Eugene register-guard., August 13, 1948, Image 6

Page S , Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore., TV!., Aug, 13, 1048
AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER '
(Published Every Evening and Sunday)
, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER , Alton T. Bikr
MANAGING ED1T0H William M. TurmM
' NEWS SEHVICS. Awocfited Preit, United Prtm
MEMBER Audit Bureau oi Clrculatloo
Entered t tha port Office at Cutne, Oregon, ai eeconfl
lau matter. . ,
The Regiater-Quar)'i poller the complete and Impartial
publication In its newa page of all newa and itatementa m
news. On thia page the editor of The Reitatex-Ouard offet
their opinion.! on events of the day and matte.! of Importance
to the community, endeavoring to be candid but fair and
' helpful In the development of conitructlve community policy.
Who'll Save the Alcohol Plant?
! It is not surprising that local lumbermen
turned down flatly the proposition of a group
' of Milwaukee promoters by which the local
men would come in for 48 percent of the
$500,000 needed to bid in the alcohol plant
at Springfield, leaving the "furriners" with
52 percent and control. Whatever group is
going to undertake the operation of the plant
will need complete control. '
What is really surprising is that to date
the efforts to raise the $300,000 in this area
have produced only about $187,000. This
-plant at Springfield seems to offer to the
lumber industry a chance to spread out into
the field of chemical production and waste
utilization which could stabilize their opera
tions. One man says:
'Tor the third time lumber is passing up
opportunity in its own field. It missed out on
paper, on rayon, and now it is missing out on
chemicals and alcohol."
It would be gratifying if a group of local
patriots could take this plant, make the nec
essary mechanical changes and make a go of
it, keeping all the profits at home so to speak.
However, the community must take a broad
er view. Actually the community must say:
"We don't care who takes this plant or
where he comes from, so long as he is
a bona fide operator who means business and
NOT a stock Jobber or speculator."
If this first plant can be made to succeed,
'many like it will follow. The community will
still get the benefit of the payrolls and the
saving of materials which now go to the
burners.
It is not difficult to understand why lum
bermen are timid. Newspaper publishers and
book publishers both use the same basic ma
chinery and materials, but the industries are
distinct, requiring entirely different talents
and experience. We don't hope to see "saw
dust savages" transformed into Duponts or
Grassellis who have bee,n chemists for gen
erations. But investors and owners do not have to
be operating experts, and the failure of the
campaign to enlist local capital leads us to
one of two conclusions:
1. Our lumber magnates are not as rich as
they are commonly supposed to be, or
2. No convincing program for operation of
the plant has been set up by the promoters.
The mechanical corrections needed at
Springfield are not serious, probably would
,not require more than half the $500,000
needed to take over the property. With in
dustrial alcohol selling above $1 per gallon
a plant which has demonstrated that it can
produce at 25 cents per gallon should be
better than a good gamble. In Europe there
is a long record of successful operation. The
Germans who brought the process to the
United States are available still for practical
advice.
There may not be time before the August
20 deadline to revamp the plans of the new
Industrial Alcohol, Inc., but our guess is that
the $500,000 could be found locally and
quickly, if the plans for carrying on were
definite, detailed and backed by the judg
ment of leaders who command confidence.
In the House That Jack Built
"This is the House that Jack Built!
This is the Malt that lay in the House that
Jack Built.
This is the RAT that ale the Malt that
lay In the House that Jack Built. . . ."
In today's reader editorial, we have an
: interesting contribution from R. S. Nicholson
j, on high prices and inflation. He is pretty sure
he has found the RAT that has been eating
the Malt in our economic structure. He thinks
it's Gov'ment itself, this nitwit Congress of
ours that knuckles to the Farm Bloc and
pays subsidies to support the market for
potatoes and other surplus farm commodities,
s; We don't know just why this old nursery
'jingle popped into mind (with a little help
from Rhoda Banks) upon reading this letter
unless it is because what we call Economics
, is a sort of "rat race." In the fight against
. inflation everybody is playing Cat and chas
;l ing his favorite RAT. Ajax McGurk puts in:
"Why bl.ime poor old .Tack for this crazy
house" It musta been Rube Goldberg in one of
his bad spells!"
Unfortunately, we do not reach the same
' happy conclusion of the nursery rhyme:
"This is the priest all shaven and shorn,
who married the man nil tattered and torn,
; who wed the maid all lone and Morn, who
milked tht cow with the crinkled horn, that
hooked the dog that chased the cat that at
the rat that ate the malt thai lay In the House
that Jack Built."
,, There is a question which we would put
; to Mr. Nicholson and others who attack
along the line of farm bloc and farm sub
sidies and government spending:
"What would be the effect on Oregon'
eoonomy if the potato subsidy were withdrawn,
having in mind our important Klamath, Des
, Chutes and Ontario potato growing areas?
What if the wheat and grain markets are not
,' supported in the coming year as a result of this
fear's surplus?"
: The METHODS of support may be waste
ful and open to criticism, but In our lifetime
we have seen paradoxical disasters:
Surplus years when farmers dumped their
grains into rivers or burned it as fuel.
DROUGHT and shortage years as in 'J4
which were almost a national disaster.
Labor chases the RAT of corporate greed;
management says labor is eating up the Malt;
nearly everybody blames somebody else for
the inflation rat race. What we need to un
derstand is that in a modern complex econ
omy, there is no single cause of these troubles
nor is there any single group. Only the Com
munists pretend to have the perfect remedy,
and we don't like their medicine.
Our American economy cannot be sepa
rated from the economy of the rest of the
world, and that produces complications which
make the price of porkchops even harder to
understand. On V-J Day we began kidding
ourselves that the war was over, and now
we have the "cold war" which is getting
hotter every minute.
"Do we want to disarm? Do we want to
abandon our vast projects for power develop
ment, flood control, roads, schools and internal
improvements? Do we want to give up our
automobiles, our liquor, our movies, our radios
and television sets, our 'beauty parlors'?"
The simple life might be the answer to
a lot of these problems, maybe that won't
come till after the "atomic war," and then
if there is "a priest all shaven and shorn to
marry the man all tattered and torn who
weds the maid all lone and 'lorn" well,
they'll be saying:
"We'll have to build something better for
our children."
Jack shouldn't have left his malt lying
around for the RAT to get at. As everybody
nowadays knows, before building his house,
Jack should have eaten his "Wheaties."
Authoress of "Forever Amber" says her
life with Bandleader Artie Shaw outdid any
thing she ever dreamed up for "Amber." In
our old bones, we have an ache which say.:
another bum novel's coming.
South Willamette Region
Ponders Disposal Problem
When you see "bullets" in a report of a
Tennessee election it is not a typographical
error.
Ajax McGurk has it figured out that if
you can hang on till after Labor Day, the
vacation season will be over.
There is just a touch of fall in the air
time to buy season tickets for the home
games and rainchecks for the Rose Bowl.
Most of the birdies still are picked up at
the 19th hole.
Scantier bathing suits are getting by this
year just barely!
Some men don't seem to realize that it's
the auto that's supposed to have the pickup.
1
Home is a place where some men go to
rave because 'something went wrong at the
office.
No question a youngster asks is silly un
less the parents can't answer it.
Here's an earful that will please every
body: watermelon is here again.
Reader Editorial
GOVERNMENT'S CONTRIBUTION TO "BOOM"
EUGENE (To the Editor) In the Register
Guard recently, much space on page one was de
voted to the details of a story headed "Women Call
Buyer Strike."
The gist of the story was that a group of Eu
gene women, sincerely motivated, but sadly lacking
in knowledge as to the true cause of present high
food costs, were launching a seven-day "buyers'
strike" against the high cost of meat.
We all wish that by such simple action by
housewives throughout the nation, the high cost o'f
living could be brought under control. But any
thinking person realizes that their efforts will be
futile, and their "buyers' strike" soon forgotten.
While, of course, the cost of food continues its up
ward spiral.
Until the American people can grasp the real
reason for present high food prices the govern
ment "crop-support" program and "parity prices"
they will continue to grapple unreallsticaliy with
symptoms and not with the real cause.
"Time," the weekly newsmagazine, in the Aug
ust 9th issue, pointed out how the DeDartment of
Agriculture robs the American taxpayer and keeps
jooa prices nign Dy cmng one commodity plain,
ordinary potatoes.
Last year, the federal government paid farmers
forty million dollars to support potato prices.
Twenty-two million bushels, bought at high prices
with taxpayers money, were allowed to rot last
year while consumers "groused at high prices."
This year, to keep the price of potatoes high,
and enrich the farmers, the federal government Is
buying surplus potatoes from farmers at $1.55 a
bushel (plus paying freight, which averages anorher
40 cents a bushel) and selling them to manufac
turers of "potato flour" for only nine cents s bushel.
The only condition is that the buyers make the
flour which the government will use to feed oc
cupied Germany.
To give the "potato flour" manufacturers fur
ther incentive, the government assures them a
profitable market by buying the "potato flour"
back from them for around $25.60 per hundred
pounds five times what It has to pay for wheat
flour!
Meanwhile, artificially stimulated by the fed
eral government, the retail price of potatoes stands
t $2.60 a bushel, twice the 1941 price.
Fantastic? It is so fantastic as to be virtually
unbelievable. The clerks, mechanics, professional
men and housewives pay at both ends: high taxes
to enable the government In rarru t,i ;
to benefit one group, the farmers! and. ultimately.
ouymg the food which the noverntrK.nl nt
By TED GOODWIN
Some 500 householders in the
South Willamette district Friday
could ponder three courses of ac
tion outlined in a meeting Thurs
day night when about 175 of their
number met at the Dunn School
to discuss the legal quandary
caused by the annexation last May
of a part of the South Willamette
Sanitary District to the city of
Eugene.
With a part of the district in the
city and most of it still outside,
the district can:
1. Dissolve and start over. A
course of action which will fur
ther delay any chance of getting
sewers built in the area where
sewage disposal problems have
reached a critical point.
2. Seek annexation of the en
tire district to the city of Eugene
and wait for sewers to be built
in the regular course of the exten
sion of city utilities . . . possibly
more than a year from now.
3. Proceed to launch the bond
ing program for the sanitary dis
trict as if nothing had happened,
as far as the part already an
nexed is concerned, and operate
under the sanitary district or
ganization toward the actual con
struction of a sewer system until
stopped or approved by a court
ruling on the status of the dis
trict. Both of the two latter courses
of action will probably require a
state supreme court ruling before
bonds can be sold, the meeting was
told by Attorney William S. Fort.
Which Quickest?
Still unanswered: Which plan
will bring sewers to the district
soonest?
City Manager Deane Seeger, in
vited to explain the advantages
and disadvantages of merging with
Eugene, told the meeting that the
city could not promise sewers
cheaper or sooner than they could
be provided by the sanitary dis
'.nct, but that annexation may
solve most of the legal problems
involved.
Could Test
District Attorney C. E. Luckey
gave the opinion that if the sani
tary district proceeded under its
present authority, a test case
would be brought in the courts
and eventually the state supreme
court would rule on whether or
not the district can assess the
property owners already in the
city.
There were two things on
which everyone agreed. The
area is manifestly unsulted for
existing septie tanks and sewers
must be had. Also, the nearby
garbage dump must go. Seeger
said it was on the way out, and
that the city is moving as rap
idly as possible toward obtain
ing a new site, some three and
a half miles south of town.
At meeting's end, two major
factions appeared. The larger
group, mostly small householders,
was rallying around Realtor Otis
V. Gilmore in support of a move
to petition the city council at its
Aug. 23 meeting for an annexation
vote on the November ballot.
Opposition
The opposition to the annexa
tion move centered in Charlie
Witham, who fears that his stables
might be zoned out of business,
and L. A. Wirtz, of the new $125,-
000 drive-in theater. For a number
of reasons, but mainly because of
the three-percent city amusement
tax, the theater management pre
fers the "country."
In addition to the businesses
which would be materially affec
ted by annexation to the city, a
number of long-time residents of
the area, many of whom have
small farms, will resist any form
of annexation that may cost them
their cows, horses, and other live
stock.
Livestock
Most of these people were farm
ing the area when Eugene was an
hour's drive by team and wagon,
or are people who moved "out in
the country" in order to enjoy the
privileges of keeping livestock.
Gilmore planned to circulate
petitions this week and invited
others in the district who want to
seek annexation to help get sig
natures before the Aug. 23 coun
cil meeting.
Householders
After that meeting, it will be
too late to get the annexation
measure on the November ballot,
but a special election could be
held later. The householders, who
want sewers as soon as possible,
prefer action now.
Throughout the meeting,
there was general feeling that
"too much time has been lost
already." Most said they didn't
care which course of action was
taken, as long as It would
bring sewers to the area at the
earliest date.
Annexaton to the city will take
time, an then there is no guaran
tee of Immediate construction. On
the other hand, proceeding as a
sanitary district will require liti-
sution and delay.
No one Tnursaay nigni couia
tell which would be the quickest.
Other Angles
Other things being equal, it
was believed that the city could
provide sewers at about the same
cost to the homeowners, and in
addition, would provide a number
of other advantages. These in
clude reduced fire protection
costs, police protection, street
lights, reduced utilities costs,
which In general more than off
set the increase in taxation.
District Commissioners E.
Dodge and Robert Willian pre
sided at the meeting. Howard
Smith of the city-county health
office spoke on the need for
prompt action, and a number . of
speakers from the floor were
heard.
Journalism School
Hears of Two Men
News of two former University
of regon journalism school mem
ber was received Friday
Hlllier Krleghbaum, former as
sociate professor, has Joined the
journalism faculty at New York
university wnere he has been
teaching part-time since Feb.-..
Vishnu V. Oak, former student
is author of "The Negro NewsJ
EaPf ,u" r1"0"1 ,tudy Published
by Wilberforce University. Oak
Daughter of First Governor
Protects Old Place Names
Anne Whjteaker of .Eu, ;ne,
daughter of Oregon s first tate
governor, traced some of the i lrly
history of the state for Re llty
Board members Wednesday noon.
Miss Whiteaker is the daughter
of John Whiteaker, the man who
became Oregon's first governor
after it was admitted to the union.
She said her father handled his
state business from their farm at
Pleasant Hil, because there was
no state house at Salem.
Early Days
The pioneer woman told Realty
Board members how four Mon
tana Indians went to St. Louis in
search of the Book of Heaven
during the Northwest's early days,
and how their trek resulted in the
bringing of religion to the new
country-
She recalled how Senators Linn
and Benton, for whom neighbor
ing counties are named, fought in
Washington for the admission of
Oregon as a state.
Watch Those Names
Miss Whiteaker was born on
Spencer Creek six miles west of
Eugene and was reared on the;
family farm between Pleasant
Hill and Creswell. A wiry little
woman with a candid memory for
dates and names, she said "it
makes me mad" to hear some of
the old Oregon names mispro
nounced. For instance, she said, people
pronounce Row River like they
"row a boat."
Had a Row
"That's all wrong. They had a
row there and one man was killed.
That's how the river got its name-"
"Sladden Park is not pro
nounced Slaydon," she noted, add
ing that it was named for a Mr.
Sladden.
Miss Whiteaker lives at the Os-
burn Apartments, and she said
making a speech to a group of
men and women was "quite !
change from my little apartment.'
"There were no combined ef
forts for the betterment of Oregon
from a governmental standpoint
for a great many years," she
noted.
"Oregon's future will be what
we make it."
Isaac Singer patented the first
practical domestic sewing ma
chine in 1851.
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NAME
ADDRESS
PHONE
EUGENE STEEL
BLDG.
523 Lawrence
Phone 6284 -J
in
their taxes to build stilts under,
So, you see, girls, your real efforts should be ex
pended, not In "buyers' strikes." but in effecting a
wholesale congressional housecleaning in Wash
ington, D. C. and busting the "farm bloc" which
bends senators and congressmen to its selfish ends.
S. NICHOLSON,
2662 Potter St.,
Eugene, Ore.
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