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About The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 1947)
Sol. CJrcfiotitatcsraaa "No Favor Svoayt U. No Fear Shall Aw" frees First Statesman. March t. 1151 TIIE STATESMAN PUBLISHING COMPANY CHARLES A. S PR AGUE, Editor and Publisher Mtakcr ef the AHNbM Press The Aaaaclatts Preaavas eselealvely entitled UUmmIw esbHeatlea ml aU mwi a las tea credited U It w art otherwise credited la this Rate on Bonneville Power When the stir arose a few weeks ago over reported demands for higher power rates by Bonneville administration. The Stateiiin remarked that it was not clear who was behind it whether it was the private utilities putting a squeeze on Bonne ville, as was alleged, or whether Bonneville was doing a "wolf, wolf act. The Eend Bulletin, whose editor is in close touch with movtirants affecting reclamation and power development as president of the National Reclamation association, puts th fin ger on Bonneville, and says that the hidden issue is over the question of the repayment of construction costs to the federal treasury. To quote: The fundamental Usue is the matter of the opinion given the eielary of the interior on Sept. 29. 1933 (should be 1944 1 ) ,y tne department's solicitor. Fowler Harper. Widely known in in tarnation circles and in the interior department itself as the "Monitor's opinion." without further identification, its soundness, its force, iU validity are the true questions. Should coiigMrjs approve or reject the opinion? l'oniritsional approval is what Paul Raver wants. . . Thosa who txlicxe that congress should reject the opinion do so on groomia tther than the effect, if any, the rejection would hava on Bonne i lie rates. The clicitor's opinion is an interpretation of section nine of the reclamation project act of 1939. It has to do with rata a'rvntuies for the sale of power produced at reclamation project d im Thus who wrote that 1939 law intended to provide for the irfjment of the power investment with Interest in 50 yean. They intended that rates should be set at a figure that would InMii that result. The solicitor's opinion developed a new rule v huh. if followed, would mean that power rates need be no high! than will produce a three per cent annual return plus annual maintenance expense. In other words the rate need not b hisn enough b amortize the investment in the normal fohtort. If the opinion were followed, whenever the time came that the annual three per cent charge equaled the total power in fptment the investment would be considered paid. The in-t-i-M. that is, would be considered as having paid off the prin cipal. To ocrcome the solicitor's opinion and restore the law to th- oitginal intent of its author's a bill was introduced at the lat M-minn of congress to require amortization plus interest. The bill tiid not paaa but undoubtedly will be reintroduced this action We are aware of this controversy between sponsors of r tarnation and the department of the interior. It may be that Di Raver would like to see the Harper opinion stand. The fact remain, however, that he is not taking advantage of that in th accoitr.ttng for Grand Coulee project which alone under hn administration La affected by that opinion. The Bonneville report dated Feb. 1, 1948 states in its lntro ltn'tHMi fWKJ summary, p. 1: The obstruction conIs of the Bonneville-Grand Coulee and of the Bonneville dam project (allocated to power) are returned v itmn e years with interest at 2 3 per cent, the approximate a t-rie t of money on long-term United States treasury li'indj tiiu.r.g the eleven years ended June 30. 1943. This is In a ii.rri with the finding and order of the federal power com- In aiki.t.on to repaying the construction costs of the Colum bia ttMMn prciect allrated to power within 50 years, provision I, mt for three pr cen! interest annually on the unamortized iMlitiMf of iuih o(vi.h and for repaNment of that portion of the i titi ii tion i mti of lh irrigation works which exceeds the i p.' y me 1 1 1 ability of the landowners. In no te are the construction coU not repaid: and in e.eiy t fr provision is made for interest annually on balances of lower construction costs remaining to be repaid. With itpecific reference to Grand Coulee, the report accepts th Haipcr c pinion at valid, a.s Bonneville administration as a d v :stn ef tr.e department of the interior, should, but states tint itn acttnting goe beyond the requirements under that op ion To ijote from p 5 The in am.ition project act of 1939 does not require that the powei rttr,,e rovr inteiet on the power investment over -and it i. vr fiitl :epaymtit The act doe require that power revenues irn Hie (instruction cots allocated to power, and in addition, . h Mxtiorn of the con'ruction costs allocated to other reim l -iTPtAtir ju.iposfn as exceeds the ability of the water users to i p.iv In ire present instance, the amounts paid from power i -. rn for return of cnt rut tmn coats allocated to purposes "''in ti;.n power is f-tr moi e more than the amount that would l- 'Htiini1 to rejMf any reaxinable rate of interest from year t M-iii on 'he unemoctieil power investment. Nevertheless, in addition la making- payanenta as repaired by law. addltlanal reve nue are heina aet aatde eqalvaleat te three per eeat annually n the ana mortised atwer ro as tract ion eosta. (Heavy type ours ed) In the face of thin declared policy, if the earnings are ade q ia'e to met all obligations and an independent audit indi cjvj lh are. there sterns to be no reason why Dr. Raver should ! p.'.ing wire to get the solicitor's opinion upheld: and certainly no reason as the Bulletin 4tself states to justify higher ra'-" ! Por.neville power tppMtion to the low rate of Bonneville may spring from o'h'-r M'-t ir. of the country which are jealous of the industrial d - e lo(m r.t of the northwest on the basis of low-cost power nnle j?sitie by thi federal, tax-free projects. Such cer tainly was indicated in the remarks of Congressman Jensen of low w ho has been quoted as saying no more appropria te cs whih1 he forthcoming for Bonneville unless it raised its r' Our tf.ttle then may be a sectional one: and if that is titie the northwest should stand together Bonneville Admin ls':atun and the people, including reclamation, industrial and CotrmeM-iiil interests. Leave State Service Lee C Stoll has resigned after heading for many years the cmplov ment service for the state and during the war for the fedttal government in Oregon, with a later title of director of the manpower commission's work in this state. Stoll was a leader in fitting men into employment in the latter years of th- dpn-rsion and in obtaining war industries for Oregon. His et :dv on manpower for shipbuilding had great influence with th Kaimt interests and led to their engaging in ship construc tion in the Portland-Vancouver area. Ot thing which Stoll emphasized was cooperation of labor ani miaerr.ent. He net up representative groups of labor and Industry iii encouraged them to work together. His success In this f-il has brought him the offer of a permanent position as exeswiive for the Portland labor-management committee. SM was one of the '"uncommissioned officers" who really helped to win the war. He has earned retirement, but to the extent of his physical strength he will continue working in his new alignment to provide jobs for men and men for jobs. Quite tardily but none the less pointedly, the Portland daily papers have criticised the Portland police department, bljntly repeating the charges of payoffs which have been com mon mp for years. No visible result has followed the publi cation, however, though there is little doubt they were read by all thee in authority. Could it be that important influences behind the scenes landlords, politicians, contributors to cam paign funds protect the system? Portland's trouble may not be due so much to its underworld as its upperworld. Oregon payrolls were up $8 million in December, 1946, over lUm December preceding. That doesn't look very much like depreMon. But in the news also is the report of 24,000 jobless in Portland, an increase of 4.500. While the increase is seasonal we do not have an enduring prosperity with people going off wage rolls even if the aggregate paid out increases. Oregon. Sunday. January 11. 1947 Paul Mallon's BEHIND THE NEWS fDlatiibatSM ay Ktats rcararea Bya tral. late SPjprodacU aa what cm tm smrt urteUy peoaibHed). WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 The most startling advice which Mr. Truman gave congress in his an nual message was that "we are rapidly becoming a 'have not' nation as to .., ""'"Jm any of our Cr 1 minerals' H a did not explain what i a T-i 1 nninff V short, but just said we should d o Bomeuung r t about it. A rath- f . t er aosu-acx pic ture was thus thrust farward -for the com mentators to oh-and-ah about in generalities, a rather dismal Pa ml MaOee nonobj activist picture that we are losing our world superiority for any coming international' trade conquests, and we had better darnedsight get busy also for na tional defense. What this picture will turn out to be when the president finishes it Is a detailed recommendation for buying foreign minerals, and lowering or abolishing th tariffs on them to import them in great er quantities, thus to save our selves from mineral poverty. In deed the state department is known already to have a list of no less than 1300 products upon which it proposes to hold hear ings shortly to see if it cannot do exactly that cut the tariff, and encourage buying. The new Republican senators are squirming in chairs not yet warm, and some of them private ly are already murmuring the ad ministration is working up a bid den ball trick on them. Sheet of Minerals Actually this nation is short in its known ground of only two im portant minerals, according to a mining engineer of long and ex pert standing, who I must con fess is a Republican. These two are tin and nickel. The tin wa have never been able to get in commercial quantities;, relying for our supplies mostly upon the Orient. But nickel is being fur nished in desired quantities by Canada, an adjoining nation, up on which we could rely in time of great stress. The actual have not situation is something like thus: Many oil engineers agree this nation could never run out of fuel for its automobiles. An engineer for one oil concern says we have oil in the ground in this nation for 1000 years. Another says the undeveloped shale in the Rocky Mountain states like Colorado, Utah and Nevada (which has not been touched because of higher commercial hazards than those now tapped) is more than we hava consumed to date. Possibly no expert could estimate com pletely the amount of oil in the ground, but it is certain the ad ministration will get a big argu ment in any attempt to prove a shortage of this primarily neces sary natural resource. Likened to Tungsten By and large, the condition of importable minerals is somewhat like that of tungsten. We did not mine much before the war, but when we needed it (if Japan had cut our supplies from China she might have come closer to win ning the war), we built up a do mestic supply of 45 per cent of our total production, importing only 55 per cent. Now tungsten is protected by a 50 cents tariff. Mr. Truman could rapidly make us a have not na tion on tungsten by lowering or abolishing that tariff, and his ad ministration may be doing so now by the rather harsh disdain of his securities exchange commis sion for mining ventures. In general, interior secretaries Krug and formerly Ickes, have built up the notion that we are minerally becoming have nots (although Ickes once wrote an article claiming we were all Croesus or better because of our wealth share in our mineral de posits). They somewhat perpiex ingly hew to both sides of the question, but lean most heavily toward free trade, purchasing abroad and stockpiling from for eign sources rather than trying to build up or protect domestic ac tivity. Perhaps free trade might be a wise ultimate goal, and per haps the economically backward nations do need our purchases, but certainly domestic mining should be maintained first in lines where it can be encouraged. May Appoint Nevada Man The first Republican answer to all this is likely to be the appoint ment of a new Nevada senator George Malone. a promoter of a Rocky Mountain improvement or ganizaUon called "The Industrial West" as chairman of a public lands subcommittee to look into the matter. Malone favors such things as renewal of the old for gotten flexible tariff provision by which the president today could call the commission and require it to establish the difference in cost of production of tungsten be tween China and the United States, and establish that differ ential as the tariff rate. He also wants the SEC to take a straight er outlook on mining ventures, treating mining as speculative business rather than an invest ment enterprise, requiring the exact truth on stock statements and undeviating adherence by the mining industry, but also a cessation of disdainful regula tions which would if done, he claims loosen up venture capi tal. At any rate if we are becom ing a have not nation, it is not be c. Jse of raw material resources we have in the ground. Further more our reserves in ores above ground are said to be hgiher than ever before. The shadow boxing so far on this merely covers a tariff tussle which is coming up from underneath a tussle which will certainly become a major scrap. 1 CWN AND BEAR a4 y J .14 Mi J V -VJik IW. - I Tan trying te give yam some advice a beat men. Basel! Step Inter raptiag with 'Hew trie, How traer ..." IDTF I ffnTjlTITB (Continued from Page 1) but would mean, of course, giv ing up the local district organi zation. The Salem school board should govern the consolidated district although in future elec tions candidates for board posi tions could come from anywhere in the district. Consolidation would not mean the suspension of local schools, however. Probably In every case, at least for many years, the local schoolhouses would be used for the lower grades. A few well-located buildings would be erected for the upper grades or for Junior high schools. What would be the gain or loss for Salem districts? Initially there would be a cost to the dis trict. The gain would be in sav ings in longtime capital invest ment. For the Salem district is up against acute problems, too. The inner school buildings are poorly located because the pop ulation has moved out to the suburbs. But it isn't wise to locate a new building at the edge of a district. Consolidation would per mit overall planning and location of buildings which should result in savings in investment and op eration. Both city and county face this fact, that school costs are not de clining. Not only . are operating costs increasing but building needs are expanding as the pop ulation grows and building costs are zooming. For struggling country districts the situation is critical and will not be cured by j the school legislation approved by j the - voters last November. That j is why these meetings in the country districts are well attend- I ed and the discussion most I earnest. It looks as though the question would be submitted to a vote of the people before many weeks. If it is, the facts will be published in full so the voters may vote intelligently on a mat ter of vital importance. The Safety Valve LETTERS FROM STATESMAN READERS FARM COSTS OR BOYS To the Editor: I noticed an article in your paper Saturday, January 18, con cerning the considerations of the legislature ways and means com mittee to do away with farming operations at the boys' training school at Wood burn, in order to cut expenses in the state. What can the ways and means committee be thinking about? Surely the members cannot throw aside the fact that these farming operations at the school are one of the best rehabilitation facilities that the school offers in the cor rection of wayward boys. The committee suggests that farm pro ducts, now produced on the school farm be purchased on the outside. Does the committee think that any real reduction in costs can be brought about in this way, considering the benefits derived from the training the boys re ceive in agriculture and economic practices? As a taxpayer, I heartily pro test any move to cut out agri cultural operations in any of the state's institutions. Other tax payers, I believe, will agree that these operations are of greater benefit to the boys, than any re duction in taxes derived by the taxpayer. ERIC P. BERGMAN, 1915 S. Cottage St., Salem. Oregon. Sea Scout Ship To Purchase Boat The Salem sea scout ship Wil lamette plans purchase of a navy rescue or landing craft to supple ment its present 36-foot sailing whaleboat, Martin Mockford, as sistant scout executive, said Fri day. Acquisition of the Diesel-powered craft would be one of many recent expansions of the sea scouts, Mockfocd stated. Mate N. A. Sholseth and the sponsoring Veterans of Foreign Wars post applied to the city council recent- IT By Lichty ly for permission to locate ship headquarters on the Willamette river bank near the Salem boat house. Public Welfare Administrative Positions Open The state civil service commis sion Saturday announced exami nations for the positions of coun ty welfare administrator I and II and caseworker II, to be held throughout Oregon late in Febru ary. These examinations are be ing given to fill vacancies In the offices of the state public wel fare commission throughout the state. The beginning salary for coun ty welfare administrator I is $170 and $215 for county welfare ad ministrator II. The salary for case worker II is $165 a month. Ap plicants must have a college de gree in the field of social sciences and social work experience refer ence. Applications for the examina tions must be filed before mid night February 15. Blanks are ob tainable at the civil service of fices in Salem and at any state employment service or county pubic welfare office. Public Records MUNICIPAL COURT Rupert F. Schulz. 2160 N. 5th st., failure to stop at intersection, posted $2.50 bail. Kenneth B. -Miller, Eugene, vio lation of basic rule, posted $7.50 bail. Benard E. Nannemann, route 5, Salem, violation of anti -noise or dinance, posted $5 bail. CIRCUIT COURT George W. Stafford and Eda Stafford vs Dolly V. Brown, et af: Judgment finds plaintiffs sole owners of real estate in question. Jack Welker and Bertha Welk er vs Mary J. Bressie, et al: Judg ment finds plaintiffs sole owners of real estate in question. Margaret B. Walker vs Ellis F. Walker: Divorce complaint charg es cruel and inhuman treatment. Married Feb. 22, 1941, at Vancou ver, Wash. Mark Trumbo and Dean T rum bo. vs Joe Uphoff and Margaret Uphoff: Plaintiff moves dismis sal. F. J. Franco vs Jack W. Dewey and Capital Motor Sales: Motion to strike. Lena Mason vs Hazel G. Allen, et al: Notice of appeal from judg ment. PROBATE COURT Mary Halford estate: Apprais ers appointed. Fred, Earl. Lavalle and Darline Crites, guardianship estate: Ap praisers changed, request for re moval of Pioneer Trust company as guardian of Fred Crites, now of legal age, and of Earl Crites, deceased, filed; final account fil ed. Conde B. McCullough estate: Final account filed, to be heard Wednesday, February 19, at 10 a.m. Lloyd M. Hill estate: Petition for order authorizing sale of 45 shares of Lloyd M. Hill, Inc., capital stock, at total sum of $4. 044.15. Wendell L. Miller estate: Order for partial distribution. Ralph Glover estate: Order set ting February 24 for settlement of account. Edgar Purdy estate: Final order. L. H. Doolittle estate: Inven tory and appraisement filed. MARRIAGE LICENSE APPLICATIONS Harry E. Ashford, legal age, As toria, telephone installer, and Enid Nelson, legal age, Salem, teacher. Jack Allaway, jr., 24, Corvallis, student; and Betty Van Osdol, 21, secretary, Salem. JUSTICE COURT Morris Linn, route T, Salem, charged with driving with inade quate brakes, pleaded innocent and trial was set for Monday, Jan uary 21. L. P. McCracken, Salem, plead ed guilty to obtaining money and property under false pretenses, held to answer to grand jury; pleaded innocent to defrauding an innkeeper, trial set for Monday, January 21. George Arthur Wannamaker, Vancouver, Wash., no PUC lic ense, fined $10 and costs: over height load, fined $2.50 and costs; no motor vehicle license, fined $2.50 and costs. James Dallas Mitchell, route 5, Salem, sifting and leaking load, $10 and costs. Hop Meetings Scheduled in Valley Area Eleven meetings of district hop growers will be held in the Wil lamette valley during the next three weeks under the sponsor ship of the United States Hop Growers association, the growers' industry-wide service organiza tion, of which Senator Dean H. Walker of Independence and C. W. Paulus of Salem are Oregon directors. Recent developments on the program of premiums for quality and the hop import tariff situa tion will be reported upon and discussed, along with a graphic review of the present situation in hop supplies and usage. At each of these meetings a district member of the Oregon growers advisory committee will be elected. Paul T. Rowell, in charge of the Salem office of U. S. Hop Growers association, will take part in the meetings, spending the week of January 27 in Wash ington where similar meetings will be held. Oregon's schedule includes: Donald, Donald hall, January 23, 2 p.m. Silverton, chamber of com merce, January 22, 7:30 p.m. ML Angel, city hall, January 23, 7:30. Independence, Campbell's halL February 3, 7:30. Albany, city hall, February 5, 7:30. St. Paul, city hall, February 6, 7:30 pjn. Salem, chamber of commerce, February 7, 7-30 p.m. Bryan to Head Service Group Irvin Bryan, commander of Navy Beaver post. Veterans of Foreign Wars, and field man for the vocational rehabilitation di vision of the state department of education, was elected president of the Marion county service committee at the group's Friday luncheon meeting in the Spa res taurant. He succeeds H. C. Saal feld. Susan Faheity was re elected secretary. Beneficiaries of deceased vet erans should learn details of benefits due them under a 1946 amendment to the social security act from Richard C. Stillwell. manager of the social security board office in the Salem post office, Saalfeld, county service officer, told the group. Hearing Tests To Continue The Marion county health de partment will continue hearing examinations of school children this week, aided by an audio meter and its operator from the state department. Dr. W. J. Stone, county health officer, announced the following activity schedule for the week: Monday Audiometer clinic. Wash ington school. 9 am. Tuesday - Audiometer clinic Bush school. 9 a m.: explanation of hearing test result? to parents, McKinley school. 1 45 p.m. Wednesday Audiometer clinic. Bush school. 9 a.m.: immunization clinic. Grant school. 1 pm.: general school clinic. St. Joseph's school, 9:30 am.: fluoroscope clinic, Salem Dea coness hospital, 1-2 p m. Thursday Audiometer clinic En glewood school. 9:30 am: well baby clinic, county health office in Ma sonic building. 8:30-11:30 am. Friday Audiometer clinic. Engle wood school. 9 am.: child guidance clinic. 1-5 p.m.. health office. Saturday Adult clinic, health of fice, 9 a.m. to noon. Ranch Ramblings Overhearing two wool men talk the other day, I got the idea that they thought the Oregon Wool Growers who meet in convention at Eugene January 22, 23 and 24 is a sales and marketing organiza tion. This is contrary to fact. It's purposes are very similar to those of the Western Oregon Livestock association those of studying the economic phases of wool market ing, production, importing, manu facture, handling, and also legis lation which may benefit wool growers all over Oregon. Ben Newell, Marion county assistant county agent, as well as secretary of the Marion county Livestock association, is urging sheepmen from Marion to attend. He is plan ning to attend. Fred D. Kaser of Silverton, dis trict member of the Oregon Hop Growers Advisory committee, has made arrangements for the dis trict meeting to be held at the Silverton chamber of commerce rooms Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. Elec tion will be held at this time, says Fred. Jens Svinth, one-time" of Salem, but now of Grants Pass, writes that Dr. Clifford E. Maser, head of division of business and in dustry, Oregon State college, will Hear Reverend Dudlev Strain in "Fighting Faith" Campaign Subject: 1 Choose Christ" Monday January 20th 7:30 THE SALVATION ARMY HALL 241 State Street ne the speaker at the Oregon Jer sey Cattle club annual banquet on January 25. The business session will start at 10:30, followed by the banquet. In the afternoon over 100 special certificates will be awarded to Oregon Jersey breed ers for meritorious work. Holstein breeders of Oregon will gather Thursday at the Salem chamber of commerce to discuss matters of special interest to them. Iver Youngquist of Mt. Vernon, Wash, director of The Holstein Friesian association of America, and R. E. Everly of Everly Live- (JOT UK? IICU Immediate Service In year heme Guaranteed Werk SALEM DURACLEAN SERVICE Phone 373$ Effective Mob, Jan. Z The WEST COAST Through Portland-Los Angeles train will leave SALEM 11:50 P. M. Instead et 11:59 P. M. Ne chances ia schedales af ether Seathern Pacific trains S P The Friendly SOUTHERN PACIFIC c S095 3S7 Court SL :Y-ft " ewfytialf eotn,t!.-f5d with LUSftOfl Willena Capital Drug Store Cor. State Liberty Sta. Phene Silt The "tank" type vacuum Is properly repaired here regardless of its make or model. For truly DEPENDABLE VACUUM SERVICE patron ize this shop which spedal ixes in repairs and has the iadtitles and trained men for the work. I sm I VA'iiJ4MJhdi a mm t m i 'it-; ii l i 1 1 w. - . s , s -v -r, M I - 1 X ... " stock Exporters. Ine, have bees invited to attend, as have the officer of the Washington Hol stein association. m Let our watch repair clinic put new life in your old watch with foctory guaranteed crafts momhip ... at modest charges. Smashes will happen but in this fully equipped shop all traces of the injuries are properly removed by the highest grade auto coach worlr. In at 8 out at S IT 1 Dr. C. K. NIebol The Church of Christ, Cottage and Shipping streets, presents Dr. C. R. Nichol throughout the next 9 days in a series of revival serv ices. Dr. Nichol is a world travel er and outstanding evangelist, lec turer, educator, and author of many books, some of which have been translated into foreign lan guages. The citizens of Salem are invited to hear him in a lecture covering his trip to the Holy Land, which will be delivered Sunday afternoon at 2:30. Dr. Nichol spent considerable time studying in the Bible Lands and will be glad to tell anyone who is present about any section or place in Palestine in which they may be interested. You are invited to hear Dr. Nichol in the sermons each eve ning through the week at 7:30. WiOeU's Capital Drag Store State Liberty Fh. Silt ee1 339 COCBT STREET H .j r t