit had fo he done. His Spruce Division was not only a jokes from the lii'Kiimiiitf, Jtut .it was positively criminal in its extravagance. One lias hut to journey through the forests where l)is'iie op erated to.sec the wanton waste, the hone-headed work of this man who folded the government and spent millions of dollars of the people's money through his ignorance and egotism. The title of Colonel has been given a man who de spoiled the timber, who built railroads that are of no value, who amassed millions in expensive machinery un united to the work, who used man power in the most ex travagant manner when the country needed every bit of production possible, and who succeeded in gelling no re sults for the country that he was serving. So long as time shall last, tin; Spruce Division will be under an odium that cannot be lifted. And as congress goes deeper info its work the smell will increase and the people will know that inefficiency stalked over the 'a eific coast in the personage of 1 )iso1ue, who lacked t he first . essential of manhood to admit that he knew nothing about what he was doing. It is little wonder that every timber worker and lum ber manufacturer holds a malice for a man who will filler the great forests of the coast and destroy the limber, to hay nothing of the terrific waste in money used in trying fo do things of whi;h lie knew nothing. There should 1m? a punishment. The fool killer shouhj get busy. IJich America is the only country in the world that could stand such men ns "Col." Pisque, ami the pity of it all is that this nation will refuse to punish such men as the crime fhey have committed demands. LA GRANDE'S WATER. Several days ago the water master for Union county issued a .statement to the effect that the water in the upper country where I ax (Irande secures ils domestic supply has nil been filed by prior rights and that in fact the city, at a low water season, apparently his no rights whatever to water except what has been impounded bv the city. . The Observer has no technical knowledge of this mat ter. We have no disposition to doubt the water master's opinion. On the other hand, the city of La (irande has proceeded, under legal advice, and spent a large amount of money on a water system. That system cannot be junked, not even if it is found necessary to pay reason able, damages to water owners during the growing season, The whole matter crystallizes in the belief that the thing to do is to develop the water on lieavcr creek and if necessary bring in more of the smaller creeks in a com bined effort to furnish greater water supply for the city. Let the legal phase of the matter not be worried over until the court's determine La (I ramie's rights, then abide by the court's decision. !nt, first of all, begin preparations for securing more water regardless of opin ions, so that next summer this city will not be in the con dition it is todav. BURGESS. THE NEW COMMISSIONER. It was wisdom on tlie part of (Inventor 01ml t to. ap point Newton .1. Durgess, of I'matiHa county, to a place on the Highway commission which will be vacated by W. L. Thompson soon. Air. I'.urgess is a big man in every way. lie is financially able t'o take such a place which carries no salary, for he has made a 'thorough success of nis own business, lie is broad-minded and square. liv ery 'sect iitn oT the state under his administration', will receive fair treatment and there will never be a time when he will not be rc;dv to drop his own work and serve the Plate.- ' .' Kaern Oregon has long been proud. of the work of Mr. liurgess when, he was state senator. In his every official act lie was fair to all and legislation received his personal consideration before he affixed his approval. He ij man who takes nothijig.for granted and is always keenly alert to the welfare of ol hers: As a.highway com missioner, Mr riurgess will Jo good work: Vflwn a camper sets u forest fire he should report it at once. Failure to so report constitutes a crime that is punishable by 4aw. fhilv a few daysign campers went above La yrande and faileto extinguish thcir'eajnp fire. 'A fire was parted, and as a result of that, a large area of tfiflber has been TuirneJL Also tlie wark of an entjre i summer0 lly several nien wl were uuwiul'actiii iug cojd wkmI was lm'iicl. Such jjn offense is serious .and "the light-hearfcf? fS o.iclr or cmperhuhlebe more careful. a .6 new l,,refo'howiial?bs 1: i(V) nffles, ?iHi 6; fW distaMys covei9cA in n small fiQ.?on of ;ps?cond. loivtbi Foou (he wireless senders willSlm-sn Dowcftifi that m- s;is will ciirlo tho oar.!., lack iH'fuie they're faiidy Mjivjotl. o;Aiii wiJUo nda message way aroml 111 utli. 'that inrHinj; (liriusrlvt-s cttmin-j fcho Plumb Railway Plan o As a Challenge. (I'rom oVintmy Science Monitor.) Perhnpn there Is nothing more sur prising in tl fact that the dronpinr of the Plumb plan for. ruilrond man ajft'iyeiif in thu niuUt of a public con ftciousnesg that had apparently pre paicj iUnlf to see thu railroad r? wtored to private ownership ns hai' ver much the name effect a th dipping of a bomb in a crowded fity. Fin there is no denying that th IMumb plan made something of a de tonation, any more than there is anj use in denying that ' the Plumb plai is an object of considerable size and Ut many people, of most forbidding , aspect. It wan, of course, intended t n.ake a noise; hot nw that the thine has been touched off, and the dunt i: clearing n little, H might be reason able to expect those who have been ehib!ting signs of unnecessarily acuti criticism to adopt a calmer demeanor wiuh a fair measure of reasonable ness, while everybody is surveying th ground to discover, if possible what the whole thing amounts to. Clearly what the railroad men offet is no ordinary proposition. It is fun damental. It could hardly be adopted for railroads without affecting prnc tically nil other industries, at least so far as they are highly organized and closely related1 to public welfare 01 convenience. The proposal is, without (fiestion, something more than a step toward industrial reform; it is nearei being the first move in industrial rev olution. Ceitaiuly, if adopted, it would put the entire structure of in dLstry, If not finance, in this countrj o i a basis wholly different from that which h;is heretofore been the ground work of American industrial and fi finni'inl life; for it seems to contem plate nothing, less than the ousting ol capital from the controlling and d. reeling position which it has hithert' held, as regards the railroads, and the substitution therefcv, Wi effect, of la Itor, as represented by the railroad op eratives. Such a proposal, merely as pomething for serious consideration could hardly be made in this country, without causing doubts and misgiv ii.gs amongst the more conservative elements. And while it is natural foi those .brought suddenly face jg) faoe vilh n revolutionary project thai would apparently overthrow the bus iness and corporation system undo which the country has proceeded thut far to a position of prosperity and in fluence to show signs of alarm, there is little wisdom, in limes like the. pres ent, in undertaking to counter the la bor proposal by mere weight of invec tive or abuse, or even by failing to weight it fairly for what it purports to be. The thing is big enough, its po. tential effect is sufficiently far-reach-irg, whilst it claims the indorsement of a body of American citizens of suf ficient number, to bespeak a consid eration by the country and the govern ment that should be commensurate with the importance of the matters nominally involved. Not for the sake of. the railroad brotherhoods, not for organised labor . merely, but for the i-ixkc .of the whole country and in view of the fact that industrial revo lution of some kind or another is ad mittedly imminent, the IMumb plan ns n serious and well-considered pro posal by an organized body.of wori ers which claims-to bs acting in good f;;ith for tho general good, should lie made the subject of a study so com prehrnsive, so intelligent, and so fair, that its proponents cannot herenftei s?y m i v""' : f X . VVWA WWWW v rjy- . y: yaw m mwxmm 7. o : av: w t. A Lv iW,.v . i. ' . ( ..; have ground for asserting that it haf not hud proper consideration. All sorts of untenable assertion are being made against the labor rep resentatives, too often in place of the uiguments or facts ti.t.i Tn'.ght be c: petted to show the fallibility of thei; proposal. They are accused of threat ening to cause a general strike u file a their government ownership plui. ;hould fe adopted, and many persons ieerii ft have a notion that the rail toad stn'ke now in progress is rrne iiow concerned with the railroad own ership controversy; yet the propo nents of the Plumb plan have state;' explicitly that thoy were "not think ing of a strike" ut a means of com pelting congress to adopt their pro ject, rather that they nre counting or the education of public opinion am the usual electioneering methods' t( secure a congress that will favo; adoption. As for the present strike that, of course, is based on wholl; other interests, namely, the interest of certain classes of railroad men k put an end to what they feel is uri warranted delay, on the part of tht Railroad Wage Adjustment Hoard ii passing upon their demand for highe wages. Similarly, it is as easy as it if ridiculous to inveigh against tlx members of the railroad brotherhood as Uolsheviki, threatening the countr; with the red terror of Russia beeaus of their proposition with respect tc the railroads. Such statements ear only weaken the position of thoso win uphold private ownership and wish ti stand jtgninst any radical change. Foi the true IJohdievik, of course, would overthrow the government us th very first step-in setting up his new toc;ul order, and the worst that tht railroad men propose, apparently, i that the railroad influence upon gov ornment, always more or less ob vious in this country since railroad ever were, shall hereafter be exercise by worker groups rathor than by in vestor groups. It is only dodgingthc j issue to contend that this is an as ! sault upon the national form of gov ernment. It is nothing of the sort We have here the American demoern Vy, capable of being dominated bj whatever groifps or classes can man age to swing the greatest political influence. That one sort of group ha- i been, dominant in the past does not i of course, mean that the government is breaking down merely because, nr times change, another sort of group comes to exercise dominating influ enee. And the claim is equally un warranted that the railroad men, rep resenting & Pr cent of the people oi the United States, nre undertaking ti thrust their proposal upon the oilier flfi per cent of the population, as i the entire 05 per cent were definitely aligned against the Plumb plan. No body knows at this juncture what proportion of the 05 per cent wniuY vote either way if the opportunity were given it. , Why wot, then, look the proposition in the face, and deal with it for what it really is? And what is it, stripped of all disguises, but the long-expected challenge, in concrete form, of eol lectivistic labor to individualistic cap" ital? Must Abolish Serfdom in . the Army. . . , "i .j; . i ;: t ... . Snys Uricailior-Gunornl Samuel- T Ansell, formerly juiljre p.ilvonite pen eial rf the army, and tho 'man whe exposed the injustice of the American court-martini system: . Conflicting Thoughts 7 .. xwwwwwwv mmwy mm .www - www V?'i UJUrar:. the V rOA HATCWPr. MA? I WW "We will never fight ntio'Tier war Huecessfulty unless congress radical) changes the methods of organization and discipline in the r,y;tnnd tlji; applies particularly to the courts martial." 9 The American public has learned s KooS deal in the last few rmftith about the practical working of the present system. A since ns efforl Mvyifto have been made by the army authorities, since the arndstice war signed, to mitigate the severity of thr sentences imposed during the, wr. U has been impossible, however, to rem edy all the injustice under the p re.se ni mode of procedure. Thou winds of the undeserved sentences were served in whole or in part, before the review ing court got around to them. Many of the wrongs cannot be righted under the present law. And it is a signifi ;-ent commentary on the system that (ion. Ansell was not able to nccom plish his reform wurk within the orga nization, but had to leave the arm t) do it. "The whole system," he says, "is out of tune with our democratic gov ernment. Our military code was tak on bodily from that of the Uritisb back in ,1774; and the British in turn took theirs from old times when the soldier was but a serf. The British have revised that old code until there is little left of it But we, in free America, have kept if substantially ns in the days of the eighteenth century. As a result, toe many soldiers are tried who ought not to be tried at all. Too many are trier" on charges that as a matter of fact do not specify any offense known tc the articles of war. Too many arff! tried on flimsy evidence. Too man;' are tried by officers not properly qualified to pass judgment, because they do not know anything about Jaw. 1 Too many have sentences imposed on! them absurdly out of proportion to j their offenses." i The public agrees with Gen. Ansell ! that .''our soldiers are not serfs, but citizens, ' and that congress ought to make it impossible hereafter to repeat the wrongs under which supposedly free Americans have suffered in this war of freedom, as members of an army supposedly the freest on earth. Spending Like Drunken Sailors, j , William Jf. Lewis, director of thr snvincs division of the U. S. Treas tiry" Department, says that consume themselves, despite nil their com plaints, are largely responsible for thu profiteering. They have encouraged i liy their reckless expenditure. The) have been' indulging, he says, in n "spending intoxication." Dealers, admittedly, have been ir' the habit of charging '' all the traffic will bear." Hut how do- those dealer? form their estimates of how mucl the traffic will bear?Clcarly enough fioiri the way the public spends it. money. If patrons snil carefully, count ing the dinu'jS and dollars and making sure they are getting the best vulur possible, the dealers will naturally ljuld down profits to a pretty reason able basis. .Hut when patrons spem'i money as carelessly as drunken sail ois, buying by preference the most ex pensive goods a'nd pinking no questior 01" the cost, the dcalots naturally in flate prices all along the line, and ac custom themselves to a higher per rentage of .profit than they formerly expected. "Kvcryono must begin,''' says Mr IwaI 4. I'&i "A VVA1V,AV,WWAW A;-WVW'WWW wv.w Wi' .,vawv- WV'V-"' Lewis, ''at ojee o curtailoexpenJi i'cs r luxuries now selling at co orbitnnt prices." I-et buyers cuPoul the e?insive luxuries, njd buy care fully, not necessarily blaming the dealer for high prices, but demanding the most for tfceir mney that hecan afford tove. 'fhen theis likely fc' be a double saving the money for n erly devoted to luxuries will go fo: necessaiVs, and those necessaries will drop in price. Wise, sober buying will encourat;. horest seeling. . . The Limit In Mexico Has Been Reached. Recent events in Mexico have- cer-J tainly neared the limit of tolerance. When American sailors were held up and robbed by Mexicans, ft was bad enough. When American army avia tors arc seized and held for ransom, national self-respect demanded action. Carranza continues to palaver as pompously, verbosely nnd ineffective ly as ever. In a recent reply to ' Washington note demanding protec tion for Americans in Mexico, he said: . "The Mexican government has been and continues to be animated by the best of intentions to eliminte all those difficulties which disturb its good re lations with the government of the United States, and wishes its citizens w iiiju fcit.i. jj.ui.u... Any profession of good will towardl the United States on the part of Car-1 ranza certainly sounds like a joke Possibly that exasperating old dor has a hidden sense of humor hitherto unsuspected. Granting that Carranza would like to stop all those crimes and indigni ties for the practical advantage to his own government, it is clear that he ir not able to do it. He cannot suppress the brigandage. He cannot restore order in Mexico and place that dis tracted country on a basis where it can play its proper part in interna tional relations and guarantee foreign ers the treatment expected in any civilized country. Americans have kept on hoping ngninst hope that the Mexican people would put their own house in order If they cannot do it, the task is ur to Uncle Sam. When One Cow Is Equal to Five. It may sound like an exaggeration to say that one good cow is worth more than five poor ones. The asser tion is proved, though, by an incident related in a XJ.S. Department of Ag riculture bulletin. A New Jersey farmer had five cows, just ordinary cows,- which were not very good milkers, but with which he was pretty well satisfied. He got ns much milk from them as his neighbors get from their cows. His son, however, was not satisfied. He bought a high-grade cow, and paid $153 for it a price which his father regarded as extravagant. When those six cows came fresh in the .spring, the one high-grade cow produced more milk than the other five together, and kept it up longer. There was five times the product for one-fifth of the labor and feed. Does good stock pay? Anybody in that 'neighborhood will ngrce now that it does. The farmers there are selling off their old stock and buying a bet ter breed. Why not government regulation ol tips? In many restaurants a patron has to tip the waiter nearly as much ns the food bill nmounts to, if he wants to get anything to eat. Chicago delicately calls its laniord profiteers ''rent hogs." Wonder whn it calls its packers. Save the pennies. No use trying tc- spend them, anyway, because you , "c ,a ' "anre 'he 3uer , -.. ,, lHall and refreshments wHl be eerv can t buy anything with them an ,, AM ..,,.. . ,, , . , . DKI-.lt SEASON" OPK.NS SLTT. 10. The open season for deer in Wal lowa anil union counties is from 10 to Nov. 10. In other parts Sept of the state it funs from Sept. 1 to Oct. ai. Heretofore the open season began in the middle of AugusJ, when j the weather was too hot and the coun try too dry to hunt. The bag limit renffiins as before, th,at is two deer with hflrns foreach hunter. Carnegie Perion Fund. The earned Foundation for the tilviincvinent of T.-ai'hine provide re Iring ivnsionx for the teuf hers of mil. vIMn. college and tei-hnl.al 'k'"!" the l"nlt.-l State. Vumnln yd Newfoundland. nf-h are on their ccntlili d list. The penMon Is juvl: teacher who ha reached theKje f s:ly-ilve years nnd ha given spr.f d service or to One who has nerved "' vear ns .pro.or or .trt vi - 0 S..f..v , and i&f -Q tor. in "lb? . p'ij !cal di"illty. 9 ObservCT adi art Qij'yQid. e O O o . . 5 i h ,mmo. i I II l , The City of Pendleton was mado defendant hraouit for I15U0 daiiioR es, the plaintiffs being J. C Critii mlus and Mrs. Ida Crlmmlna, bis wfo, ol Fraewator. Mrs. 4fimnihis tuil and broke her forearm. and dis located her wrlrft whll wr.lklitg on Court street on July 1. Half the Umatilla county wheat crruj Is estimated to b csold 'at this time and s::les a ' present are being made with considrable frequency, the larger growers have contracted tor their yields at prices said to hav been at the basic figure. Fifteen dffeicnt forst fires ragtn In various portions of the Whitman and Malheur reserves could be seen a few days ago by Uie povcrnmnt man on watch at Lookout mountain, south-u-st of Lehman. Josephus Daniels, secretary of the navy, has extended to -Governor and .Mis. Olcott an Invitation to Join him . self and rrepident Wilson In review ing the Pacific fleet from the decks ol th baltleship Oragun in 9an Fran cisco harbor on Labor Day, Septem her 1. DKMOXSTHATIOV IIUI.D WAI., IiOH'A SfXDAY AT 8 A. M. Tin. Oiin,l Pars 1 Aflnr I-Aiuhul as1. Truck riimbs Sleep Hill. - i Throe Nash Auto Turcks were sold within an hour In Wallowa after the truck demonstration which took placo last Sunday morning iu Wallowa. The demonstration was held Sun cay mornl.it; at S o'clock on the C A. Hunter farm where the truck were put t3 the test on huling wheat and the Nash track made such a wonderful record thai soon convert ed several ol the frmeri that hme was tho -.aaciiina for thorn, a mach ine that cn pull a load aud that car make tho speed. The Nsh dealer In Wallowa had Invited any truck to participte in the dmionstartion and several rival ears turned out, Louis Graham of Walla Walla, bettor known as "Shorty", the Nash Company demonstrator, was in Wallowa to put Hie Nastt "over the top" in the capacity con test, tha Nash ws Iso put thruogh a . demonstration on plowed ground. The last test was when the Quad, loaded with 4 tons, 100 percent over cap acity, pulled out nd made for a steep hill. Every one doubted the chanco of the truck making the hill, but as in France and elsewhere where iho Nash went up and over the top ot the hill, leaving Its competitors stall ed at tile foot of the hill. Those buying the cars were J. P. Johnson, .one-ton regular equipment Quad; H. W. Cole, two-ton regular equipment Quad; and C. A. Hunter, or.e.tnn pneumatic cord tire Quad. Mr.' Hunter wan the first to buy a Nash ear In Wallowa county and af ter the truck demonstration placed an order for a new Bport model Nash automobile. FOUR L'S WILL MEET The District Convention of the Loy al Legion of Loggers and Lumber men will bo held in the Oddfellow'd Hall on Saturday, August 30th, when all tho lumbermen In the district, employer nnd employe alike, will get together to dincuss the great issues of the day as they affect tho lumber industry. This great organization of one of the nation s greatest Industries, al though in Its infancy, now comprises over two thirds of the men and wo men .who make tholr living from it. Those ere they days ot big things and this organization come3 forth with a great big new daa, of the re lations between employer and em ploye, which Is so simple, and yet so broad, that it loaves no room for ar gument. . " The various committees bvenarge have arranged for a big time, bo ex pense having been spared v fni the ' entertainment of visiting deiegatei. Music will be furnished by a five -ni,f0 orchestra. In the evening tbore ux ...un 1 1 icuui a.-e inviied to join in this big cele bration. So be sure and come. Evpry thing is free. Among the speakers who will be here is (x-Mayor Albeo 01 i oruanu, me man who, mors than -a"? otner. helped to put the-Loral j Legion on the map. The opening cer- emnies. amt address of .welcome will b by Mr. II. E. CoolUge 6t this city. . . O A. REITAN, , Secretary 4 La Adv. 8-24-lt. tillil.'S COM KltlCXt K THIS The olOJor Girl's; conference tor Lasie-n OreC, wiu,be held at All eel August 29. 30 ana 31B All girls in Inion county between ze aecs ol 1.. and 24 are urged to "-attend this "r"f- U w" In charge ot Mrs. Ida Nlven of t'ai.fcm Cily, who Is Mate rector of Girl's W.Ok for the Oregon Slate Snnftiy 0-hOl Asfi.- t:on. Thera Oil be several good speakers vr among whom are M&B Ormshy. (,oneral Sectary, for O" Idaho St.t. .... V.1. '. . 77- . oiuooi AUOCI1- on ani .VlU Harold r. Humbr. IGewral Secretary rotthe Oregom siW Isociatlon. O O ia
