En
in
itj
W8
ec
to
ha
tai
at
ed
TWO
THE ONTARIO ARGUS
PUBLllVH) EVEKY THUKSDAY
E-tered in the .cmt..flice at Ontario, )rei?on, for transmission through the
mails second-class matter.
' "i - 5
W. C. MARSH
Cheap Power
A groat boon to irrigation in this country is expected
in the promised reduction of the cost of electricity as pow
er for irrigation purposes. The recent sale of the Idaho
Oregon Light it Tower Company to the Bondholders Com
mittee, has taken that concern out of the hands of a Court
lieceiver, and the new company, goaded by danger of com
petition in this territory by another company, said to be
long to the power trust, is doing everything possible to re
move any excuse for competition, and thereby keep their
field to themselves"
The action of the company is very favorablo to the
residents of this section. First, the reduction in the price
of electricity is a great and direct benefit to all the people
of the community, in an immediate saving in operating or
runninir cxnetise. Second the keeninir out of dunlieiite
lines and plants will be probably a greater saving in the
long run, for competition of this kind is said to be impos
sible of long endurance, and one company will eventually
be compelled to sell out to the other. And when the con
solidation comes, the remaining company will have evalu
ation of t ice what it should be, thus compelling the users
ot electric energy to pay interest, maintainance ami profits
on a double capitalization.
This section of the country is, practically speaking, an
irrigated country. Without irrigation the land is little bet
ter than a sagebrush waste. With irrigation, however, the
land becomes the most fettle and productive of any section
in the west. We have a world of watercountless small
streams besides the whole of the Snake river. Conse
tjuently the only remaining factor is to get the water on
the land. And it is here that electric energy plays a great
part.
Already there is a large amount of electric power util
ized for ptimpiQf irrigation water. The present electric
rate is high, and many farmers and irrigation com
panies have laid plans for or have installed, other kinds of
power for uutnninff purposes. Hut with electric nower re
duced to a reasonable figure, there will be little other pow
er used. And much more power will be used than at pres
ent. The Idaho-Oregon Light A Power company owns one
of the finest power sites in the west. The Ox Bow Tunnel
and Power site, when completed, will produce a vast a
inoiin t of power, and by the right kind of co-operation be
tween the company and the power users, it can be utilized,
and at the aame time the country will greatly profit by
having eloctric power for irrigation purposes at a figure
mat win allow its unlimited use.
THE QNTTAKTO ARGUS, THURSDAY, MARCH 11. tflin.
with his customers. Their business dealings RlUtl b on a
friendly bMia, and each must assist the other in every mau
w.r iHwcilJ,. Witlmiit ImiwKtv this cannot be done It is
as necessary that the consumer be honest with the mer
chant, as it is that the merchant should be honest with the
consumer.
Ontario merchants are working along this line of co
operation. They realize that their own best interests are
also the best interests of their customers. They realize
they must purchase their stocks in large quantities in or
der to get the minimum price. And in order to be able to
handle large stocks, they must have many customers, and
do a heavy business. The principle of the new scheme is
correct. It only remains to work out the details.
For A Clean City
Nothing make a better impression at the first contact than
good looks, be it the good looks of a plant, a field, a person or a
city. Therefore it behooves us, as the citizens of Ontario, that
we immediately take steps to improve the complexion, form and
action of our city, in order that the many summer visitors may
fall in love at first sight with it.
Beauty is the best advertisement for a city, but on the other
hand unsigbtlyness is the worst. While our city iu not to be
classed as unsightly, yet it would require an unusual strain on
the imagination to class it as beautiful. There is plenty of room
for improvement anil the opportunities are so many and good to
make a beautiful city that we need not be discouraged. The task
is not too big only it needs prompt, systematic effort.
No only should we plan for one year, but we should plan
for future years. Many large cities have deplored the fact that
they did not plan on these things sooner and so secure them
cheaper and better. We are at the right stage of the game to
plan on making our city a beautiful and pleasing nluce to live in
and so attract visitors now, and also provide for future improve
ment. The first step in this movement is cleanliness. This should
be first, and essentially along sanitary lines. The fly season has
started and filth is the home of the fly. Prevention is better than
cure and if the breeding places of flies are destroyed it would be
worth more than all the fly traps ever invonted. With our sys
tem of soA'ers, draining our swamps and carrying off our tilth, m
ought to be able to solve this problem if we would exercise the
proper methods.
Then cleanliness for the sake ei' beauty ibooM bt our uext
aim. (lean streets, free from papers, ash piles tic., may be more
monotenous, but they look better. A well dc lined curb, with
grass parking and good sidewalks make an niiiuctive street and
one of which the town is proud. Also the dwellers along that
street will do their share in the work ac i pretty lawns and well
built, well painted bouses will be the result. No bodv likes to fir
up a nice residence ou a dirty and ui. sightly street, but everyone
has a liking for the beautiful.
So let us have CLEAN UP DAY again, soon. Let us bv
a committee appointed by the Commercial Club or the city couu
cil to plan this work for this year and for years to come. It will
take some funds but yet not so very much. And when have the
people of Ontario refused to support a laudable undertaking?
Let us each and everyone boost this work and carrv it th-..
to the highest perfection ONTARIO, THE BEAUTIFUL CITY.
There is something radically wrong with the farmer who it
opposed to good roads.
See The New Spring Hats
AT Tllli
The Millinery & Art Store
$6oitk.
You can select your New
Spring Hats here and be
absolutely sure that you
are getting style that is
up-to-the-minute. The
styles we are showing
are the ones that will be
worn in the fashion cen
ters of the world this
season.
Our Motto is "Quick Sales and Small Profits"
ONTARIO,
Hull & Harrell
OPPOSITK POSTOFFICE
OREGON
.'oppcrfield) nnl I unhesitatingly sa. I I wanted to hue; her in the street
dint they are nil overlooking ninny on i for her shrewd common Sonne
Hirtunitics of expansion in wealth ant" I couM (rive you the names of bott
H'piil.iliini.
tin- tmrtii'U If I rhuun lint 1 li.liM
r .- , .. - . , . . ,:,
It us take this city in which v.v the store-keeper has learned his It
Ain.l ourselves. You huve here one if aon. The farmer did not know any-
the best and richest Commercial clubs bo'y thought tlmea were hard until
In the Stat. It has a large member-1 he wu told so, hut you may be ran
ship roll, its treasury has funds unjjthat r told all his neighbors withli
can gi (,oo(i mien tor tne erection ot ,l" ,m" i ". umwn ui mm
factories and the encot. ; iiremcnt of In pockets, and of course they have dm
venters in In ini emu !.' iiwlnui in , so
The members help th retnry to do
all in his power to get : I various at'
traction- if the locall liefore the
people wi hWJ ii '. een pi I
fair countiv. All tin of course
right ami prop i oik f jr club to
do. But are y u r it? Dj
you believe the p i
i accurate? If -o i i ;i .
cmart ns you Ionic by ' deal,
What you have done i to nllow a
handful of hard-workin . DiUriotlc.
Times are never hard unless yoa
make them so. Time are hard in
delirium, but thank God no devastat
ing Army hns marched over this fair
land.
Times are not hnnl nnd there ii at
scarcity of money either. A bumper
wheal crop was harvested last year,
and sold at n price far above tat
nveragc. The imr nrtntions from
An t i-.i i.-i have ceused. The export!
of U. S. have been greater aince tk
war broke out than ever before in th
l w .. .. hr ri.u a - H a - At
mii.-mu i mi injj men wnn an.' K'Uing .-.- ...
their backs sore trying to hold up an nation' history. How then can timet
ever increasing load. aire;:. I v too heavy bc hard?
I.et ua examine for a few moment
ever increasing load, alro;;.!y too heavy
f..- U...M 1. !.. . .,
ivi mem, Ri-ri oil llllll'K, wnilU 11)0 "" "
reat of you are willing to sit back with th cxport in tho,e products on
ciicara in your mouths and your heels which thi ""rt of ihc aie ' I""0"1"
ciirara in your mouths and your heels
on your deska, and tell them to go to
it. You have no buildhi r, no club
house, no funds invested, no nothing
except an unfortunate half-time aecre
iarly dependent.
Corn haa increased from $:!.ti,903
in 1913 to $1,759,100 in 1914.
Wheat haa Increased from 47!),2M
tary, who ia working a jolly sight in ,9,:l to $2219,570 in 1914
Without good roads, there can be uo developmeut that will
be permaueut and enduring.
Busineaa Co-operation
A lasting demonstration of the value of co-operation
was made in Ontario Saturday, the occasion being "Ten
Per Cent Day." This was a demonstration of co-operation
between merchants and consumers, and was an unqualified
success. It was not expected that the event would prove
profitable to the Merchants, and it did not, as several es
tablishment lost money in carrying out their advertised
offer of ten par aaill off OO every article purchased, but
success came in the large crowd that visited Ontario that
day, thus giving the merchants and consumers an op
portunity to get acquainted, to get together, and thereby
open the way for friendly co-operation something that
will prove profitable to the consumer as well as the mer
chant. The fundamental basis of every mercantile establish
ment in the world is profit. Without profit no business
OOttld long endure. And then is not a fair-minded con
sumer anvwheii luit want- the merchant to make his profit.
Hut at the same time the consumer will buy where he can
buy the cheapest Quality being equal, it then becomes a
question of whoean sell for the Ml money. It is upon
this principle that the mail order houses have built up
their business, but the mail order houes have betrayed the
confidence of their customers have taken advantage of the
leeway allowed in that the money is collected before the
article goes out of stock, thus giving an opportunity to sup
ply an inferior grade of goods
But the merchant the merchant who makes money,
and whose business becomes solid and substantial, is the
one who is shrewd enough, and financially able, to supply
his customers with the best quality of merchandise at a
ininimum cost. This can only be done by co-operation
Bad road keep children away from school and Imnsl. th
efficiency of church work in a community.
The elementary principals involved in improved highways
are social and domestic happiness and business economics.
No oitizen realizes the value of good roadaas does the farm
er. And there is nothing a town or community can .lo t..t -m
make friends of the farmers quicker, than to boost and in i
curing good roads.
harder now than he ever worked before.
It would appear then that the first
leaaon you have to learn in the taak
of building up your town ia to learn
to get into and behind your Commerc
ial Club. The merchant who aits back
amiling and aaya let the other fellow
do it, ia trying to get something for
nothing. He ia like the man who
Flour has increased from $5,714,571
in 1913 to $7327,773 in 1914.
OaU haa Increased from $8,150 It
1913 to $3,900,174 in 1914.
Beef haa increased from $864 ,M
in 1913 to $3,032,334 in 1914.
Or the exports in your products
haa increased from $9,872,678 to 3,-
388,961 in one year. Don't vou suo-
pose that you will get your share of
that money?
Don't you know that the wave of
went into the cafe and ordered pork
and beans, and when he was served
1L J A k -' 1 . ...
.-. al iiiriu (urmiuninriy and men . '7 " " ""
asked if he might change them for ' unPrBlelled prosperity which is now
! i, ... rollinv avap tit um.i ...in m .ma
yn. n was uiu ne might and did
so. When he waa leaving the cafe he
walked out without paying, so the
proprietor called to him for his monev.
Highly indignant the man asked for
rolling over the west will reach voa
before long? Ever the tide of goal
fortune nows west. They have it It
the east now and they have had it is
the east for ....t.i.. i i j- .... ;.
"7 iiiuijjimni me man assert for' --... , u un
what he had to pay. "For the pie of wty out her now- Perhapa It ha
II. J .... -tli tloVA al..J.. J J- J
- --"- ..W.J uiivuuy mm you no not
know it.
A community can safely hi judged by the kind of highways
it inaintaii)8.
The greatest chasm between the producer and the consumer
is the mud hole.
Production must cease when the transportation costs eat ui,
the profits.
fHl (JKOWTH Ol
TIIK COUNTRY TOWN
(Contributed.)
A few days ugo 1 met one of the
.' o-t BfOtnialaf "U'li in the country. 1
M met niuny such, and he u-sked nic
sfkgj I thought of the state. 1 re
plied that it wu.-. the nuKst thickly in
habited undeveloped eountry 1 haii
! seen. Highly indijjnant he pointed
Ml Hie railruad coiustiiution and the
various tltetVaf and other public util
ity li.velopnient.- with which the coun
try has been benefitted.
Yes he was right, but away down
M Uie John Day river there is going to
waste cheaper and greater power,
6righter and cheaper light, cleaner and
cheaper heat than any in the State and
it is only one of many instance.
What 1 meant to convey was that
the developments already accomplished
are not as great us those waiting to be
utilized. I did not wish him to think
that 1 thought no developing had been
one, but that so far only the fat had
ueen skimmed off the water und Die
meat and Done leinaineii.
the other day 1 heard a dear old
ady sighing over the undeveloped
Uite of India. Why Oregon will not be
M u. II developed as India in 100 years
unless you start right now. Within
fhaj minutes walk of the city hall of
i.aCrande, ami the same is true of ul
most every other town in this nn -
me Stute, there begins a valley oi
7,000 acres of rich and fertile soi'
almost in its native state. And yet yoi
think India undeveloped. Why that
ralley in India would support t
tiillion people. There is no undevelop
ad agricultural land in India.
I have been in every town of any im
portance in eastern Oregon (except
course," replied the irate nronrietnr
"Pie ? Why I gave my pork and beans
for the pie."
That is the exact attitude of the man
who hopes to get benefits from th
club without supporting it. It is un
businesslike, unmanly, uncitiien-like
and surely un-American.
Now before you have a citv vou
must have people, and before you
have m. ,. v you must have industries;
before you start industries you must
have faith in their ultimate success.
That means faith in your country.
If you have not, who will? In all my
life I have never heard so mueh tl
of hard times as I have heard during
ine last rew weeks. What is the mat
ter With VOU? Do von Kiir,r-o ......
are. going to gain anything by that "
Do people migrate to hard times -Kvery
time you cry hard times you
take dollars out of your pockets. I
was standing outside a store the
other day talking to the owner when
a men and his wife drew up in th.-
It paya to be optimistic. Don't yea
know what a pessimist is? I did net
know until I attended a banau.t is
Walla Walla given by the member
of the club. Col. Miller told ub that
an optimist was a man who went out
on a dark night and imagined hi
saw a faint light on the horison. wl.ick
was perhaps only the light of hope. A
ji.s.iimist is a son -of a -gun who come
along and just out of pure cussedneai
mows the light out.
Now you know whut it ia you musl
do as well as help your club. Yon
must be optimists.
The third thing to do is to fight for
your own town. This is most im
portant and your not having done so
before this has cost Kastern Oregon
one million dollars a year.
Portland has been built up at the
expense of Eastern Oregon. In the
past whenever a man made his stake
ne rented or sold his ranch and went
car Tho ,o j i .' I soui ms rain i and weni
car. the man ordered a f ve callon tn Pnia,i u. ,. ... .
can of oil and whilst th ,wi, . ..!..;. ! .u. " .' l" "ve" ne IH'nl u"'re
eel it i,.in...i i V ,l,0l,ey m" tarned ,1(?re- That is ob
get it we joined in a general con
versation. From lack of mnisti,.-.,
nnd lack of snow, the talk drifted '
lack of money and everything els?
except their own lack of brains.
When the man returned with a five
gallon can of oil the wife spoke for
the first time. "What H ., ,.
with five gallons of oil? That will
laat ua for a year. One gallon will
do ua now and we will take the other
four when things look up a little."
viously unfair to the countrv ami is
asking it to bear a double burden. It
has to support Portland and the coun
try town as well. Were it not for its
wonderful fertility and responsive
ness to treatment your towns would
have been wiped off the map long
ago. That thought alone ought to
give you heart. Now who ia
blame ? The retiring man, or the city
of Portland? Neither. You are te
(Continued on page 3. )