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Athena, Oregon, January 27,
1928
REMAKING AN EMPIRE
(Nation's Business)
Recfttapy of a lost empire was the
probleTh, that confronted a nauuimi
PROPERTY WOULD PAY IT
Should the $3.00 automobile lic
ense come, property tax in the state
f,f Oreiron would have the burden to
carry in proportion to what the pres
ent revenue from licenses amounts t
and what it would be under the flat
,..u. i, .00 schedule, for automobile
i..;ic would demand the present
u..o of road construction and high
way maintainence.
With the present property tax not
able to meet governmental expense,
what would be the result when pro
perty is called upon to lift that share
of the road tax now carried by auto
mobile license fee? Unless property
tax covers the deficit, here is what
would happen to the state highway
program, under the proposed flat
automobile license fee rate of $3.00:
1. Loss of $1,180,000 per year of
federal aid funds.
2. No funds for the construction
of new highways.
No funds with which to widon,
straighten and otherwise improve
- existing highways as they become in
adequate to properly serve the in
creased traffic which they must bear.
4. Only sufficient funds to prop
erly maintain about one-half of the
highways that are now being enjoy
ed and that are so important a factor
in the commercial and social welfare
of the state.
5. Ultimate obsolescense and de
struction of a system of highways
in which many millions of dollars
have been invested.
The Athena community feels ap
preciative for the completion of the
Wildhhorse market road, and a re
sponsive chord has been struck in
the announcement that a banquet will
be held to commemorate the achieve
ment. Thus opportunity is presented
to appropriately dedicate the new
highway.
When you have to sneeze, sneeze
right out loud. Else you find your
self in the predicament of the Berke
ley man, who, not to offend street
car passengers, held in his sneeze,
and when it released itself it jerked
him out of the window and landed
him in the hospital with a lame back.
Lindy at last forsook social func
tions and gave his nerves a rest by
going into the woods on a tapir hunt.
He topped off a week's pleasure
jaunt in fishing for alligators in a
Panama swamp, and he proved to be
adept at the job. Now the lad is
pepped up for another air grind.
That a German divorce decree will
get you as far as any other, is
evidenced in the case of Elly Ney
and her former husband, William
van Iloogslraten, director of Port
land symphony orchestra; and with
as much harmony, too.
"College girls are taking up box
ing. They wrestle, also, but it is
called dancing," grouchily deplores
the Vermmia Eagle man, whom we'll
wager doesn't know the difference be
tween the black bottom and the
centipede waltz.
Technique of high order was intru-
duced the other day by a Portland
thug, when he grasped with his
teeth the little finger of a woman's
hand and deftly "lifted" a diamond
ring from her third finger.
"Five dollars" said a Portland
judge to a bunch of 125 motorists
who persisted in driving around be
hind 1927 license plates. They paid
and lett their tlivvers in the garage.
the versatile co-ed is supreme;
mistress of the chafing dish, if noth
ing else; and so long as the art of
cheese-making remains, let her chafe
o
Immense flocks of robins reported
in flight over Southern Oregon, por
tends serious future inroads on a cer
tain well known variety of fish bait.
o
New styles and an optimistic
spring feeling go hand in hand, and
dad pays the bill on the first of the
month.
r,fprpnf in Chicago in November,
The lost empire is about a fifth of
the entire area of the United States
-more than that of the cultivated
farm land of the country and it lies
within the nation's boundaries. It re
quires no force of arms to retake it;
it is not in rebellion. This realm
contains the one great eternally ' re
newable natural resource of the
nation; it supports one-tenth of our
people; it provides shelter for a ma
jority of them; it is the mother of
most of our industries. Yet in the
midst of progress and prosperity it
lacs and languishes
The lost empire is our private for
est land; and its plight was described
at the conference as "the most inv
nortant question before the American
people today." Part of this empire-
desolated and sterilized by tire is as
lost to the nation as if it had been
annexed by a foreign power, part of
it is in a twilight state of sorry re
generationragged, neglected, fire
swept woodlands; part of it is cour
ageously staging a comeback; and a
part happily a large part, is still
physically sound and intact abound
ing in magnificent virgin forests
but economically weak, and in danger
of eventual loss. The lost empire has
been deplored and bemoaned by
practical men as well as by the senti
mentalist and the academics, the last
two groups frequently coming to the
conclusion that the solution of the
problem is to compel the owners of
timber land to grow timber for scene
ry if they can't for profit.
The Chamber of Commerce of the
United States has long recognized
that the recovery of the lost empire
an ecomonic question that must
be answered outside of debating
societies by practical private enter
prise.
The Chamber hit on the novel -ac
tually, it is a novel idea of calling
together the business men who own
the woodlands of America outside the
public forests, the men who are act
ually growing timber and utilizing
the forests, and get them to suggest
remedies.
Long the lectured, the men of the
tall timber became at last the lec
turers. And they even lectured themselves.
Neither did they evade their share
of the responsibility. Without u
"but" or an "if" they assumed, "as
civic duty, the leadership in this
great national enterprise of perpet
uating the forests."
There were more than 300 of them,
representing every province of the
lost empire, which stretches through
about forty states. Sitting with them
were representatives of the industries
that must have wood or perish and
a score or more of professional for
esters, including Col. W. B. Greeley,
the, chief forester of the United
States.
The National Resources Depart
ment of the Chamber, which directed
the conference, cheered it with the
announcement of the results of a
survey of the present state of com
mercial reforestation in the United
States. Nearly 200 commercial
companies already have adopted for
estry policies. These apply to about
21,000,000 acres of land.
Moreover, virtually all of the
Pacific coast and the adjacent states
are systematically protecting their
forest land virgin as well as cut-
over against fire; and so are a
large proportion of those of the
southern states and of other regions.
Such protection has been declared to
be 75 per cent of reforestation in
the American environment.
Speaking of the mannce of the
fires, Colonel Greeley touched a sore
spot of nntional and state policy
when he declared that, despite grati
fying progress, we had not yet made
the United States "safe for forestry."
So, last year, the forest lands of the
United States were exposed, more or
less unprotected, to 91,000 forest
fires, which burned not less than 24,
000.000 acres of land. It should be
explained that but a very small part
of this devasted area included valu
able timber. Most of it was land
that had been cut over at least once,
and, probably, almost all of it had
been burned over before. But it is
the land that has been denuded that
contains the present hope of future
forests. And there is no insurance,
or virtually none, which fact was sur
veyed and deplored by an insurance
committee headed by John L. Kaul,
president of National Lumber Manu
facturers' Association.
PROPOSED $3.00 LICENSE FEE
County Revenues
A great deal of discussion ha3
arisen regarding the effect that the
proposed $3.00 flat license fee would
have upon the road finances of the
various counties in the state. Under j
the present basis of distribution the;
counties receive twenty-five per cent )
of the net income from motor vehicle
license fees after the costs of collec
tion have been deducted. This dis
tribution to the counties during 1926
based upon the net receipts for the
calendar year, amounted to $1,410,-
000, the share of each county Deing
proportional to the amount of license
fees paid in by owners of vehicles
registered from that particular coun
ty. Under state statutes the money is
transferred to the county "motor li
cense fund" and is required to be dis
bursed; first, for payment of interest
and retirement of county bonds issued
for road construction and improve
ment; second, for cooperation on
bridges and grading on state high
ways if such cooperation is required;
and, third, for general county high
way improvement.
At the end of 1926, the various
counties of the state had outstand
ing road bonds to the extent of $24,
650,000. Assuming that these bonds
have an average life of thirty years,
which is perhaps above the average,
the retirements during the year!
would have amounted" to $822,000.
Assuming an average interest rate of
iV2 percent, the interest requirements
for the year would have amounted to
$1,109,000, or a total for principal
and interest of $1,931,000. It -will
be seen from this that the counties
found it necessary to raise $512,000,
in addition to the income received
from their share of the motor ve
hicle license fees, in order to take
care of their bond obligations.
This deficit is large enough to
throw a considerable burden upon the
general finances of the counties, but
seems small when contrasted with the
conditions which would exist if the
proposed $3,00 license fee were to go
into effect.
Under the proposed $3.00 fee the
county share of the motor vehicle
license fees during 1926, would have
been reduced to $365,000. This
would have left a deficit of $1,566,000
to be made up from other county
sources, probably necessitating a
direct levy upon the property of each
county. 1
The total taxable property in the
state for 1926 was $1,084,538,000,
and the raising of the deficit of $1
566,000 would have necessited a levy
of 1.44 mills on all of the taxable
property of the counties, of $1.44 on
each $1,000 of taxable property.
Even those figures do not indicate
the burden which would be imposed
if the flat $3.00 fee were to be adopt
ed and a tax on the general property
of the state were resorted to in order
to make up the deficit to the
State Highway Commission's rev
enues. The deficit to the commis
sion, it is estimated, would have Been
$3,162,500 for 1926, or a total of
$4,728,500 to be met from property
taxes. The levy required to meet
this amount would have been 4.36
mills, or $4.36 on each $1,000 of tax
able property in addition to the bur
den already carried by the direct
property taxpayer.
The difference between a 4.36 mill
tax on all the taxable property of the
state and the present income of $1,
419,000 to the counties, plus $4,257,
500 to the state, without resort to
property taxes is the difference to
the average property taxpayer, be
tween the present scale of fees and
the proposed $3.00 license fee.
Complete Kitchen
Equipment
EVERYTHING for the kitchen
from an oil stove to a clipper
you'll find it at this store. We v
selected our stock thoughtfully with
your kitchen nwids always in mind.
All the articles we offer you are tried
and proved through long years of
honest service.
We have New Perfection Oil Cook
Stoves clean and reliable, com
plete with oven and warming cabi
net. And we also carry a big assort
ment of Utensils Aluminum and
Enameled Steel.
Let us help you select the articles
you need for your kitchen.
ROGERS
i nwiwmrrwwTiri in iinrTiwrrnMiTii i nma i
GOODMAN
FNEW PERFECTION 'f i-L
OiJ Cook Stoves and Ovens H, I&J
Under the present law the courts
and juries have to wrestle with the
fiction that a defendant may have j
been insane at the exact moment of
committing a crime and quite norm
al at a ten-minute distance on either
side of the act. It is this fiction
that admits a sickening plausibility to
the plea of "guilty by reason of in
sanity," and induces lavish waste of
time and money on the contradictory
testimony of mental and nerve
specialists.
American Beauty Bread
Baked by the most modern and up-to-date process known to the
art of baking. Insuring you uniform quality the year round. Ask
your grocer.
MILTON BAKERY, H. W. Kreiger Prop.
SSSS3SBES3SS9EBB3BBE
Able to Navigate
Magistrate The constable says you
were intoxicated imd unable to walk.
Prisoner Excuse me contradictln'
Mm, sir, but 1 was able to walk quite
comfort able 'n ' t fours. Tit-Tilts.
In Pound
Notice is hereby given that the
following described animals have
been taken up and placed in Athena
city pound, and unless redeemed by
owner, will be sold to the highest
bidder for cash in hand on Tuesday,
January, 31, 1928, at 2 o'clock p. m.
One bay mare, about 6 years old,
brand open 8 on left stiffle. Colt at
side. ,
One brown horse, about 4 years old,
no brand visable.
B. D. TAYLOR, Marshal.
WE CALL FOR AND DELIVER
Monday, Thursday, Saturday
Cleaning, Pressing, Repairing, Dyeing
Rugs Cleaned and Size4
Twin City Sanitary Cleaners
F. E. Smith, Milton-Freewater
Our Agency is at Penn Harris Barber Shop.
Haircuts and Shaves. Phone 583.
The home of good
Dr. W. Boyd Whyte
CHIROPRACTOR
Stangier Building, Phone 706
Pendleton. Oregon. 957 J
"Coolidge pours oil on troubled
waters" meaning that another ad
miral ha. talked too much.
DR. J. L. GEYER
Dentist
Post Building, Athena, Phone 582
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
In the County Court of the State o!
Oregon forUmatilla County.
In the matter of the Estate of Mar
tha J. Shick, Deceased.
Notice is hereby given that the
undersigned has been appointed exe
cutor of the last will and testament of
Martha J. Shick, deceased, by an
order of the above entitled Court.
All persons having claims against
the said estate are hereby notified to
present the same to me at Athena,
Oregon, or to my attorneys, Watts
& Prestbye, at their office in
Athena, Oregon, within six months
from the date of the first publication
of this notice. All claims must be
verified as by law required.
Dated at Athena, Oregon, this 13th
day of January, 1928.
ARTHUR E. SHICK,
Executor of the Last Will and
Testament of Martha J. Shick,
Deceased.
Watts & Prestbye Attorneys for
Estate, Athena, Oregon. J13F10
It Pays to Look Well!
To look well you should keep your hair properly cut your face
shaved and massaged In fact everything in the Barber line.
Come in and see Herb Parker and I.
Penn Harris Barber Shop
Agency for Troy Laundry and Twin City Sanitary Cleaners.
Phone 583.
1.
DR. S. F. SHARP
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON
Athena, Oregon
I'ortUud plar.: to
;pc::d the tut re
ba grata!! of $S,6TS,OC0 for her schools
during 1S2S.
FoEsibly Admiral Plunkett is seek
ing a niche on the retired list?
o
There is quite speck of doff tax
running loose in Athena.
DR. W. G. COWAN
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON
Athena, Oregon
WATTS & PRESTBYE
Attorney-At-lw
Main Street. Athena. Oregon
State and Federal Court Practice
A JUST LAW PROPOSED
(Seattle Times)
The district attorneys of Oregon,
corresponding to the prosecuting at
torneys in Washington, have recom
mended an addition to the criminal
code that deserves favorable con
sideration in both states. They pro
pose a law providing that when a de
fendant is found guilty of a crime by
reason of insanity the verdict shall be
conclusive that the defendant is in
sane and the term of detention' in an
asylum shall be at least as long as
the minimum prison sentence for the
crime charged.
The justice of this is ho obvious
that it is a wonder some such law
was not drafted and enacted long ago.
The insane criminal is more dangerous
to leave at large than one who is
sane and whose proclivites might to
some extent be restrained by knowl
edge and fear of consequences. The
insane person cannot be presumed to
lha'e either knowledge or fear.
m We Handle Genuine m
A Goods-No Substitutes.
rA Try Our Ta
D.R.SHAMPQO Tg
Shaving
and
Baths
Up-to-the Minute Bobs
Hair Cuts and Shingles
DUFFIELD'S BARBER SHOP
Athena, Ore.
SOME OF THE FACILITIES OFFERED BY
THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF ATHENA
SAFETY DEPOSIT BOXES For rent from $l"per year up.
These boxes are kept in our fire-proof and burglar-proof
vault, and they are accessable to you at any time during
banking hours.
INTEREST ON DEPOSITS We will pay you interest at the
rate of 4 per cent per annum, compounded semi-annually
if you wish, on our certificates of deposit. In the last five
years we have paid our customers over $75,000 in interest
on deposits.
WE OFFER FOR SALE Insured mortgage bonds, insured by
the National Surety Company of America. These bonds
are in $100, $500 and $1,000 denominations and draw in
terest at the rate, of 6 per cent coupons payable semi
annually.
ESTABLISHED 1865
Preston-Shaffer Milling Co.
AMERICAN BEAUTY
FLOUR
is made in Athena, b ' Athena labor, in one ol the very best
equipped mill in the Northwest, of the best selected Bluestem
wheat grown anywhere. Patronize home industry. Your
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Vthena. Oregon. Waitshurg. Wash