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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 1905)
PAGE EIGHT. DAILY EAST ORBSONIAN, PENDLETON, OREGON, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 105, REPORT OF PUBLIC LAND COMMISSION Not many document sent to con gress by a president, which contain such far-reaching recommendations, hnve caused less notice than the re port of the public lands commission, printed last week, with a special mes sage from the president, heartily en . dc ruing all Its findings, and cnarac te:!slnc the subject as one of "great magnitude and Importance." The public lands commission Is composed of "W. A. Richards, com mlssloner of the general land office, Frederick H. Newell, chief engineer Of the reclamation service, and Qlf ford Plnchot, chief forester. Their report Is a short document of a f oxen pages, bat It is a scathing. If diRT.tf.ed, arraignment of our various agricultural and timber land laws. If lis recommendations are carried out by congress It will effect a smashing cf chi-iiehed Idols In the West and an overturn of a general practice of acquiring government land, because it ii there to acquire and if one man don't get it, another man wilL Land Monopoly. This report is one of the most pro found documents which has come to congress for some time. In discussing the question of land monopoly, al though not under that "yellow" head, tt states that nearly everywhere In the West the large land owner has suc ceeded In securing the best tracts, Whether of Umber or agricultural tend No specific acreages are stated In the report but to Indicate the extent to which lands have been acquired by single corporations, a government en gineer recently called attention, at a meetings of engineers, to a single tract of western land owned by a corporation embracing four million acres. There has been some outcry against this condition, the report states, yet the lack of greater protest Is signifi cant It is explained by the energy, shrewdness and Influence of men to whom the continuance of the present land laws Is desirable. The "commission has had Inquiries made as to how a number of estates, selected haphazard, have been ac 'quired. Almost without exception, collusion or evasion of the letter and spirit of the land laws was Involved. Jt Is not necessary to be inferred that f h nrMfflt Awners nf these estates were dishonest, but the fact renuttns! that their holdings were acquired or consolidated by practices which can not be defended. Claims Patented Without Making of Homes. "There exists and Is spreading In the West a tenant or hired-labor sys tem, which not only represents a relatively low industrial development, but whose further extension carries with it a most serious threat. Politi cally, socially, and economically, this system Is Indefensible. Had the land laws been effective and effectually nforeei2 Its growth would have been Impossible, "The fundamental fact that char notorizes the present situation Is this That the number of patents Issued Increasing out of r.!! proportion to the new homes." The report states that under the timber and stone act "the government has lost and Ik losing yearly vast sums of money through the sale of valuable timber lands to speculators," and recommends in the public Inter- ' est that the law should be repealed. The lieu land forest reserve law is also criticized as a scandalous act and Its Immediate repeal recommended. The commutation clause of the homestead law Is also scored as hav ing resulted in the entering of great areas of government land for the pur pose of speculation. Houses Rnllt, But Not Occupied. The homestead shanties of the com muters, it Is stated, may be seen in various decrees of dilapidation, but they show no evidence of genuine oc cupation. The great bulk of the com muting business is transacted through some agent who represents his client in all dealings and prepares all pa pers to allow entry by school teach ers, servants, etc., who are In no sense settlers. The report denounces the desert land law as an instrument of specu lation, fraud and perjury and recom mends such radical changes In tt an to amount almost to Its repeal. "Hundreds of desert entries were examined by the members of the commission in the last year, and the great majority of them were found to be uninhabited, unlrrlgated. un cultivated and with no improvements other than a fence. Many alleged Ir rigation ditches or reservoirs are fa miliar to the members of the commis sion, which are utterly inadequate to Irrigate a square rod, and upon the strength of such works patent has been frequently Issued to S20 acres." The West Still the Great Unknown. The commission states that the agricultural possibilities of the re maining public lands are as yet al most unknown, and lands which a generation ago, or even a decade, were supposed to be valueless are now producing large crops, either with or without Irrigation. "Because of possible development through . irrigation, through the In troduction of new plants, through new methods of farming, through forest preservation and grazing control, the remaining public lands have an im portance hitherto but dimly fore seen." Should Not Mortgage the Future. "It is of the first importance to save the remaining public domain for actual home-builders to the utmost limit of future possibilities and not to mortgage the future by any disposi tion of the public lands, under which home-making will not keep step with the disposal.' The commission re ports against the (40-acre grazing homestead measure now pending in congress, and says: "Until It oan be definitely ascer tained that any given area of the pub lic lands is and in all probability for ever will remain unsulted to agricul tural development, the title to the land should remain In the general government In trust for the future settler." REVEAL GEOLOGICAL SECRETS. Well Drillers Find Pine Log 700 Feet Under Ground. Mr. Schwbke, who resides on the Thomas McConnel place and is as sisting In drilling the artesian well. was a La Grande visitor yesterday and stated that the well was now down 800 feet and would be driven another 100 feet, says the La Grande Ob server. The study of the progress of this well brings to view some valua ble Information regarding the forma tion of the earth's crust In this val ley. At a point TOO feet below the sur face the drill struck a yellow pine log which, from the pieces brought up, appears to be In a good state of pres ervation. Below the stratum in which the log was found came a stratum of quicksand. After passing through the sand a stratum of blue clay was found which was about 15 feet thick. . The drill Is now In quicksand again and the work of drilling Is therefore very slow, as the well fills up with the sand and the greater part of the time is taken up pumping the sand. JAPANESE ORDER CANNED MEAT Three Hundred Tons Will Leave Port land Saturday. Three hundred tons of canned meat will be carried to Japan on the steamer Numantia, which is due to arrive from the Orient on Saturday, says the Oregon Dally Journal. Space for the shipment was engaged this morning. The meat is coming from Chicago, and la for the use of the Japanese army. It is the biggest con signment of canned goods ever made from this port to the Far East The traffic from the Eastern states to the Orient by way of Portland Is rapidly Increasing. It Is not so many months ago that flour, . wheat and lumber comprised the entire list of products sent on steamers sailing from this port; but recently they have been carrying - manufactured goods and raw material of all sorts produc ed In the Middle West, Atlantic and Southern states. Chief among these have been tobacco, cotton and ma chinery. The Japanese are not meat consumers to any great extent, but It is said they are gradually acquir ing the taste for it. If the demand In the Orient for goods from the Eastern states contin ues to increase, tt will be but a short time before regular liners operating from Portland will be unable to han dle all the business. But the local officials of the Portland Asiatic Steamship company say that the mat ter of adding another steamer to the fleet has not yet been given any con sideration. When it becomes appar ent that more tonnage is required, It Is announced that the matter will be given prompt attention. With t the large number of tramp steamers now on the disengaged list tonnage can easily be secured at a reasonable rate. Local Option to Upheld. Judge Bradshaw last week handed down a decision In the circuit court, upholding the local option law In Hood River, and deciding that the city must pay the saloon men the rebate on their licenses. The attor neys for the city have given notice of appeal to the supreme court of the ....... im.n T W Vtia tl,t hlB suit against the city to recover $260 as rebate on unexpired saloon license the city's attorneys filed a demurrer, questioning the constitutionality of the local option law. The case was argued before Judge Bradshaw and on Thursday of last week the Judge overruled the demurrer, thereby sus taining the validity of the law. Judg ment was rendered In favor of Fouts for the amount claimed, Glacier. The Columbia Lodging House Well ventilated, neat and com fortable rooms, good beds. Bar In connection, where the best goods ars served. Main street, center of block, be tween Alts and Webb streets. F. X. SCHEMPP I PROPRIETOR. L. M. Poole is the first man to be convicted In Washington under the new law concerning men living off the earnings of fallen women. He was sentenced at Spokane to five years In the penitentiary. " LAND SCRIP FOR SALE. Unrestricted forest reserve scrip for ale at lowest market prices. My scrip secures title to timbered, farm ing, grazing or desert land. In any quantity, without residence or im provement. Address H. M. Hamilton, The Portland, Portland, Oregon. The East Oregonlan Is Fastens Ore gon's representative paper. It leads and the people appreciate It and show It by their liberal patronage.. It Is the advertising medium of this ::Si hit HOME OF. Now located in the Renn Block, Court street, Room formerly occupied by St. Joe Store IN MAKING THE MOVE TO OUR NEW ROOM WE DO SO JO GIVE US THE LARGEST, THE FINEST AND THE MOST COMPLETE HARNESS AND SADDLE MANUFACTORY AND STORE IN THE INLAND EMPIRE. THERE IS NO HARNESS FACTORY IN OREGON OUTSIDE OF PORTLAND, THAT CAN COMPARE WITH US IN SIZE, COMPLETENESS OF STOCK, H1G HGRADE OF GOODS, OR FACILI TIES TO DO GOOD WORK. HUMANE HARNESS HAS PROVEN SUCH A BENEFIT TO USERS THAT OUR FACILITIES FOR MAKING ENOUGH TO SUPPLY THE DEMAND WERE INADE QUATE, AND LARGER CAPACITY WAS NECESSARY. WE ARE NOW EQUIPPED TO FILL ORDERS. Humane Harness HAS DEMONSTRATED ITS HEAL WORTH, TRUE MERITS AND SUPERIORITY OVER OLD-STYLE HARNESS. MANE HARNESS With all its advantages costs no more than OLD' STYLE HARNESS WE NOW MANUFACTURE HARNESS AND 6 ADDLES ON THE MOST EXTENSIVE SCALE IN THE INLAND EMPIRE. OUR IN CREASED AND IMPROVED FACILITIES REDUCES THE COST OF MANUFACTURER ENCE AFFORDS US A CHANCE TO SAVE YOU MONEY. WE WANT YOU TO EXAMINE OUR HARNESS AND GET OUR FIGURES BEFORE YOU BUY HARNESS OR SADDLES. WE CONTROL THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO MANUFACTURE AND SELL "HUMANE HARNESS" IN EASTERN OREGON. rWO TRAI'g TO TJTI ' tourist slMm! 7V 0' (penansllj Irti st dall,. Si "ME CHKDULj. PRO, TOR WB0Cim, "rial1, .T" t Na . M.II U4 M pm" . J DWttlOg. No. T, Ptsdlatea H No. a, WALLA WALU BlASr No. . Mtaed tail, i .J H Nil T - , ... ' No. 42 cosmos site Mi 1 niVER bchWI "on Forrumx y trwj m su mu urn. Rlusrla t . bally, smut B.tiiT. . . ' Lewlatoe stlli. WiT (Wis a. C. SMITH. AM, fej Washington Columbia Rh Railroad TAKE THIS Rnmv mi- Chicago, St. Paul, St las, i City, Bt. Joseph, Oasa ALL POINTS EAST AJD Portland and he on the Soma 1 1 'J TIME CARD. Arrive Monday, Wntowdij in day at 3 p. m. On Tuesday, Tnwlij and tot 1 p. m. Lean at 1 . . sally. Leave Walla Walla I i a ll Arrive Walla Walla ll:lla rl west. : I For Infonnatlos muni nti accommodations, call a ) tailtla 8. B. CALDERHEAD, S. i. A. Wall wnn, WMinm HARNESS, SADDLES and TEAMSTERS' SUPPLIES Court; St.- Elem Ik. TO RUNS PULLMAX BLEEPTM Rf,ERANT DINING CARS TOl Rlf-I SLEEPING Cl BT. TkVt M1NNEA DULDTH FARO0 GRAND CROOKS TCINNIF HELENA! BUTTE THROUGH TICKETS CHICAGO WASHINGTON pHTLADBLpHIA NEW YORK And all points Eart nlJ Co. and Aswrksn lln TIME SCHEDULE- Train. I Pdl "' 1 A--rrcBV Third and Morrleos 5 YOU WILL SATIbr WITH YOUR . . ... CTff If your ticss- h "Scenic - BECAUSE There .re ",00 and point, "f, mast wrfl lt roo sr. - tty formation ! . yos all w. c M BJUDE, fl8"1 JU Third i" Pair y 18 cH (on CO ha M I 'bos Ih MM oik be -B id ih. Re fctuu K a (ei F fell re, teei Ml 1 .!. rtt S ft l?e, i J