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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 27, 1908)
THE SUNDAY OREGON1AN. PORTLAND. SEPTEMBER 27, 1909. fUi J illLlL n li Ml rfif?w 11X1 lb U EMPIRE OF FOUR MILLION ACR&r, THE MOT UNDEVELOPED LAND li THE RICHEJT AND EASTERN OREGON , - - V ' -. F , - vie i - y ' " 1 ""' m -flgtt WHEAT riELD 1H . THE HARNEY GOUNTSfbT . c BURNS Br JOt-KPHI.NE LOCHER. IN Kastern Oregon Ilea a Btretch of territory that la In Itself an empire. An emplra comprising; four and one half million acres of land and capable of supporting J00, 000 Inhabitants. This territory la no other than Harney County, the richest and at the same time the most undeveloped group of valleys In Oregon. The question here arises, "If capa ble of such possibilities, why so neg lectedT To answer this it la neces ary to repeat the history of like - aectlona tn Washington, Oregon and California. Teara ago these states were largely the pasture ground of vast herda of stock, owned by syndi cates from other states whose Interest It was to discourage the agricultur ist and homebullder from entering here, thereby maintaining thla vast region as an unimpeded cattle range as long aa poslble. Gradually the Idea became prevelant that there waa no farming land here; that the altitude waa too high for the successful growth of fruit and vegetables, even the har diest; that the climate waa too rigor ous: and many other drawbacks ..-ere cited which convinced prospective farmers that this was a good country to stay away from. This accounts for the long delay In the general settle ment of this country. Doubt still stares the stranger in the face when lie observes how little haa been done to assist nature In giving up even a tithe from her storehouse of wealth. To disprove the erroneous impression that years have Inculcated in the minds of those who ought to know the real value of this land, one needs but to visit a few of the fields and farms of those who have for a mo ment forgotten that this is a stock country, and have convincingly made manifest what the future possibilities of this practically unknown region are to be. Rich, Enduring Soil. 1 With an altitude of 4100 feet. little less than that of the Great Salt Lake Valley, Harney Valley alone, which la but one of the great valleys In this region, ought to be capable of aa productive development as the great Mormon 'territory. Our climate la pleasant and temperate In Summer, and mild and healthful In Winter. We are so altuated that frequent chl nooka from the Pacific Coast region temper our Winter weather, thereby rendering It much more mild than in corresponding latitudes farther east. Cyclones are unknown, and while there are frequent thunder storms through the Summer, enough sunshine prevails to ripen crops. The soil is a rich volcanic ash, and Is very endur ing. The opulent natural growth of sagebrush, bunchgrasa and ryegrass most assuredly proves the fertility of the solL Fine drinking water can be secured anywhere at a depth of from 18 to 30 feet, and stock water at from six to ten feet. Comblnlg these na tural blessings: viz., good altitude, fa vorable climate, rich soil, and easy access to water. Is there any reason why this country should not be worth the consideration of the homeseekcr? Harney County has attractions other than these above named. It Is not a tractless waste of land and sky. From an aesthetic point of view one could find nothing more beautiful than the majestlo snow-capped mountains, the rolling hills, fertile bench lands, and broad level valleys. By referring to the map you will find there is enough precipitation to feed three principal water courses, viz., the Silvies and Blitzen Rivers and Silver Creek, besides innumerable lesser streams and lakes. Malheur and Harney Lakes alone are worthy of a volume. Harney Lake Is saline In nature, but Malheur is a fresh water lake that forms a breeding place for millions of birds. A promi nent naturalist recently visited this lake while making a tour of this re gion and found that some of the rarest species known to science abound here; birds that from a commercial stand point are almost priceless. In this connection it must not be forgotten that Harney County has the distinc tion of belnfr the greatest game sec tion In Oregon. The natural topography of this county divides Harney County into sev eral valleys, the largest of which are: Harney. Catlow, Blltzen and Silver Creek Valeys. Harney, Catlow and Blltzen alone have areas of SU0,, COO and 180 square miles, respectively. Experiment In Dry Farming. While there are possibilities for the conservation of enough water to irri gate most of this vast area through Its watersheds, lakes and streams, practi cal demonstration has done away with the idea that Irrigation is essential. In fact it has been proven that too much water la a detriment rather than a benefit. Within two miles of Bums is a striking example of what Yankee thrift and ingenuity can do. Located on a hillside on as dry" a piece of bench land as could be found anywhere in thla country. Is a dry land farm. On this farm today can be seen an orchard of 1400 trees, two years old, covering 16 acres that are the wonder and ad miration of all passersby. The growth during the last year has been remarka- ' i ble. On one side of this orchard Is a 20-acre potato patch the green, bloom ing beauty of which can scarcely be excelled anywhere. The yield is go ing to be a source of pride to the most pessimistic. On the other side Is a grain field that last' year produced S3 bushels of Winter wheat to the acre. The wheat this year has not yet been threshed, but owing to this being an oft season here as well as all over the country, the yield per acre will not be so heavy. The beauty of this farm Is that all these results have been ob tained not by one drop of irrigation, but by careful tillage of the soli. This may -seem paradoxical, but will bear the closest investigation. This Is not the only one of these farms and In the not far distant future there will be many as beautiful fields of growing grain as only a few now possess. King Cattle Is fast relinquishing his arbi trary Bway and this region will no long er be a vast stock range, but a net work of farms and grain fields. Every where throughout Harney County the water levels are so close to the surface that Irrigation can be carried on very easily where necessary, by wells. The County Sent. Harney is the richest county, per capita. In the state, and has no out standing indebtedness. It is on a cash basis with $28,600 In the treasury. The tax levy last year was only 25 mills, with an exceedingly low assessed value. Burns, the beautiful little city of homes. Is the county seat of this in land empire as well aa the seat of the United Statea I .and Office. It Is a thriving town of 1200 Inhabitants lo cated In the north end of Harney Val ley. It has a good line of up-to-date stores, hotels, banks, two good news papers and other business enterprises. Bums is the educational center of thla V y 4 pass--' - " & j, , - "ttwj"' ' - - ..Mx-.fjaaat WJ1. .-.act. country, having a county high school and a public school employing eight teachers. The most competent teach ers are employed and students from here entering higher institutions of learning compare favorably with grad uates from other high schools in the state. All church denominations and fraternal societies are represented here. In fact It is quite a modem little city. It has a good system of electric lights installed and in operation, and Is the center for a numbtr of stage routes reaching out for the territory tributary in every direction. Few undeveloped regions have better railroad possibilities than thla same Harney country. In fact, they have been definitely settled upon. Through this great territory with .ts thousands upon thousands of acres of tillable land the Harrlman system has surveyed and located the Oregon & Eastern Rail road beginning at Vale, Malheur Coun ty, Oregon. This road is destined to be par of the transcontinental trunk line reaching from the rock-bound Atlantio to the Pacific Coast. This work has been done at a heavy outlay of money, but they have,gained by so doing one of the best grades and straightest lines of the whole system. This grade is only 8-10 of 1 per cent and In the near future will become the main line for heavy trafflo and fast passenger serv ice. Branching out from this line an other road is proposed to San Francisco via Lakeview. Pitt River and Sacra mento Valley. Engineers are now lo cating this line, which will give this vast inland empire one of the best markets in the Pacific, Northwest. With the thousands of acres open to the homeseeker under tne Government land laws, with untold openings for the investor why hesitate, when op portunity no longer knocks, but opena wide its doors. THE FUTURE OF CHRISTIAN COLLEGES IN OREGON' AT PRESENT DIFFICULT TASK THAT OUGHT TO INSPIRE VIGOR RATHER THAN INACTION BT ARTHUR CLIXTON BOGGBPS. WHAT the future of the Christian colleges In Oregon shall be de pends upon the thoughts and ao tiona of those who work in them. The task of today is to mold rather than to predict. .It behoovea us. therefore, to consider the purpose of the Christian col lege, and to determine how, tinder exist ing conditions, eucli purpose can. best be subserved. Eleven years of experience aa either taaeher or student, in state schools and Christian echools, respectively, of higher learning, leads me to the conclusion that there la a difference in the purposes of the two, and that this fact constltutea the chief reason for the continuance of the Christian chooL In the reaching toward the attainment of the highest standard of scholarship the alma are Identical. Aa a corollary the scholastic attainments of the respective faculties, as also the re quirements for the baccalaureate degrees, may be the same. But the radical differ ence is this: The Christian college avowedly lays emphasis upon the creation and development of Christian character In Its students. The state school laya no such emphasta. The words, "laya empha sis" are used advisedly in order to avoid any charge of having stated that state Institutions are antl-Chrleiian. Few such achoola are antl-Chrtstian. yet practically all are .non-Christian. In each of the four tate achoola with which I have been Intimately connected. I have found among both students and faculty Christian men of sterling worth, but I have also found, and again In each school, men whose in fluence would blast any young Christian life. Thla leads to a consideration of the type of teacher that a Christian college should employ. To me It eeems to be an axiom atic truth that no one who la not an ac tive Christian should be permitted to teach In a Chrlatlan school. By an active nr!stlan I mean a person who can con duct a chapel service with the spirit and with the understanding also: who cannot rest at ease while non-Christian students surround him: whose chief business in 1 re Is to be Christlike. The temptations to employ teachers who are not Christian .ire great, so great. Indeed, that many "Tirtstian schools do not resist them. A Mstory teacher may be found who la brll I ant. popular, and a good drawing card; h famoua athlete may be available aa .-ach or director of athletlce: a person who writes for magazines of fair stand may be willing to teach literature; r -te may be very Immoral; they may ins; more students to the Institution;! and so the fact of their being non-Christian Is winked at and the mess of pot tare is secured. Christianity ought to be strong enough In the United States to man its own educational institutions. I believe that it Is strong enough, and be cause I so believe I have for any Chris tian school with one or more non-Chris tian teachers less respect that I should have for the same school without such a blemish. If our teachers must be Christian In order to accomplish the purpose of our schools, they must also be scholars. Work done tn Christian schools will not be respected unless It Is respect able. Scholarship Is a marketable commodity. Usually it is for sale to the highest bidder. No one - who Is well acquainted with the teaching force of small Christian colleges will deny that a number of teachers in auch achoola might secure more money elsewhere, end that they continue to hold their positions from devotion to the type of school In which they labor; but, on the other hand. It la manifest that some remain because they are not wanted elsewhere. In the last cate gory fall those teachers who from lack of business sense or of aggressiveness exert an Influence that la not helpful. Wagea In amall schools ought to be aa high aa In large schools. If work of uniform excellence Is to be done. There Is a limit to the amount of work that a scholarly, well-paid teach er can do. There is also a minimum equipment for effective work. Any teacher, of whatever endowment, who must teach bo great a number of hours that he either saps his physical strength or deprives himself of time for Belf-lmprovement. will degenerate Into an uninterested, uninteresting, in efficient machine. Illustrations of this very thing are numerous, pathetic and sometimes tragic One method of re lief which seems not to have been fully appreciated la to teach courses in alternate years. In many achoola classes are small and numerous. In stead of six freshmen taking Ameri can literature and four sophomores taking English literature In the same year, teach only American literature one year and only English literature the next year. This gives a double ad vantage; the class work Is more Inter esting and the teacher haa time to do better work. It should neither be for gotten nor overlooked that the num ber of houre of classroom work as signed to any teacher ahould be deter mined by the character of the work. A teacher of biology needs tim to pro- , cure specimens; a teacher of physics, to arrange for experiments; a teacher of economics, sociology or current lit erature, to read such books and period icals as shall keep him well informed; while a teacher of undergraudate work in Latin, Greek or mathematics needs some, but not so much, time for prep aration. The minimum equipment for effect ive work consists of apparatus for sci entific Investigations and a. library Each must be sufficient to admit of the same character of work as Is done in courses of the Bame grade In our gnaat institutions. This may sound as if the enormous expenditures of great schools must be duplicated by small ones, but such Is not the case, because much of the . equipment of the former Is used almost exclusively In gradu ate work. Permit me to say, paren thetically, that I believe that no Chris tian college In Oregon haa such an equipment as makes It expedient to give a master's degree for a year's work done by a graduate in residence. Work done without a library In such subjects as economics, literature and history simply is not of college rank. A library Is to auch subjects what a laboratory Is to biology. Use of the library by the students must usually take'the place occupied in large schools by the lecture of the teacher. This can be successfully done because . the classes are sufficiently small to make possible close supervision of reports on. assigned topics. With competent teachers furnished with sufficient equipment. It still re mains to be, said that If the Christian college is to successfully compete with the best non-Christian schools, the work required for the baccalaureate degree must be equal in 'one school to that required in the other. At present the work required for auch a degree In Oregon Christian colleges varies from six years or less above the eighth grade to a maximum of eight years above that grade. This maximum la the minimum for high-class non-Chrls-tlan schools. One wfll hardly teach even two years in Oregon without learning . that the subject of uniform entrance requirements touches our Christian achoola In a tender spot, yet I do not forget that the more tender the spot ttie more urgent la the need for a physician. Obviously If the en trance requirements remain as they are, the exit requirements ought to be changed. Most lamentable of all the results of the present state of affalra la the fact that many of the students who attend the schools with low re quirements do not appreciate the situa tion, but actually believe that they are as well educated as those who pursue longer and richer courses. Thus con ceited prigs who lack the substance and, even more, the form of a liberal education, are all too likely to be pro duced. Since but one of the Christian colleges of Oregon can meet the re quirements of the Carnegie pension fund, it Is easy to decry the standard set by the administrators of that fund, yet it must be recognized that that standard is not higher than that of many schools. According to the stand ard referred to, at least 14 units of high school Work should precede ad mission to college. That means at least four years of hard work. To my mind, the completion of such a high school course, followed by four years of college work, should be the mini mum requirement for the baccalau reate degree. I have nothing to say against schools that are giving, and wish to continue to give, a lesser amount of college work, except that I believe that their finished product Is at present falsely labeled. Many persons rich In spirit but poor in purse can spend five, six or seven years In school, although they could not at tempt the eight years. For such casea the short course may be. a godsend. It does not follow that the fact that they took a short course should be disguised by dubbing them bachelors of arts. I am profoundly convinced that It would be a great improvement to give diplomas In stead of degrees In such cases, and to frankly confess what is undoubtedly true that when the student has completed his course he is ready to enter the sophomore. Junior or senior class of some university or college of the highest rank. We should thus win the respect of ourselves and others. Instead of calling work of the eleventh and twelfth grades the work of the freshman and sophomore yeare of college, reserve the latter designation for the following two years. Another reason than that of honesty exists for the adoption of such designa tions aa I have suggested. That reason lies In the fact that our Christian schools, with certainly not more than one excep tion, are not universities. The freshman and sophomore work of universities la much the same In ail of the various col leges freshman engineers, freshman law- vers etc.. take about the same subjects. Differentiation becomes marked at the be ginning of the Junior year. Few Christian schools among ua are prepared to give much of the more technical work In en gineering or medicine which Involves a large expenditure for equipment. It nat urally follows that students may often come to small schools for the first two years of their courses and go elsewhere for the last two years. If the work of a certain school closed with the sophomore year, this transition would be an easy one. No one is more conscious than myself that the ever-present need of the Chris tian college Is money. Few educators will disagree with what I have said concern ing the maintaining of high standards of work, but a greater number will regard the ideal as Impossible of fulfillment Courses are short, teachera are Inefficient and overworked, libraries and other equipment are lacking because money Is not at hand. If tuition is high, few students can afford to attend; if tuition is low not much money is received. We need money. Our only salvation from becoming obsolete Is money. It is often predicted that some of the numerous Christian colleges of Oregon must be come extinct There la an alternative and that is get money. A college with not more than 100 students could do work of surpassing excellence If some one would pay its bills. How to get the money is an insistent question. The col lege that held a May festival on last May day and run excursions for its friends did a wise thing. To have a financial agent In the field; Is often prac ticable. A conspicuous illustration of the expediency of not despising the day of small things was furnished recently by the success of an agent in the East who secured more than $25,000 for a Western school, most of the subscriptions being In sums of 25 or under. As an income from an endowment Is permanent even small gifts are Important In the case of de nominational schools, experience has shown that it is frequently practicable to send an agent into portions of the older states, where the denomination In question is well represented. We are still about as nearly on the frontier as we can get, and our Eastern friends appreciate the fact . even better than do we our selves. Two things are precedent to gifts by some wise philanthropist to colleges. One is high standards of scholarship; the other is a tendency to grow. A hope ful sign for the colleges of Oregon is the Increasing number of public schools that are doing ninth, ten, eleventh or even twelfth-grade work. A continuation of this transformation will result In the pub lic schools doing much of the work now done by the preparatory departments of the colleges. The tendency of the college proper to increase and 'of the preparatory department to decrease la already marked In some oases. The time may not be re mote at which It will be practicable to discontinue our ninth-grade work. There ars those who feel that there must necessarily be antagonism between state schools and Christian schools. Honestly I do not think so. Since the two kinds of schools have been In ex istence there have been some parents who preferred to send their children to the Christian school merely because it was Christian. State schools know this to be true. Then there la a belief that a amall school has advantages over a large, one, and Christian schools are usually small while state schools are usually large. This fact also aeema ob vious. These two reasons for the sup port of the Christian school are of such a character aa to lead to' the belief that they will long persist and that Christian colleges are to be a perma nent factor in higher education. Differ ent, but quite as strong, reasons exist for the support and the oontinuance of state universities. The very fact that they are state universities la profound ly significant Because they are state schools their adequate financial support Is almost assured. This means that auch teachers can be employed and auch material equipment can be furnished as will make possible work of the high est order. Further because they are universities they are prepared to minis ter to the needs of all types of stu dents, both undergraduate and gradu ate. Almost all state universities now have, and all will ultimately have, what ever advantages oome from the attend ance of a large number of students. These advantages are real, notwithstand ing the fact that there are certain ad vantages arising from a small attend ance. Among the things to be said in favor of the large attendance are the following: A student meets men of many types, thus giving valuable train ing for the work of life: lectures, concert courses, museums and the various means of enriching one's college work are more numerous and varied than In a smaller school; the presence of grad uate students tends to enable the un dergraduate to estimate undergraduate work at Its true value: positions for graduates are usually more easily se cured by large schools than by small ones. I suppose that no well-informed person takes seriously the statement so often made that the state university stands at the head of the common school system, if the Implication la that any high school graduate who enters a Christian oolege is in a sense a traitor to the state. An analysis of the rea sons for the existence of the Christian school and the state school, respectively, leads to the conclusion that each will be permanent It is the part of wis- , dom to accept thla fact whether It be a palatable one or not Within a few yeara a new element haa come to affect the future of the Christian colleges of Oregon. The conditions prece dent to the granting of Carnegie pensions to retiring teachers are such as to place a premium upon the abandoning of any legal affiliation between a Christian col lege and any denomination. No teacher In a seotarlan school will be placed on the pension list except aa a special lavor and no aeotarian school will be placed upon the accredited list The only Chris tian school In Oregon which can meet the other requirements for these pensions has formally dissolved all legal ties be tween itself and the Congregational de nomination. Adverse criticism from both friend and foe has resulted, although m general the separation was accepted almost without comment because the Con gregatlonallsts declare that the school will remain as distinctively sectarian as before while persona of other secta care very little about the matter. It Is not how ever, with these local details that we are concerned. To my mind the Important facts for us about the Carnegie pension fund are three: First, Christian colleges tend to Increase their endowment to the sum requisite to becoming beneficiaries; second, they will raise their entrance re quirements to the prescribed standard; third, they will in all probability sever themselves from their respective denom inations. As to the salutary effect of these changes no question will be raised except as to the last. It is too early for the effects of the loss of the technically sec tarian character to be historical, although several colleges in various parta of the United States have within a few years divested themselves of their sectarian bonds. I do not regard the change with grave apprehension. To my mind the essential characteristic of the Christian college, over and above the essential char acteristics of other colleges. Is that It shall be Christian. That college would seem intolerably narrow that had about it such an atmosphere that students of but a single denomination could thrive in It. Those who become alarmed - at the passing of denomlnatlonallsm fear that with denominatlonalism will go Christian ity. My opinion as to the reasonableness of the fear is tentative, but at present It seems to me that the danger of filling denominational boards of trustees witti non-Christian church members is quite aa great as the danger' of filling Christian boards of trustees with non-Christian members. Short-sighted, Indeed, must be any board of trustees of a Christian col lege that falls to know that the chief CConcluaed on F&s 11-1 1
