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About Willamette farmer. (Salem, Or.) 1869-1887 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1884)
its VOL. XV. orreonJcnc CI BARROWS' BOOK. Prineville, Or., Jan. 4, 1884. Editor WilUmette Farmer. In the Pacific Christian Advocate of December 13th, the editor gives a criti cism on Oregon by William Barrows. Although I make no claim to "great literary ability," yet I wish to notice a few points inBro. Hihes' article. In the first place he seems to think there has "not feecn prominence enough given to'the Methodist Mission, founded by Jusou Lee. Now, while I would give all honor due to the worthy members of that mission, I unhesitatingly aver that up to the time ,'of the immigration of 3842-3-4 they never entert'ained au idea jof American colonization on the North Pacific Coaet. The evidence of this is Jie fact that Mr. Leo was a Canadian md had no interest in the country be 'ond his missionary enterprise; that he nade no attempt to bring; families across he mountains, but brought all his sup- Jiea and reinforcements by water. .Vhen Rev. Saml Parker visited 'the (mission in 1835 he said of it: 'This mission may lay the foundation for ex- tensive usefulness.- Yet there is one important desideratum these mission- aries have no wives. Christian women are very much needed to exert a Chris-.. tian influence over the native women Here was lacking the very elements of permanent American colonization. Now observe the thorough American mission ary who is goingto a distant part of his country: Dr. Whitman, a New Yorker, come out, ho looks at the country, takes in tho possibilities of the future, lays his plans, returns and brings out his family, stock and a wagon not around the Horn but across the continent thus blazing the rouse for others to follow. Again, ho says : 'The first plow that broke the 'crust of tho old barbarism came out of the hold of the May Dacre in October, 1834, and Jacon Lee walked between.the handles as it cleft asunder the .soil of the Willamette prairie for the handful of corn that was to givo bread to civilization." This maybe true of barbarism, but not of the sod of the WilUmette prairie." In the year 1815 John Minto and Henry Williamson har vested for Joseph Gervais, on his farm about two miles below the old Methodist misaion,.and, he told that this was the '(wenty fifth croj) that he had gathered f rom"hfaTntrand , that ho had never known the wheat crop to fail." Now this certainly antedates the breaking of the soil by Jason Lee in 1834. Dr. Mc Laughlin in' 1826 sowed wheat, oats and barley at Fort Vancouver, and lie say; In 1828 the aupply was sufficient so that wo were able to dispense with imported flour. (Report Pioneer Society for 1SS0.) An old pioneer, who came in 1843, in speaking of the Methodist'mission says : "Sly observation was that they were not the sort of people who explore and de- velope the resources of a country. From my own acquaintance with them I can Bay that coming from the extreme fcast they were sectional in their sentiments and had' no sympathy for the rough, warmhearted element that com poed tho early immigration. In fact, had a decid ed aversion to anything western. They came here as missionaries, just as they would have gone to any foreign country. They did not realize that they wero still under the ' stars and stripes.' " Again, Bra Hines says : "These influ ences, without doubt, did more to save Oregon than any other influence that was or could be exerted. This is evident from tho fact that Oregon was saved long before Dr. Whitman reached Wash ington." I am astonished that a man as well informed aa Bro. Hines ought to be, should make such an assertion, but like many others he is laboring under thedslason that the Oregon question was aettUd ihsn the Ashburton treaty was'rstified. Now the facts in the raw I .,4 7A v t U are these: The Ashburton troaty settled the boundary lino between Maino and Canada, but said nothing about Oregon Benton, in Vol. 2, chapter 101, page 421, of Thirty Years in United States Senate, says: "Oregon was in dispute. The United States wished it settled. Great Britain wished that question to remain as it was; as she had possession and every day was ripening her title. Or egon was adjourned." This, remember, was in 1842. Gov. Simpson, being fully alive to the interests of his government, went to Washington that ho might by his personal efforts have the Oregon question settled in Great Britains favor. Dr. Whitman on the other hand being on tho alert for tho United States and being in constant communication with members, of the Hudson Bay Company, was fully aware of tho plans of this corporation, and in order to checkmate Gov. Simpson, undeitook his puilous trip across the continent in tho . inter of 1842-3. "In September, lSt2, Dr. Whitman was called to visit a patient at Old Fort Wallula. While at dinner the overland express front Canada arrived bringing news that tho immigration from the Bed river settlement was at Fort Colville. This news excited unusu al joy among the guests. Whitman learned that these Red river English came on to settlo in Oregon, and that at same time Gov. Simpson was to go to Washington and secure the settlement of the question asto tho boundaries on tho ground of tho most numerous and perinanct settlement in tho country. Dr. Whitman with his characteristic shrewdness comprehended his ' intention and'plainly saw that ho (Gov. S.) must bo fought with his own weapons. In order to do this an immigration of Amer- cans must bo brought over tho Rocky mouutains and the country represented at Washington by some American resid ing in it. Wiihout hesitation ho undcr took the arduous task. The result is well known. He had brought a wagon through to Fort Boiso in,183G and had carefully viewed the way to Tho Dalles and was confident that teams and families could make the trip. In 1841, wagons had been brought across tho Blue mountains from Fort Hall by Joe. Meek and company to tho Columbia, and Dr. Whitman knew that "what man had done man could do." Tho fact of Dr. Whitman's reaching Washington has never been denied. As to what passed between him and President Tyler and Secretary Webster, we have the tes timony of A. L. Lovejoy, W. H. Gray and others, who received the account from the Doctor's own lips. But his main object in going East was to bring an emigration. I have been personally acquainted with persons who came in 1843 and they told me that it was the circulars and information which Dr. Whitman circulated that induced them to come to Oregon. He marked the route and guided them over. So well known was this 'fact in tho Western States that' Whitman and Oregon were the watchwords of the emigration of 1844, the year in which the writer came. These immigrants were not from the East, but from Missouri and the border States, whero tho influence, of the Meth odist missionaries had never been felt But the Doctor had repeatedly passed, through this section and by his represen tations roused the spirits of those hardy pioneers who bravely followed him, and planted the stars and stripes on tho shores of the Pacific forover and aided in crushing the great monopoly.. The reader will bear in mind that the heads of tho American government were indif ferent to the Oregon question. To them it possessed little if any importance as Benton says in Chapter 113, vol. '2; The great event of carrying the Anglo- Saxon race to tho shores of the Pacific ocean; and planting that 'race 'firmly on that sea, took place at this time, begin ning in 1842 and greatly increasing in 1843, It was not the act of' the flovern- trtent leading the people and protecting SALEM, OREGON, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY them, but like all the other emigration's settlements on our continent, it was the act of the peopjn going forward without aid or countenance, establishing their possession and compelling tho govern ment to folhiw with its shield and spread it over them. So far as tho action of tho government was concerned, it ope rated to endanger our title to the Colum bia ; to prevent emigrants and incur the loss of the country. Tho first groat step in this unfortunate direction was the treaty of joint occupation, as it was called, in 1818." If the brother will carefully read tho above author he will find that-the heads of the government opposed Mr. Linn's bill as being impracticable, as the coun tiy was too remote and inaccessible to be of any benefit to the government and that instead of Oregon being saved before Dr. Whitman reached Washing ton in 1843, the treaty was not signed until June 15, 1816. What saved Oiegon was tho vast emigration of American citizens across tho Uqcky Mountains. In view of thf-e facts we can plainly see that the men of great lit erary attainments might hivo written until their pons dropped from their pal sied fingers and not have affected any- .thing. Theio was not a man in the Methodist Mission that could have ac complished what Dr. Whitman did, and ho seems to have been raised up by God for this especial purpose. Another tiling : England did not ask for the Willamette valley, she wanted the Columbia for her southern boundary, claiming it by the right of discovery. Rev. Samuel Parker mentions this in his journal, chapter 18, page 2G3. While Oregon owes the foun dation of her educational interests to the Methodist Mission, and we aro willing" that thoy should bear tho palm inthat respect, Brother Hines assumos"'a ''lcetle" too much when he says they saved Ore gon, and lie should npir let His sectarian piquo blind him totne facts of history. Small Farms Is there Hare Honey in Them ? RosmiuKG.Jan. 24, 1884. Editor Willamette Farmer: I frequently see in the papore articles setting forth the advantage of running small farms and advising those who own large tracts of land to sell off a portion and try it on a small scale. These wri ters propose a rulo for farming that would apply to any other business. The publisher of a big paper is not told to reduce his sheet to a 7x9 size f the man ufacturer of tho wagon or plow is not told that he ean make one wagon or plow at a less proportionate cost than a hun dred ; for it is well known that the reverse is the case. There is no product of tho garden but that can Iks raised more cheaply in large quantities than in small. But before this question is discussed, the advocates of small farms should agree, which I fancy they never will do, what is the proper size for a farm. My opinion is that while five acres are too much for some men, fivo hundred are not enough for others. That success dejiends to some extent on the size of the, farmer as well as the farm. I am not opposed to anyone owning a little piece of land if he cannot get more ; for it is better to take' almost any spot of ground that he can call his own, and where he can em ploy himself, than to rent land and work for others as many do with frequent wanderings from place to place without aim or purpose. But I am writing against the absurd notion that there is more profit in a small farm than a largo one. Some tell us that small farming works' well in tho Eastern States, but tho Tea sons given aro a little contradictory. For instance, they use more sj stem and work a great deal harder than wo do in Ore gon. , More labor as the result of moro system. That on small farina they raise heavier crops, which double tho value of land, and yet taxes are light. The truth of the matter is that tho moro valuable land or other property becomes the heavier the tax. Now the fact is the small farmer, (sup posing tho farm to be ten or twelvo acres) has to woik under many disad vantages. He cannot afford to keep tho improved machinery to raise most crops successfully. He cannot afford to keep a self-binder and thresher to harvest five acres of grain, yet he must have bread. He cannot afford to keep a mower and horse-rake to mow and rako two acres of grass, yet his stock must have hay, and consequently he is compelled to de pend on the slow and tedious process of hand labor. He cannot give stoady work to his team, yet he is forced to keep one. Ho' loses time in buying and selling things by small quantities. He must hayo moro rods of fence in proportion to tho number of acres owned, and moro grotind used by roads,buildings and other fixtures ; and has more nooks and cor ners for weeds to grow. He has to donear ly all his work by hand and has a hard row to hoe. These objections, and more, I have heard expressed by small farmers in tho Eastern States. The idea is ad vanced by some that the haid labor and closo economy incident to small fanning tend to physical and moral development; that leisure tends to discontent and law lessness. Such ideas may do for tho theorist and' non-worker, who are about as likejy to practice what they preach as the doctor is to take his own prescrip tion; and aie striving to make their path way more smooth and pleasant. It "has been proposed by others that land should bo held in small tracts in order that all porsons may-bo nblo to sharo, which they couldnot othorwiso do, and our country is advised to adopt the plan Russia, whore it is said tho land ie"distributed among tho peasantry as their supposed needs require, tho gov ernment retaining the title. That plan may Ik) serfdom, but I trut tho great American Union will never have occa sion to borrow its laws from despotic 'Rnssi.i. Xn limitod nwiiprsliir nf lqnl As Old Pioneer. Jjld satisfy tho freo citlzcn Ho mUBt Njnow just what is his, havo full control of the same, and then ho would havo full scope for all his energies, lhero was tho same complaint of land twenty years ago ns we hear now ; yet every man of sense knows that thcro was plonty of good government land then, and thcro is plonty even now. But everyone don't want land. It is not land that keeps tho hundreds of men 'hanging areund bar rooms and billiard tables in Portland. No indeed. Land is something they don't want while they can enjoy the al luring dissipations of the town. They are not hankering after a bit of prairie land in Eastern Washington, whero long years hence they may reap tho reward of present self-denial and deprivation. Then if one man is ready to take the chances of hunger and rags in his old age, for present gratification, who shall say that another, who is willing to go out into the wilderness and mako it blos som as the rose,' shall not have all the land he can pay lor, as the roward of his induet'y and patience. C. W. Smith. More Tax Loclc Polk. Co., Or., Jan, 24, 1881. KJllor WilUmette Farmer i Wo aro glad to see tho improvement of the Farmer. Its columns aie well fillfnl up with correspondence, especially on tho famous "-Mortgage Tux question" now before tho peoplo for consideration. We will remark, that tho fanners of this county aro forming clubs, whero the abovo law, and all other jolitical ques tions, will receive a thorough ventila tion by tho farmors themselves. In our view, most of the .writers on tho tax question, only write of tho effects of the law and say nothing of tho principle of taxation. The principle of taxation is tho power of sovereignty, hence if wo as n State or Nation, cannot tax foreign corporations wo aro not a sovereign power, and wo are inclined to think that, no court in the United States, will assert that we have not the power to tax for eign corporations. Allow us to remark here, that a writer in the Faruck of the 11th of January, has some strange ideas 1, 1884. on the principle of taxation, but as ho signs witli-tliKc -tniiJ, I presume ho is a capitalist instead of a farmer. Brother farmers what am wo laboring ior? Is not tho ultimate design of our lnbor, money? Do not notes and accounts represent monoy, and is money not tho best of property a man can have ? Then why do peoplo talk of not taxing invisi ble property? Because they .lesiro to lay tho burden of taxation on tho farm el's. Another idea is sot forth by thoso writers, that is thib. trying to tax notes and accounts causes peoplo to commit perjury. Oh, yes 1 Moses mado a great blunder, no doubt, when ho promulga ted that h.;v at Mount Stiai, "thou shalt not commit poiji'y," at least somo men soem to think so. But peihops a way might bo found yet, to keep those men from committing perjury,' and still tax notes and accounts. Some time back, a wiitor in tho Dallas Itemizer, suggosted that the present laws ought to bo amend ed, so as to compel such porsons assessed, to sign his name, in full, io tho printed oath or affirmation of his asbCbsmcnt list, because, as he says, a man who will tell a ho will not hesitato to swear to it, but ho will hardly sign his namo.to a iiuscliooil, tor it wouiu bo toodangorous. There is evidently n wido difforonco between the Assessor shearing a person to his list cf- assessment, or tho person signing his name to the oath of his as sessment list. , As to tho talk, of not takiffg ouW a person's indebtedness, it is all nonsonso, for we remember that tho supremo court of this State, decided that all indebted ness must bo taken out, by tho assessor, of the list of assessment. So, I believe that bottles that question. Very Bospectfully, Gi.o. II. EiM.li. Mtke our Rivers Navlgable-An Interesting Letter from an Old steambyitman. Cajjhy, Or., Jan. 27, 1881. Eittor Willamette Farmer s. Having of late years Locoino a farmer and still later a subscriber to your valu able paper, I feel that I would like to, say something, if perchance it might in any way tend to bring about or be tho means of helping to bring about, somo competition in tho transportation busi ness of tho Willamette valley in particu lar. I will preface what I would say on tho subject, by stating that I havo been a steamboatman for the last thirty years, twenty-three of which was on tho Ohio, Mississippi and their tributaries, the re maining seven on the Willamette and Columbia rivers. In all my experience I have never known or heard of a com pany being allowed to place a tax of fifty cents per ton on all freights and ten cents per head on all passengers pass ing a given point on a navigablo river till I camo to Oregon and found it to bo the case on tho Willumctto river. Now, this is virtually laying an em bargo on tho business of tho rivar from Eugcno to Portland, by tho companies tax imposed at the locks, all independ ent bouts are virtually shut out of tho river and tho bulk of tho businons driven to tho railroads of said companies. Tho company by tho aid of the tax at tho locks aro enabled, and such was tho cuso whon I canto to Oregon, iu 1877, to put tho ruto on freights and passengers so low that independent boats could not muko a living after paying said tax, and they contlnuod the above policy till all in dependent bouts woro drivon off tho rher, now what do wo find to bo tho case, Freights aro put up to over one hundred per cent, especially on tho majority of people who do not havo ten tons or over to ship at one time. Who !h to blame for this state of affairs, tho people's rep resentatives in Congress or tho people themselves? I think if our lloprcqvnta tiyes had properly brought this matter' before Congress the difficulty would long since havo been remedied by tho government condemning, and paying for and making free said locks for the proper uso of transportation on the NO. 51. Willamette river, as was done in theca:e of the Leuisvillo and Portland canal around tho falls of tho Ohio river at Louisville, Kcntuckoy. Whon I first steamboated, tho tax at the last named locks was twnnty-five cents per ton, pas sengers freo. Tho govornmont con demned them and put tho tax at ten cents per ton for n year or two, but finally mado them fice, and so thoy re main. So tho locks around tho rapids on tho.Mississippi rivor aro freo also, en abling oil men, who feel so disposod.to put on boats and compcto for honorable business ; wliy not on tho Willamette? Echo answers, why? Bccauso a corpo ration wishes to monopolize not only tho carrying business of .tho Willamette river and vnlloy, but tho wholo north west coast, also, why not let them soil all tno dry goods and groceries ono is just as fair as tho other. In ingotcr an aitlclo in tho is.suo 25th, entitled "A Pleasant Mooting of tho Salem Grange," I notice the matter of co-oporation was. pleasantly, and I hopo profitably, discussod. Though not a Granger myself, yot I fcol ft growing iiitorcst in all their proceedings as far as I understand thorn, for I am sure thoy aro driving at honorable ends, and havo tho good of tho .holo country at heart. Now, whilo on tho btibject of co oporation and transportation, do n6t lcU. tho matter drop with n passing notice, but keep tho ball rolling, compel our Representatives to do their duty by urging tho government to tako notice of tho matter and eiio that all navigublo rivers uro mado freo to tho peoplo. Lot petitions bo circulated by every Grange through ovoiy neighborhood till all the people sign it, and send it'to our agents or Itcpic-cntativos in Congress; and see that corporations as woll as individuals aro kept within their own proper sphere. Do not sit with folded hands and soo de signing men bind you hand and foot as has boon going on foi suveiul yeais past. Let corporations build railroads and slcamboutH and run them, but do not pci mil them to prohibit others from do ing bo likowjso. This is a supposed free country, and let us sco to it that it is ono in deed as well as nutno. Thcro is much moio that might bo said, but till somo ono elso takes up tho cue I will drop tho subject. Whilo tho mortgage tax law is being so extensively discussed lot all our interests rccoivo a liko notice This is n particu larly favorablo timo to bring tho matter before Congress, whilo tho rovcmiesare so much in excoss of tho country's needs, and Congressmen aro worrying as to what shall be tlono with tho surplus. Do not let them suy us ono of old, that thoy will have to build greater barns wherein to stow their goods till this matter is attended to, till tho beautiful W.illumotto is mado a freo navigablo river as tho lovers of tho country say it shall be. And that no State or individual shall lay un embargo on tho business of any navi gable river within tho United States. J.so. P. Coulter. Fir and ledar FoiU. Saiem, Or., Jan. 21, 1881. Krijtur Willamette Ririnor! In tho full of 1881. I built n pioco of post and h-iid fence on tho flat sixty rods nest of tho I jhuiio asylum, tho posts aro lir, tlio Imico still stumls tliero al though tho wind blow a part of it over this weok, tho johts being rotted off. I noticed somo of tho post wero rotted oft' twoyoarsugo. Jn tho year 1871 having occasion to build a considerable board fenco on my own place, and having born told that cedar osts would !at "forever'' I though), it would bo best to get cedar, so went to Cedar Camp, thirty miles from hore, cut and split thorn myself that I might get uono but what wero good, and drew them home. Set thorn in tho ground that summer, fall and winter. Now, afUr standing in tho ground ntno years, quite a number of them aro rotted completely oil", and some thus rotted aro from tho heart of true, having no sap in thero. Djsxtxr Field. them H icerios U QV 1 1 rend- piTl U of the "fi I- Kj M 1 t Ml lfl t i- i il M