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PAGE TWO
THE HEPPNER HERALD, HEPPNER, OREGON
Tuesday, July 31, 1923
A
THE HEPPNER HERALD
AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
S. A. PATTISON,
Entered at the Beppner, Oregon,
Terms of
One Year
Six Months
Three Months
FARMER TAKES ISSUE WITH EDITOR
Those who think that Englishmen and Canadians lack
a sense of humor will be disabused of that idea by the fol
lowing dispute between the editor of the Saskatoon Star
and a wheat grower reader. The editor doubts whether
the farmer can improve his condition in any other way
than by careful selection of crops. He says:
"The results of this year are going to be very like the
results of other good crop years. The real farmer, who
lives off the smaller produce of his farm and sells his grain
as a surplus product, is going to be in a comfortable and
secure position. Of the others, some of the lucky ones will
turn the corner, while the unlucky ones will find them
selves in the clutches of 'the interests.'
"The whole trouble with farming in Western Canada is
that too many fanners arc trying to raise money. Money
is not a legitimate farm product, and the less the farmei
has to do with it the better off he will be. More and more
in Western Canada the man who does not raise his own
meat and potatoes, his own horses, his own butter and eggs
and small fruits and vegetables, is going to be crowded
out. The successful farmer the world over is the small
mixed farmer who raises the greater part of his living on
his farm. Experience lias shown that 'wheat mining' in
Western Canada is a gamble, with the odds against the
farmer. The money basis of the whole proposition is that
ihe farmer both buys and sells at the other fellow's price.
And the chances of changing that basis are remote, for
they involve an upheaval of the whole financial structure
of civilization. The individual fanner has only one way of
beating the game, and that is to farm, in the true sense of
ihe word.
"The fanner who farms with one eye on the city; with
a feeling that it is impossible to 'see life' on the farm with
a thirst in his heart for the show. and glitter of 'civilization'
is crippling himself; he is pravin-r for failure."
One result of the editorial was a somewhat remarkable
letter from Sydnev Ibngham, member in the Saskatche
wan legislature. lie wrote:
"My mind has visioned the kind of farmer peasant you
want, the happy simpleton who will devote about five
hours' overtime in mixed chores and train his family to
patiently follow in father's footsteps. The family living
of bare needs must be sweated out of the farm, but sweat
ed of the income tax return. There are so many others,
who look for support from the actual crop returns, he will
gladly hand it over because 'money is not a legitimate farm
product.' Before he goes to bed he will repeat a fervent
prayer, 'God bless the squire and his relations, and keep us
111 our puoper stations.' '
"Mr. Kditor, what is this doctrine you leach? That the
real producers of wealth must calmly submit to economic
and social subjugation, ignorant or indifferent to such
things as co.sl of production, and selling efficiency. That
the fanner cannot and must not be a business man. W ell,
I'll admit that the rest of the world .should be glad he isn't.
Hut the fact is he must soon be, because he must prevent
that financial upheaval of which you speak. All the paltry,
hopeless stuff you would now teach the farmer has been
poured into the ears of labor in bygone years. I'ut labor
inarches on to belter things. The fanner must follow, lie
must organize and advance with the economic forces of the
worm, or go under 111 the pressure ot modern condition
4 1 . ' , .11 . 1 . 1 1 1
11 is strange, u sav me
the business world is so intensely organized, wlun almo
eveiy de ice and service is charged up to overhead in ll
name ol elluieiuy, when the spread between producer ami
consumer is ever w idening and the law of supply and de
mand is for the most part ignored, or overridden, the
lanner is told to avert his gaze lioin those things and seek
happiness in natural and spiritual law. You promise that
in some mysterious way Ihe benefits of freedom from fi
nancial worry and greater leisure will come. How? 1 only
know- of one practical way and that is that the marketing
of what promises to be our bountiful crop, shall be done in
a way that will show a profit to the farmer. Every nerve
ami energy of the country should be brought into service
to that end.
"The prudent farmer will introduce and maintain live
stock, gardens, etc., on his farm where they fit in with
practical economy, but no amount of mixed fanning, or
mixed theory either, will save this country, if the grain
crop is thrown on the grain exchange at below the cost of
production.,"
RED TAPE AND THE CRIPPLED SOLDIER
With an artificial chin, one lung and near blindness,
isergeant Dijon, hero of Cantigny, was found aimlessly
wandering about at Fond l)u I,ac, Wisconsin.
At Cantigny, Dijon was conspicuous for bravery in the
first battle in which American troops took part. In the
lace ol terrible machine gun lire he leaped from a front
line trench, lu.-hcd across No Man's band and captured an
tnemy machine gun nest.
His gallantry and the honorable wounds that have re
duced him to a wreck have had no recognition from the
government. Army red tape charges that at the time of
liis act of gallantry he was on the records as absent with
out leave; that he went forward without orders, and incur
icd risks that could have been avoided.
EAtor and Publisher
PoetoUlce as second-class Matter
Subscription
$2.00
$1.00
$0.50
least, mat 111 these daws when
A veterans' bureau in the East sent him to an army hos
pital at Prescott, Arizona, where he was refused admit
tance, and he tramped his way on foot to Fond Du Lac.
If Dijon is not entitled to aid, who is?
Does not the chin shot away and an artificial one sup
plied by the surgeons, atone for the 'absent without leave:'
Does not the capture of the enemy machine gun nest
wipe out the fact that he acted without orders?
Do not the one lung and the near blindness blot out the
complaint that the risk could have been avoided?
Isn't the fact that he is a human wreck, a derelict, a
shattered remnant of a man, and that all this came to him
w'le fighting the best he knew under and for the Stars
and Stripes, make him worthy, in the eyes of the nation,
of being something more than a maimed wanderer on the
face of the earth?
The people of the United States do not approve the rigid
army ruling that gives this war wreck a stone as his re
ward for his gallantry at Cantigny, a battle that sent a
thrill of encouragement into every home in America.
Oregon Journal.
OLD MORROW COUNTYITES
HOLD REUNION
Last Saturday afternoon, at Lauer-
elhurst park In Portland, some fifty
former citizens of Morrow county
held their seventeenth annual re
union.
The weather was perfect, the grub
was perfecter" and in bounteous
quantities. Everybody wore their
pleasantest smile, the program was
good but not long and surely every
body present enjoyed themselves to
the full.
Election of officers resulted as fol
lows: President, Geo. Horsman;
vicu president, Helen M. Warren;
treasurer, J. W. Beckett; secretary,
N. C. Maris.
Mrs. A. E. Binns gave a very able
and entertaining address on the
character and worth of the pioneer
stock of Morrow county. Miss Lucia
Van Winkle, daughter of Mr. ;iml
Mrs. C. C. Van Winkle, recited nice
ly "Little Orphan Annie. As u.:ual
W. L. Mallory gave a splendid talk,
this time in memory of our depart
ed members of the association. Mrs.
Helen Warren gave a very interest
ing talk on the early history of Gil
liam county (from which Morrow
was carved), and some of her prom
inent pioneer citizens.
Renewing old acquaintances and
talking over old times occupied the
greater part of the afternoon and this
feature of this annual gathering is
the one most enjoyed and it was not
till after nine o'clock that nil had
said good-night and left beautiful
Laurelhurst for their various homes.
It was decided to hold next year's
picnic at the same place, on the af
ternoon of the first Sunday follow
ing the Furth of July.
The constitution of the organiza
tion provides for an official song to
be sung at the opening and closing
of each meeting, a matter which had
been overlooked in former years. The
following ode was adopted and sung
at this meeting:
lleppiiei'-l'oi'tlaiKl
(Tune, America)
My Heppner, 'tis of thee,
Place of nativity,
Of itheo I sing;
Land where my children grew!
Land of real friendship true!
To thee my thoughts return
And pleasures bring.
Dear friends back there to you,
We sadly bid ad no,
To move down here;
Friends whom we can't forget.
Friends whom we're glad we met.
We welcome you to comV
And make homes near.
Portland, our adopted home.
From thee we never ro;m,
Thy street k we love;
We love they parks and drives.
That health and pleasure gives,
We love thy water pure,
Our homo we love.
N. C. MARIS, Secretary.
COMBINED HARVESTER CUTS
OVER !W MILES IN ONE DAY
As a tributary center of big wheat
farms Arlington stands without a
peer in either Oregon or Washing
ton. When a harvesting crew can travel
32 miles ln a day on one field of
wheat, and yet make scarcely an im
pression on it, one naturally con
cludes that it must be a field of any
thing but diminutive site.
Such, however, is the record made
by a combined harvester crew last
Saturday on Earl Weatherford's
ranch on Shutter flat, 12 miles
south of Arlington. Weather-ford
has 2 500 acres in fall and surinc
wheat, all in one bod v.
Last Saturday a 20-foot cut Holt
combine harvester, pulled b a 75
power Holt tractor, covered 32 miles
of this field, or about "5 acres. The
cut will run about two and one-third
acres to tle mile. The yield will
average from 20 to 40 bushels per
.icre. depending whether it is fall or
winter seeding. Arlington Bulletin.
HERM1STO.N PICTURED AS AX
IDEAL OREGON COMMUNITY
An interesting article written by
A. C. Volker and printed in the lat
est number of Commonwealth Re
view of the University of Oregon, is
devoted to the town and com mi'
of Hermiston, in Umatilla county
and shows what can be accomplish
ed in eastern Oregon by the applica
tion of water to the sandy soil of the
lower levels of the Columbia basin.
After giving a brief history of the
earliest attempts to put water on the
land by private individuals and cor
porations and of the subsequent tak
ing over of the project by the United
States government as a federal recla
mation project, the writer tells us
that the first ground broken or sage
brush grubbed was in August, 1904,
just 19 years ago.
The first crops produced were po
tatoes, alfalfa and watermelons, all
of which grew in such abundance as
to fully demonstrate what the land
was capable of when watered and cul
tivated. The town was started in 190 5 and
1906 a school was organized with
12 pupils. A 4-room school house
was built and in 1910 an 8-room ad
dition was added and in the term of
1921-22 the total enrollment was
350 pupils.
The town claims to be the small
est place having a Carnegie library
which is supported by taxation and
a salaried librarian is in charge.
A spirit of co-operation pervades
the community and farmers, when
help is scarce and high priced, ex
change wortc in the harvest and other
busy seasons. The community also
has a Jersey association, a Hay
Growers' association, Apple Growers'
association and Potato Growers' as
sociation, all of which are said .
be excellent examples of co-operative
endeavor.
The town has the usual number of
churches and lodges, a picture show
and a lyceum course is maintainned
during the winter months.
The article shows what is possi
ble in Oregon community life if the
people who make up tho community
have the ambition to get together
and do things for themselves.
FOOD PRICES AND FARMER
The price of food, according to
the Department of Labor, averages
42 per cent higher now than it did
in 1913.' The Department of Agri
culture reports, howeven, that the
farmer is receiving less for the sir
pies like wheat, corn, barley, hay and
livestock than he did in 1913. What
causes tho difference?
Higher wages in every line except
farming account for the discrepancy.
Miners, steel workers, railroad men,
labor in packing, milling and can
ning plants, all are receiving more
money with the result that the cost
of transporting and transforming the
farm output into finished products
has greatly increased. These in
creased wages are a distinct economic
Economy the Spirit
of the Times
DID YOU EVER STOP TO THINK WHAT
YOU PAY FOR FANCY CONTAINERS?
COFFEE
IS A GOOD ILLUSTRATION OF THE FACT.
YOU PAY FROM 7c to 8c PER POUND
FOR THE LITHOGRAPHED CANS
WE CARRY A LINE OF BULK COFFEES AT
331c -35c -40c
PER POUND
Phelps Grocery
Company
benefit except to the farmer. The
sixe of his compensation Is fixed br
the price bis surplus brings on the
world market. The world market is
low, hence the farmer gets less for
his wo.rk than he did in 1913.
The situation can be remedied In
two ways: An effort can be made to
lift the world market price by im
proving world conditions, or the
American farmer can reduce his out
put, thereby forcing the price up.
His changes of improving world con
ditions are microscopic, but he can
reduce his output. In fact, he is al
most compelled to produce less. He
is doing it. He is cutting down.
Pretty soon food prices will go up.
Wh.en they do, don't howl. On the
contrary, be thankful that for the
last three years the farmer has been
working for you for less than noth
ing. He is entitled at least to the
wage of a day laborer. Sunset.
FARM REMINDERS
Copper carbonate dust treatment
of seed wheat has been found by the
Oregon experiment statiqn to be ef
fective in smut control, to aid rather
than harm germination, to reduca
the amount of grain seeded after
liquid treatment 25 per cent, to re
duce losses from holding treated
grain in bad weather, to produce
good healthy plants under otherwise
unfavorable conditions.
A profitable type of feeder lamb
is one that is thrifty, blocky, and
about 55 pounds in weight. This
type when fed good feed will make
a gain of a quarter of a pound a
day and will be fat in 80 to 100
days. Good quality feeds must be
supplied to obtain these results. This .
is the season to be spotting the lambs
wanted for feeding purposes.
The dairy industry in the state is
increasing at the rate of 1,189,796
pounds of butter fat annually, which
is worth about $500,000. This in
dustry is enabling the farmer to
change his labor from a loss to a
profit.
It is economy on the part of all
farmers who raise stock to pasture
the stubble field with hogs or sheep.
The grain shattered or lodged will
be readily gathered by them and
placed in a marketable form. ThI?
season in western Oregon there is
considerable grain that has lodged.
If there are hogs available use them.
If not, sheep are a good substitute.
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