Pig Two
MALHEUR ENTERPRISE
Saturday, January l6l6
RESPONSIBLE
BANKING
YOUR BUSINESS
Your business is just as important to you as
John D. Rockerfeller's business is to him. Re
gardless of the business you are engaged in or
the size of it you need the advantage of mod
ern banking lacilities such ati we furnish. We
invite you to open an account with us and pre
pare yourself for any unlocked for adversities
that may be born of the r tv ent world's war.
Total Resources over $450,000
We pay 5 per cent on money placed on time
deposits with us for periods of six
and twelve months
OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS
M. G. Hope, President
I. W. Hope, Vice-President
J. P. Dunaway, Cashier
B. W. Mulkey, Ass't. Cashier
Leslie L. Hope, Ass't. Cashier
T. W. Halliday
Geo. E. Davis
UNITED STATES
NATIONAL BANK
VALE, OREGON
Don't Buy Your
LUMBER
Before you see what we can do for you.
No matter what you need in lumber and building
materials, we can supply what you need, and we
think we can save you money. We may possibly
bomistaken about that, but it will cost you noth
ing to make sure about it
Lumber and service that satisfy is our motto.
vAll we ask is an opportunity to demonstrate to
you that these are not merely words, but facts.
Let us know your wants.
We also sell cord wood and coal.
The Home Lumber & Coal Co.
EMPIRE QREAlvrSBPARATOR
jj a customer saia, inc otneraay,
the creditor himself would have less
security rather than more. The credi
tor is familiar with liens for all man
ner of taxes and improvements and
looks upon the irrigation-district lien
in this light rather than in the light
of a mortgage prior to that proposed
to be given to him. Hence the set
tlers under irrigation districts, wheth
er such districts receive water through
Federal aid or otherwise, do not find
themselves handicapped in this re
gard to anything like so great an ex
tent as under private methods of or
ganization, or under water-users' as
sociations incorporated -to cooperate
with the United States in the earlier
history of the Federal work.
Supplemental Work,
Now, suppose the project to have
been completed and in operation, and
suppose it is found advisable to do
some additional work not contemplat
ed in the beginning. Suppose it is
desired to increase the water supply
by additional storage, or to take in ad
ditional lands to which water can be
pumped, or to enlarge the capacity of
its ditches so as to permit of rota
tion in delivery, or to concrete the
system, or to build a drainage system.
Under the private plan of financing,
all the lands within the project have
been plastered with a prior mortgage,
It becomes necessary to arrange for
some kind of consolidation of the pro
posed new lien with the old, or else
to secure new creditors willing to ac
cept a second mortgage, or one still
lower if meanwhile other liens have
been placed on the land. This form
of security is practically unmarkct
able.
An irrigation district, however,
holds another election after due no
tice, secures an additional confirma
tory decree, and immediately has
moro public bonds for sale. They are
simply a new issue of municipal
bonds. The proposing purchasers can
readily examine the district and find
out whether as a whole the lands will
give sufficient security for the addi
tional bond issue. They examine the
proposition as a single transaction
without the necessity for examining
each individual tract and the title
thereto.
I
This is an enormous advantage,
have come into contact with this pro
blem in connection with the Okanogan
project in Washington where it was
proposed by the United States to ex
pend additional funds, amounting to
about $30 per acre. The land own
ers urged, practically unanimously, to
have the additional work done, but it
was essential to secure a supplement
al lien upon every tract in the entire
project and waivers of private mort
gage priorities, simply because no ir
rigation-district organization had
been effected. This required two years,
whereas under the irrigation-district
plan it would have been possible to
have secured far better security in 60
days.
Popular Control and Responsibility.
There is a final advantage in the
irrigation-district plan to which I will
tion of going concerns as irrigation
districts, just as provision is already
fully mode for incorporation in order
to provide for new development. Irri'
gation, where working properly, un-
questionably promotes a higher type
of community than the humid type of
agriculture; but where proper safe
guards are not furnished by the law
and the form of organization, the
neighborhood quarrels are often de
plorable, and, as you are aware, many
a murder has occurred because neigh
bors are unable to agree upon the pro
per amount of water for their farms,
If the minority is brought into a dis
trict, whether they will or not, I am
confident that a long step will be ta,
ken in many of these valleys for pro.
per cooperation. The use- of water on
a larger scale would in many cases re
sult in the extension of the area irri
gated in the aggregate to thousands
of acres.
Future Development.
Now, I want to say something of
the future; how the irrigation district
can be of service in further develop
ment work. We are oil, I am sure,
exceedingly anxious that the resourc
es of the West in land and water
should be utilized, and that within
our life-time so far as may be. How
can that work be carried forward?
We all know that private enterpris
es have not been eminently successful.
tar too isolated nre the cases on a
large scale where the original in
vestor and the average original farm
er have made a success. The empha-
sis in this statement should be plac
ed upon the word "original."
As you Know tnere have been a
great many receiverships, there have
been a great many failures on the
part of farmers, and the investors
often have lost everything. Hence
irrigation securities for several years
past have been unsalable to a very
great extent. The Federal work has
not been entirely immune from fail
ures on the part of the settlers in
spite of the fact that no interest is
being charged.
Cause of Failure.
Would the irrigation district or
ganization and financing, if adopted,
have made these private projects suc
ceed? In many cases I believe it
would have done so in so far as the
investor is concerned, and in some
cases for the original settler also, but
not in all cases by any means. The
irrigation district is not a panacea.
The security it has to offer rests not
so much ih the value of the land when
the money is loaned, but in the pros
pective value when irrigated by the
wise expenditure of the inoney by the
district. The result has generally
been one of an inflated cost and in
terest rate, even under the district
plan. The district plan does the most
for the investor that any known form
of organization can do, and therefore
does the best for the farmer to secure
low cost and interest rates, but it has
its limitations nevertheless so far as
making the average original farmer
successful is concerned. Those lim
refer, nnmplv. thnf. nq n nnlilii- inr.
pqrution provision is made for popular I its nre found for the district ns well
democratic control. The electors of ns for other forms of organization in
"Farmers and Dairvmen re set
ting wise. They are learning how
to buy machines. They consider
new, easy running tne ecu pos-
slblc evidence of quality. This Is
especially true of nigh speed ma
chines like cream separators The
next thing they consider is, how
long the machine has been on the
market."
Argument doesn't make quality,
does it?
A properly cared fer EHPI0E Cream Separator will
start under the weieht of its crank. You can hold one
ear close to an EMPIRE running at full speed and hear your watch tick at
your other ear.
EHNltES have been used by the fathers and grandfathers of many young
farmers who are now buying EMPIRES for themselves.
Stop and see the EHP1RE, or ask to have one sent out.
FOR SALE
INTERIOR WAREHOUSE :AIN COMPANY
Vale
Oregon
IRRIGATION DISTRICT
(Continued from pnge 0)
if they fuil the public, through its
laws and ofllcials, takes adequate and
inevitable steps for its protection. The
construction payments and interest
und operation and mnintennnco charg
es are thus taken care of moro near
ly as a first consideration and as a
matter of course than under any other
plan which has been devised.
Farmers' Credits.
Tho success of the farmers is vital
to the success of private or Federal
project, and one of the great difficul
ties which has ben encountered by tho
water users under tho Federal recla
mation projects has been that of se
curing money for development pur
poses during the lifo of the lien for
tho cost of tho project Similar dim
cutties aro experienced under the pri
vate corr oration plan, and here again
the irrigation district is a great improvement.
Under this form of organization tho
I creditor fur moro readily realizes tho
actual status of tho mutter, namely,
that tho lien is not, properly speak
ing, n liability but rather an asset,
in that thereby there is created the
means for giving the property vnlue;
thnt is, tho use of tho water in irri
gation, and that without tho irrigation-district
lien and what it means
tho district run its affairs, and wheth
er their success is qualified or unqual
lficd, I believe they aro apt to be bet
ter satisfied thon if the system were
un for them even though it might be
with a somewhat greater degree of
competency by nn organization beyond
their control. Men instinctively pre
fer to do their own business rather
than to have it done for them , and it
is better in the long run that they
houlcl do so. Men who have a vote
o who shall be elected as a board
of directors will put up with annoy
ancos uncomplainingly over which
they would make a great stir against
a pnvnte corporation which might be
administering tho system or write
loni' letters to the Secretary of the
Interior in ense it were a Government
project
Self-government in irrigation also
has a strong tendency to promote in
terest in public affairs and in various
line of cooperation. Irrigation suc
ceed in proportion as men work in
coor -ration with one another and the
dist ' 't promotes and necessitates this
ver alent so greatly needed through
out o country.
The District for Fully Constructed
Projects.
T Legislature of the State of
Wn 'lington in 1915 passed an act
which oxpressly confers the power up
on irrigation districts to organize
solely for operation and maintenance
purposes where tho construction work
has been entirely completed. There
nro n great many fully constructed
projects under the private plan which
are running with n great denl of
friction. In some cases the landown
ers at tho heod of the ditch aro using
moro water than they nro entitled to,
and the statutes of several of tho
States fall very much short of giving
proper protection, to tho end that the
majority can compel tho minority to
do their share of tho maintenance
work and to properly provide for rea
sonably impartial administration and
operation of the system.
Every assistance and inducement
should bo offered by tho statutes of
the various States for the incorpora
te answer to the question: How
much can the farmer stand?
Can the settler struggle under the
burdens existing under the project ns
ordinarily financed, to wit, payment
of the principal and the interest on
the building cost from the start, the
cost of his improvements, including
house, ranch buildings, fencing and
leveling nnd ditching of the land, the
cost of the maintenance of himself
and family, the purchase price o"f the
land with interest, and the operation
and maintenance expenses of the pro
ject?
Can the farmer struggle under all
of these burdens nt the same time?
I doubt it, Mr. Chairman. I doubt,
therefore, if private enterprise can
handle the situation except under par
ticularly favorablue conditions. The
investor is entitled not merely to se
curity but a reasonable rate of inter
est upon his money from the stnrt.
Some means must be taken to allev
iate the burden.
Tho further development of the
West, in my judgment, demands gov
ernmental assistance, either State or
Federal, upon a larger scale than
heretofore, unless the record of the
future is to be either stagnation or a
continuation of toomuch of the record
of the past, namely, a large proportion
of cases of the failure of tho original
farmer or the original investor, or
both. The private method of financ
ing, in my judgment, is a failure; not,
in general, on account of incompeten
cy not dishonesty, but on account of
the fundamental weakness of the sys
tem on account of the falsity of the
view that tho settler can bear all the
heavy burdens which I have enumerated.
State Development.
Now, from my merely personal
point of view, tho National Govern
ment is better able to conduct this
work at present than the States. The
State government is, after all, a local
proposition and the responsibility of
the government devolves upon a few
men, nnd the pressure from any large
irrigation project is simply tremend
ous on men who nre local in their af
filiations. Of course where a proposi
tion Is clearly infeasible any compe
tent and honest State official would
be willing to render a distinctly un
favorable report or take definite ac
tion against the project, but the West
is now full of borderline projects
some of which are meritorious today
and others should await tkS day of
larger population and better nearby
markets, but under State control .
fancy it might be exceedingly diffl
cult to prevent these projects from
being prematurely and perhaps dis
asterously undertaken.
Do njt understand me to imply by
any means' that the agents of the
Federal Government ore entirely free
from this kind of pressure, but both
Congress and the Department of the
Interior are able to resist local pres
sure to a far greater extent than Stat.
ofllcials can possibly be under ordin
ary conditions. The Department of
the Interior can always, with good
grace, supplement sucn examination
as may have been made by conference
nnd inspection by men of wide exper
ience who could be summoned from a
distance and who would come into con
ference without prejudice or favorit
ism.
Moreover, before States can go in
to reclamation work most of them
would need to put through constitu
tional amendments a long nnd la
borious process in most jurisdictions.
Federal Funds at Low Ebb.
Now, the reclamation funds of the
United States are pretty thoroughly
claimed for tho indefinite future,
They are reduced in amount and the
projects undertaken should doubtless
be completed nnd the water appropri
ations which have been obtained
should be perfected in good faith be
fore additional projects are taken up
under the reclamation act as at pres
ent in force. Furthermore, under the
law the $20,000,000 loaned to the fund
by Congress in 1910 must soon be re
turned in annual installments, consist
ing of half the receipts to the fund.
Unless Congress makes provision
therefor, the Federal Government is
not likely to undertake large new de
velopments at a very early date.
A Possible Plan to Cooperate with
Districts.
I wish, however, to offer you a sug
gestion as to a plan for Federal as
sistance. Suppose the United States
make a careful and complete investi
gation of the engineering facts, the
water supply, the agricultural condi
tions, and all other necessities of a
successful project, and the depart
ment and Congress are satisfied as to
feasibility. Suppose then bonds of
irrigation districts not exceeding a
limit set by Congress to run for, say,
40 years, bearing charges at a rate of
1 per cent or perhaps one-half of 1
per cent more than the amount of
the interest, are issued with guaranty
of the United States. Such bonds
should sell nt a very low rate com
paratively and the amount charged in
excess of interest would go toward tho
amortization of the principal debt,
The interest during the construction
period nnd for a few years of devel
opment thereafter should be carried
as construction cost by the sale of a
larger number of bonds than the ac
tual building of the works would re
quire. The Federnl Government should
perform tho work of construction and
might nlso operate and maintain for
a period of years, thus further safe
guarding the project to both settlers
and bondholders.
This plan would be equally adapta
ble to reclamation by drainage of
swamped and overflowed lands all ov
er the country under district organi
zation. This would add sterength to
the measure in Congress.
Comprehensive provision should al
so be made by Congress for a lien in
form of districts upon public lands.
Unquestionably the need of the hour
in irrigation work is conservatism,
Nothing further should be done in our
present stage of development and fin
ancing that is not placed upon a sound
platform of business common sense.
Tho original farmer, if he be a man
of average intelligence and ability,
and the original investigntor must be
given an excellent chanco to succeed,
I would rather see no more money
spent in irrigation development for
many yearsy than that he repudia
tion of irrigation debts should be car
ried further. The stagnation of the
last few years is a just retribution for
having followed unsound methods, and
for success in the future we must
have sound foundation
I submit that the plan above out
lined is conservative. It makes pro
vision for the farmer and gives him
opportunity as the basis of success.
rhe Federal Government will be pro
tected by the district lien, provided
hat due care is exercised in the selec
tion of projects. It is not as sweep
ing ns Government cooperation under
taken in development work in various
parts of tho world, which I have not
Mme to discuss.
The entire country knows Secretary
Lane's deep interest in and compre
hensive grasp of this work, but I do
not know what plans for the future
he favors. Hence my suggestions
must not be taken as representing the
views of the department in the slightest
T
School Department
UJir DirtctiM f FAT CLARE, Catr 5Ul S?toa&rt
A few of the teachers seem to be
laboring under the mistake that the
library books arrived late this year.
Such is not the case. Books that aro
ordered in the spring and summer
are not shipped to the county super
intendent's office until tho last pi No
vember or the first of December and
as they come by freight they are of
ten delayed on the road. The re
packing and distribution of the books
for the districts and there are over
sixty of them means several days
labor and in addition to office work is
often not completed for ten days or
two weeks. In view of these facts no
district should expect to receive li
brary books until near the close of
each year.
School in the Bonita District will
be closed for two months on account
of bad weather and the long distances
the children have to go through the
snow.
The Cow Valley or Bonita school
and Sunday School gave a Christmas
program at the school house. Santa
Claus remembered the children with
a treat that would please children anywhere.
will do their best to make record
grades. -
Mr. Thompson, one. of the directors
in the Annex School, No. 29, was a
school visitor tho other day.
The Moorevillo pupils and teacher
hid as their guests the peoplo of tho
neighborhood Christmas night Miss
Eleise Brichoux is teaching her first
term of school in Mooreville. The
pupils there have spelling matches
Friday afternoons after recess and
last week LaRue Dutcher was the
champion speller. Miss Brichoux re
ports Area Moore as a close second.
The patrons and pupils in the Ore
gon Canyon School celebrated Christ
mas December 23 with a program that
was enjoyed by all of the thirty peo
ple present One auto containing
twelve people drove twenty miles to
be present Miss Iredale writes that
Santa Claus is a good friend of the
people in that community.
The Skullspring boys and girls were
given the privilege of voting on the
question of a Christmas holiday and
they voted to have school instead of
a vacation 1 Either Miss Stuve is an
excellent teacher or those are excep
tional children. Of course there is a
possibility that both ore true. Beu
lah Baker of this school treated the
school with her birthday cake Christ
mas eve. This is further evidence
that a splendid spirit prevails in this
little school. Blanche Slayton has the
distinction of making the highest av
erage in the December examinations.
The Beulah teacher writes that her
boys and girls had a jolly time Thurs
day afternoon before Christmas. They
popped corn, played, games and were
given a complete surprise in the form
of a "grab bag" and a hunt for a gift
book. Friday evening the children
gave a Christmas program and the en
tire community enjoyed the Christ-:
mas tree. This school, along with all
the others report a good deal of ill
ness caused by bad colds and lagrippe.
Two pupils in the McDermitt school
will write in the January examina
tions. These are the first children in
this district to write in the State ex
aminations. We hope that in another
year all of the rural schools will bo
sending out eighth grade graduates
instead of reporting children who are'
leaving school when in tho fifth, sixth
or seventh grades. There is no rea
son why these children in our interior
districts should not receive as good
training as the boys and girls who
live in or near towns. Mr. Thomburg
deserves considerable credit for the in
terest in school work that he is de
veloping in a district where such
things have been somewhat neglected
for the past year.
The remainder of the library books
have been received and will be shipped
to the various districts this week.
Thirteen districts have asked for
examination questions for the January
examinations. This is an exceptional
ly large number for mid-year.
School in District No. 29 closed De
cember 24th for tho holidays. The
teachers spent their, holidays in their
respective homes, Mrs. Spaulding in
Weiser nnd Miss Weir in New Ply
mouth.
Miss Weir writes that her pupils
who expect to write in the January
examinations are working hard and
The two schools in the vicinity of
Westfall where Mrs. Jacobs and Mr.
Parker are teaching are progressing
nicely. In Mrs. Jacobs' school twenty
new library books, a mirror, wash ba
sin, towels, etc., have been added ro
centlyv The liberal patronage of a
basket social given recently mado
these additions possible. The children
in this school gave a program, beforo
the holidays. One of the features wbb
a "fish pond" full of presents. This
made a great deal of fun for all con
cerned. The teacher's contribution
was candy in choice Christmas boxes.
NOTICE TO TEACHERS AND
SCHOOL BOARDS
In the recent convention of county
school superintendents, the State De
partment of Education instructed the
county superintendents to cnll atten
tion to the following extracts from
tho School Laws of Oregon. Teach
ers, school boards and superintend
ents throughout the state will here
after meet all of these requirements
Section 84, Page 44 of the 1915 Ore
gon School Laws.
Teacher Must File Certificate and
Contract
The county superintendent shall re
quire teachers beforo beginning to
teach in nny school district in his
county to register in his office, if they
have not previously done so, their
county certificates or State papers,
and file a copy of their contracts, and
should any teacher fail so to register
his or her certificate or State paper,
and file a copy of his or her contract
in the office of the county school sup
erintendent before beginning to teach
in nny district in his county, said
teacher shall forfeit to the said dis
trict the full amount of salary for the
time taught before said certificate, or
State paper, or contract were so fil
ed. The county school superintendent
shall notify tho clerk of said district
of the amount of such forfeiture and
shall deduct the amount of said for
feiture for the next apportionment
due said school district The require
ments of this section shall be enforc
ed only by the county school superin
tendent of the county in which the
school building in which the teacher
is employed shall be situated.
Section 24, Page 19 of the 1915 Ore
gon School Laws.
Registration of Certificates.
1. All certificates issued by the Sup
erintendent of Public Instruction shall
be valid and entitle the holder thereof
to teach in any district in any county
of the State upon being registered an
nually by the county superintendent
thereof, which fact shall be evidenced
by him on the certificate in the words
"Registered for use in ,. ..
County," together with the date of
registry, and his official signature;
provided, that a copy of the certifi
cate or diploma duly certified by tho
Superintendent of Public Instruction
may be used, for the purpose of reg
istry and endorsement in lieu of the
original, but no certificate shall be
registered in a county until the county
superintendent has satisfied himself
that the applicant has done the read
ing circle work prescribed by the
State Superintendent of Public In
struction for the teachers of the State
for the previous year and such regis
tration shall entitle said teacher to
teach in said county; provided, that
the registration and reading circle
work required in this subdivision shall
not apply to districts of the first
class; provided, further, that it is
hereby made tho duty of the super
intendent of Public Instruction to pre
pare a teachers' reading circle course
for teachers as provided for in this
section and also to formulate rules
and regulations governing the same..
Section 101, Page 51 of the Oregon
School Laws.
State Certificate and Diploma Must
Be Endorsed.
(11. No warrant upon the common
school fund shall be drawn in favor
of any teacher holding a state cer
tificate or diploma, unless such certi
ficate or diploma shows an endorse
ment signed by the county superin
tendent that it has been registered in
his office, as required by law.)
FAY CLARK,
County School Superintendent
HANDLING HOG CHOLERA
State Veterinarian W. H. Lytle will
give a series of lectures and demon
strations on control of hog cholera
and cattlo tuberculosis, at the O. A.
C. Short Course, Jan. 10 to F,eb 4.
He will also discuss the work of tha.
State Sanitary Board'. Dlaeast of
horses, with special reference to pre
vention, will be considered by Dr. B.
T. Simms, of the College staff, who
will also give demonstrations of un
soundness of horses.
The main difference between hen
pecked men is that some of them ad
mit it
THE VALE HOT SPRINGS SANITARIUM
Medical Baths and Health Resort. Rooms and Board. Treatment of Rheumatism a Specialty
For Information address DR. THOS. W. THURSTON, Superintendent
VALE HOT SPRINGS SANITARIUM COMPANY, VALE, MALHEUR COUNTY, OREGON i