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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1912)
10 THE OREGON .'. SUNDAY JOURNAL. PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 1,, 1912. Advises People to Let Legislature Work Out Solution of Road Problem Farmer and City Man Urged to "Get 'Together" for Good of State. By Frank B. IUIej. Delivered Wore Portland Ad club - Wednesday, Noyeraber Zfc. . This whole noon-day experience has , been for mo stimulating:, exhilarating. I have enjoyed the original and, lively roll call, and all your fun.- And now, as a crowning? exhibition of your hospi tality, you have offered to stand for a talk by be on a subject so entirely new and -novel .-and - unfamiliar: -as .."good .: roads." ??..-.. , - However, I have no apology to offer . lor burling- at you right now the most elemental and academic arguments for ' a better, hishway; foT, .pointing out the glittering array of benefits that follow swiftly upon the construction end main ' tenance of a decent road. At any other time It might be presumption for me to tell you , that ; the improved rural road Is Oregon's most urgent need, her desperate and tragic necessity. But we've Just had an election. You and 4 Hre '.cltixens of Oregon and we must share the responsibility for a condition of barbarism here that ie beginning to appeal with violence to all America.': For the second time in four years we have sent throughout the United States the warning that Oregon is t satisfied with her roads as they are; that our highway of -"M years ago, before the age of the motor car, 14, still the standard we measure by: that all motor tourists, investors, homeseekers and farmers, ' with -truck wagons, who venture within - our borders, expecting to use our -eo- called, highways, come at their own risk. . Ollar to Old System. All this;Wouldn'f be, so bad If the , time hadn't come when our: wretched roads afford a direct and glaring com parison; with the; superlojr' highways of ' , the now, ihorouglily aroused neighboring statesKCallfornla,, with a bond issue of $19,000,000. Washington,,; and v conspicu ously British Columbia that group of -Canadian neighbors on the north whose achievement in public works make us gasp with astonishment and admiration are building in a big, permanent way, a system; of direct, atrateglo trunk ar teries between the great centers of pop- ulatton. with connecting laterals and feeders, and industrial county roads from1 the farms to the shipping points. The are following the example of In diana, Georgia, 'Hew, Jersey and New lork, and other progressive states. -; In Oregon, we are clinging tenaciously ' to the old archaic system of merely lo cal' county or "home rule" construction. and control of roads, a scheme that has ben discarded and forgotten by every , state-nd by very v foreign country which boasts of modem highways. And very year the hundreds of local district. - supervisors, without scientific guidance or intelligent plan, are dumping one million-dollars Into the; inudof the, dirt road In .'.so-called "county .repairs" a Munderinr.' and , prodigious ' waste of money.; ,'And When the rains begl, what have ; we to' show 'for- ltf , . We remind ourselves of the 'darkey who deposited ' 119 in a bank, and 10 months afterwards went back after it. Tho negro teller, after a-? brief examination, announced through the wicket: ; : 'Tott hain't got no money in yere." "Ah-sure has: I put ma ole nineteen dollahs' in ttMZX ""'"--tT- y Wrt wus dattV-'. :., v,; ,.' .... 'Ten -months ago:",. - - ' 'Lord,1 repUed the' teller, "why, de in terest dono eat dat up long ago." ,, ', , ' Koltnomah Solar Good Work. And my friend, Marshall Dana,. who Is :a safe guide In all kinds of has told us that only about 3.0 cents of real -value gets -into the road, out of every dollar of road tax, such is our system of petty political distribution of road funds under the county supervisor . system. '.vi I cheerfully make ,i an exception of jj i0 -' I ' ''' J Frafik B. Riley. Gels YoiirSlomach Under Perfect Conlrol Instant Relief for ; Indigestion and Stomach Troubles May Be Relied Upon by Stuart'a Dyspepsia Tablets There is no occasion to suffer from Indigestion or ? any, similar; stom ach trouble when you can so easily get Stuart's Dyspepala.Tableta. ...,...,.. There Is scarcely a well stocked drug Or general, atore. in the United States but what considers these tablets part of their staple stock. Ten, Can Travel Anywhere aad Eat Any i thing- They Serve, If Ton Have Stu. art's Dyspepsia Tablets With Too. MIlJionB.Vare ) uspd every'' "year and whtneyery-iother nian or woman you meet 'recommends them to you If you will but inquire why do you continue to suffer from stomach trouble? , The reasons why Stuart's Dyspepsia Tablets are such a widely used remedy are very easy to understand. These tablets contain almost the same ele ments as the gastric Juices of the stom- , acu. - Ana wneti'your stomach Is skk ni nui worsing just right, it does not give out enough of the natural file-pat ivm Julcca to properly take care of the food you est. So if.,you'wlll only give the stomach a little help by taking a Stu art' Dyspepsia Tablet after meals you will relieve the, stomach ' of its chief duty end alow- it the rest it needs to recuperate.. One grain of the active principle in a fituart'a rvmnii r.ki-. dlgt-sts 1000 graias of food, whether you place It to a glass Jar with cooked food i" ir iwnraicn ncryou nave eaten the food. : ' AH druggists eelr Btuarfs Dysbepula Tablets end once you try them you ill never again wonder what to do for .Jtordered, weak, sour and. cassy (t ' sch. SO cents box. Multnomah county. Here, with a cen tered population and wealth, with a road engineer, our court and supervisors are building with greater permanence, great er excellence ana greater intelligence every year. - : '' There was a reason for this old sva- tem at first. A day's lournev hv varnn didn't formerly comprehend the cross ing or a county line. Every vehicle on any given piece of road was owned in the neighborhood. If the roads of any county were rotten, it wasn't anybody's business but the people's In that countv. But one day the first "horseless ar- nage' chugged out on the highway the symbol , of a new era! And now the motor car and the motor truck with its easyv reach of .100 . miles a dayri has changed All that. the Deoole are minor back ,to the highways. It Is the age of mo rurai roaa; or rree-wneeied traction; tho age of the motor car not the locomotive.."- ..',:':' , ''. County lines are krowlnr fainter. Th main roads in every- county have really become just sections of continuous transstate highways. A poor piece in any county is a weak link In the chain. The roads of any county are no longer of local Interest merely. The people of other counties" are enjoying them, helping to tear them up, and they ought to help pay for them. We want state roads for tho state, built as railroads arc built, under a uniform system, with standard specifications of grade and sui face, and with the concentrated power of' a highway department and under the direct responsibility of a sci entific, expert highway engineer. And wo want the state to give aid to the counties in the construction of local roeds. , :- .; . , j ' . - '.'--. Benefit to rarmer. The farmer lias been honestly fight ing the" building of main state roads which he still Insists In calling "pleas ure boulevards," forgetting that it If ovr the pleasure boulevards of Europe that the French and English farmer hauls 3300 pounds, 18 miles, any dav In any year, with Just one ablo bodied arurt horse. . ,1 know of several friends in the coun try who , consider themselves lucky If they do not kill a heavy team in get ting away, with 900 pounds, and last year if the American farmer could have hauled to market his : produce at the prico at which the French and Enclisli farmer hauled his over the "pleasure oouievaras," he would have saved IS00, 000,000, which s quite enough to build the Panama canal and to subsidize a fleet of Portland ships to open -It up Willi, "Vou, as professionals, and all the rest of us as laymen, are advertising Oregon and seeking to fill an empire of un used land with home builders. We lure the "prospect" with word pictures of our opalescent skies, and Mount Hood, bathed in the rose pink of sunset. We bombard him with flaming pictures of the red apple and the overgrown tar nip, but we don't tell him about the thing that grips and pulls, the thing lie craves to know about the road, 'the way in and out, the thing by which he mtasuros our progress, our spirit, our citizenship. Why? Because we dare not! Shall we tell him that our mud taxes are the heaviest in the- west T After declaring that our land will produce 500 bushels of potatoes to the acre, are we to confess that it costs more to get the potatoes to market than they will sell for whn they get there? Shall we tell him that only one fortieth of our roads are passable in winter, and that the rains will make of his farm a prison house? That It costs our farmer 30 cents per ton per mile to haul his stuff as against a cost of 8 cents which the foreign and even the Indiana farmer enjoys? We Mast Admit raet. But there is no use in hiding all this; there is nothing to be gained in at tempting to imitate a farmer out near Gresham, who sold a horse to a friend of mine a month ago. While we were out driving the horse begarr to limp, and, fortunately, soon afterward we encountered the Vendor by the roadside. "You sold me this horse, didn't you?" began the victim. "Yes, sir." 'Well, he limps.'! "Yes,, sir." "But you didn't say anything to mo about that." "No, sir." "Well. why. didn't your angrily de manded the buyer. "Well." said the other, "the feller that sold' Mm to me didn't tell me, an J I thought It was a secret!" .. liall we tell lilm that Portland is growing out of all proportion to the population of the country about that must support it, and that on account of the isolation that comes with 'bad roads that the young men and girls of the farm the flower of our agriculturists are migrating alarmingly to this town, lured by tho fascination of the pavtd and lighted streets and the chance for companionship; only ' too often, as the mayor's police will tell you, to be whirled into the maelstrom of the city's vice and ruin. The cry, "Back to the farm," is a cruel Joke when the middle of the road is a quagmire and the sides are swamps. But we might as well ad mit all of this to the homesceker we'll have to ccrae to it sooner or later. Like the bridegroom who . selected a trip at sea for the honeymoon. lie proved a poor sailor . and the young bride, in desperation, went to the cap tain. ' 'Oh, captain," .she pleaded, "my hus band has grown so pale, and lie doesn't talk to me, and I am sure he Is going to be terribly ill. Can't you help him? You've been at sea so many years, can't you tell him Just what to do?" "Oh, yes, I 'could," the captain gravely replied, "but It isn't necessary he'll tie it. any wajtu visiter .ffho ajre-passing up and" down through this town ever the great na tional highway for- this road, , one- of Oregon's : chief est assets has assumed world wide interest ' and : importance. When we first began to boostfor this great continuous international highway from the heart of British Columbia to the Mexican border.rthe onlyTtssets wre had were wind and hope. .' :':"5? Now we have signs that ' stand at every puzxling cross roads. and forks. And then we have another priceless as set , name, a fame, a "good will," as you call It. for' the great road has ap pealed to the imagination of the nation and has .been pictured end described In -practically every.- travel, '. motor and engineering publication In the 'world. As a means of .attracting favorable, atten tion to. the state and the -, valley i H has been worth, as an- advertising medium, hundreds of thousands of dollars. The result of the last election seems to mean at first blush,-that in 1915, when the continuous procession . of Panama Pacific visitors, motor tourists, nomeseeKers ana. investors rrom tne na tion and the world sweeps eagerly1 north to see the- glorles of-tho. much touted Oregon country,, after leaving, the Cali fornia section, which promises to he ef almost European - excellence, they; will encounter a road as barbaric as any , in ( Christendom. . ': .' And you, as experts know. . that . the big advertising medium,- the dominant thing, the superlative "talking point'" is the road.: lit ls-theiflrst-,thlngithe visitor notices, and if it is a rotten -road,, it la the last, thing he forgets. . He will nurse his memory of our ruts and mud holes long after his recollection of our Industrial landscapes and scenic pano ramas are' forgotten., ; ; LaBt summer when" , the road, was , at least passable, I interviewed a touring party from Ios Angeles. . They . wero captivated with the valley, the scenery, the orchards the beautiful : green of Oregon after the parched brown of Cali fornia. They were full of praise for the Pacific highway which r hadi tempted them to come north and two of them are now raising apples near Eugene. Means More Prosperity. Several days ag0;lTnct another party' Whose car bad, been hitched to horsis several times between here and Salem. The spokesman Informed, me, between oaths,' that he hadn't "seen' ahyrorcharda. But the fine .farms! . Where? Surely the scenery was great -; They couldn't remember any. .;. "We , didn't- see , . any thing,'... he- said, ' "except, your damned Pacific highway." And for the first time Inroy life, I felt the temptation to deny that it was mine. -r-We know that good-roads mean-the restoration of the rural church, the up lift of the rural school, and as a conse quence, the -raising, of the standard of cltsenshlp. 'Most of all, In Oregon It means -the multiplication of the small land owner, and In the resulting even distribution of population and wealth shall be our financial stability and elas ticity, and nvuch of the solid prosperity of our future. - , Knowing All this, why aren't we build lng? ;Two years ago we passed by1 the initiative a , county bonding bill which In a Jackson county test case was found not to, be self 'executing and without a legislative enabling act was useless The last, legislature' tried", to ' :". enact some modem road laws;-but there gathered at Salem, combative lobbies who fussed and fought and brought on defeat For when the tbills were finally passed they were so mutilated that the governor, rather than . have Oregon' ; embarrassed , by. a wobbly program, vetoed the bills. 'Then the .people were appealed to. i In Oregon wt have the thrilling and Utopian ; slogan, "Every Man a Law maker" and every two years all the sup posedly Intelligent, but befuddled, elect ors, plus all, the other klpd enter, gaily upon that merry., pastime of tink ering and meddling .with, of stabbing; and Jabbing and changing tlieCconstitu tion, which until recently tWas a sort,of a contract and guaranty that our insti tutions should be free from the -expert ments of well meaning cranks and vicious destroyers. " We do .some wierd and picturesque things sometimes with our lawmaking. rfwo years ago. we. . were : supposed to enact one of . two antagonistic -fish bills. Just to be good sports we passed -them-both. At the last municipal electionwe enthusiastically passed -the . measure adopting the Bennett plan for the build ing of the Greater Portland, and on the same ballot decisively killed every meas ure which would in anywise enable ;us to .realise any element 'in that plan, i? ! j There were nine measures on the iaft ballot for road building.' Two -of these by their ballot titles seemed. primarily to limit the etate and the counties in road building by curtailing bond issues: and these were seised upon and passed with avidity. And then, with beautiful consistency, , we killed all the, remain lng bills which we thought provided bonds at all, and the manner "In which they were to b authorized . and sold. So that at' rtrsf blush' our present -body of road , 1&w seems ", to. fit the - small boy's definition of a skeleton,- which he aescribed- as "av man with .his Insides out and his outsides off." ' : - v. But' the two bills passed do actually carry with them the constitutional, au thority to state .'and' county ' tov Issue bonds as well as restricting bond Issues to 3 per cent. of the assessed Valuation of state or county: And Iso the .bills were- successful 'allowing1 the J convicts to work'ont4he highways, -which is a big step, f erward, f or t bad? men - build good ; roads and are '. made better men while" they are at It. ' - , ' "facing Old Problem. : So. the next legislature, with a Utile more power at its command, stands facJ lng the old problem: It is said that Oregon really wants good roads but that, befuddled " with the many -, conflicting measures on the' last ballet,'- we, in des peration, killed them all, so. that the legislature could tackle the problem afresh,. J hope "this Is true -and. that It wrtl' o; appeal to the legislature so that that body-, will not stand in-the tradi tional fear of correcting any mistakes made by the. people in their sacred iso of the initiative: and -'Will not heaftate to,J legislate; favorably on a matter on which .the ; people have Beemlhgly,, but not really recorded So unfavorable an expresion.,'!''ir;fe'-v: ".'?..; : Let tbe'famer put.hy his out-worn prejudice,to,the motor truck and motor cer,. a , prejudice which "is being blotted out -and .forgotten ,by- grangers every where, even in the mountains of Tenr" nessee. .. Let1 the , city man' get rid of the illusion 'ttiat the farmer is narrow and sel fish, .Le him 'systematically get the- farmer's point of view, and, in stead of cussing him for his opinion, continue : to tryj, to. show him that the So-called auto boutevord with . its 6 percent grade and smooth, surface will be good enough for any. horse and cart, And .let all factions. In fullest confi dence, leave the problem -w ith the legis lature,, trusting In its intelligence. Its conscience. Its" patriotism, to reseue us from our, veritable slough of despond, and to put us safely and proudly in the front rank of the states, sa that we ; may issue a challenge with our roads which cannot be resisted by any homebullder seeking a happier land,, or by any tourist in search of the crown ing scenic glories of the earth. , . DEAD IOWA DEMOCRAT ', " ; BEATS A REPUBLICAN i . . - . ' Mason City. Iowa, .Nov. 30.-i-A dead Democrat defeated a live . llepublican for supervisor in Carroll county at the recent election"; and, what is more," the lawyers" say. ,lt la 'all right and the auditor, recorder and clerk will have to fill the .vacancy.. Victor Schirck was the Democratic candidate and A. Patton Republican. The day before election the Democrat died ..suddenly, but' the voters did not know it and they elected hlm.vThe- supervisors - solemnly- an nounced: him ; elected when the votes were canvassed, although they knew he was dead, and then declared the office vacant because of death. Some of Pat ton's friends eay-ts lit was the only candidate running on election . day. he was elected and will take the case-into court. ' COWARD. PRINCE WAS KIND TO AMERICANS 'f .... ' : .. . :,;;:j,,-ir; , v ' ,.:s-: '. -.?(' faris." Kov. 30.- The news that Prince Azsiz Pasha has met an Ignominious death' will cause a pXng to at least 50 school teachers in the United States who' were hospitably entertiitried by the affable Kgyptaln 'five years ago. '. ; The prince was found guilty of having shown the white feather at the battle of Klrk-Kllsseh, Turkey, and was sum marily executed. , "When -we visited Athensand Con stantinople In 1907." says one of the party, "we r met AssU Pasha.' . He was cruising In his yacht hear Corfu when we approached that town. In our yacht Athena. When he learned that we we;re Amcrlcaus ,,he insisted that we should ;ll ko-. aboard his craft. Tho prlp.ee entertained us for thi-p hours Offering luncheon,, with rare wines. ' I was greatly impressed, not only by his hospitality, but by bis inte Uigence aa well. ,'.. " , - ''He had a nlnrtlfl tihrnrv nn l.,,.. ...i and called our 'attention especially to an automatic piano pluyer. as evidence that he was thoroughly up to date and was Interested 1n things American. "No host could have been mort-kind than he- wns to uh during "-"this -visit. Azziz Pasha had two sisters whi fre-quentjy.-jravel in central and noitlu-nx Kurope, sometimes- .visiting Pans, On these: trips they wear the ntttre cn. mon ' to ' this nart nf Hi,. pi(ln,.iii .1, n . nn , .i i u I, ....... i. ,Iacd Ijuck.' ; v ' - -j. .From Satire.''. . ' Mrs. ! Tinkle-T-Tlicy eay . that i Mrs.' Neaurich ..is becoming ; more popular' every day, . " - . , '-..." - Mrs., Dimple Yes, Indeed; you should have, seen how, - mortified she was a while eo when she '.learned that her htit band owned common stock in a rail road, ' .,' ",.,' To a Wisconsin woman dna iiwn granted a patent upon- sticky fly paper maae in long strips , apd ;reeied twithin cylindrical ..drums, permitting the ex posure of small portions' at a time and their ,ea8y removal, t - . )VILL0W RIVER v (D. L. 788)' ' . j ThH new "TOWN 01' IMPORf ANCli" on main line of Grand Trunk Pacific; and pacific and Hudson Btiv at Junction-, of Fraser and Willow Rivers, -British:'-', Columbia, "Is . the southern and nearest gateway to the groat and wondwful Peace River Country -and VSP1SLLS OPPORTUN- j ITY for the -man or .woraaui who wlshe to Judiciously Invest. a smairi or large amount."-Kasy payments; no interest; no taxes, Write today J for maps, plats and printed -matter,'! PAO. BOND tt xxtnt cok'xth., 680 radfio Bldg., Vancouver, ., B. OS v r-, ... -j,ocal ' Representative: ; .'.-.i ?AOB KAABXSi 600 Keary Bldg. , State's Bfame at at&k. If Oregon Is to be a nonroad building state It means among other unhappy things that the Oregon, section of tho raclfle highway, for instance, shall be the object Of remark, of stinging com ment und crltkism by the hordes - of tLy WM - An ?50 HI Per lit ' .. .no nmmsmm . . mam Embe -V? uSaStS MahalI1680 Send for Free LiterMuire T N ,'.? !.V ow In the New Townsite of MW1 ram mm a ..- t . ill the heart of the wonderful timber belt of the Tilla mook country; in the mountains; on the railroad and Ne halem river. Surrounded by virgin j"o rests. 2,880,000,000 Feet Immediately Tributary MillNow in Operation An Interesting Calculation Cutting 500,000 feet per day,- represents a payroll cost, for logging, at $4 ptr 1000, $2000 a day. Payroll cost of' saw ing, $4 per 1000, totaling $2000 per day, or $4000 per day, all told, which approximates, altogether, An Annual Pay Roll of $1,200,000 TIMBER is topographically located so that every foot of this timber inust be logged and cut by residents of TIMBER or those who live tributary to TIMBER. . " Wonderf ul Agri5 xeltaral Land ; ... -v -. Xo sooner is the timber land cut than the soil is ready for intensive cultivation. This land will easily produce l" 50 net per acre, forever. pportuBiity for men who seek permanent employment, business in- vestment or summer homes in the mountains. .'. n Business Lot 508-509-510 Northwest Building . . . T . , ; 6th and Washington Marshall 1680. JL' TV