TAGE EIGHT
THE GAZETTE-TIMES, HEPPNER. ORE., THURSDAY, MAT 3, 117
editorial section
The Gazette-Times
Thi Heppner Gazette, Established March, 30, 1SS3.
The Heppner Times, Established November 18, 1S97.
Consolidated February 15, 1912.
VAWTEK CRAWFOIU), Proprietor. ARTHUl R. CRAWFORD, Editor.
Issued every Thursday morning, and entered at the post office at Heppner,
Oregon, as second-class matter.
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OFFICIAL PAPER FOB MOEEOW COUNTY.
Thursday, May 3, 1917.
A STEP OF PROGRESS.
The past week witnessed the "death" of another one of
those unsightly wooden awnings on Main street. One more
eye sore has been obliterated and possibly as years roll by, all
these "porches, or "verandas" or "wooden awnings" as they
are referred to locally, will be cleaned away and then Heppner
shall have lost its last vestage of the frontier town appearance.
Main street will then no longer have the air of an Eastern Ore
gon cow camp. It will look more like a thoroughfare of a modern-day
town. A glance at the neat fronts of those buildings
not adorned with the porch post decoration gives a good con
trast to that building which has the curse of 1849 ideas thrust
upon it. The old wooden awnings may have been of service
once upon a time, but in our opinion its day of usefulness has
passed by. We will be delighted to announce the passing of
the last one of these civic eye sores. ,
"MEECHING MEANNESS."
Theadore Roosevelt at one time and another has popular
ized, not to say invented, a number of words and phrases. But
the latest is the greatest, in the sense that it is the most oppor
tune and the most applicable.
"Meeching meanness" hits the attitude of Mayor William
Hale Thompson on all four sides. By the tactics of the time
serving poltroon, William Hale Thompson would make it ap
jwar that the second city of the United States was afraid to
offend those of its inhabitants who are disloyal to the govern
ment. William Hale Thompson's official place makes his offense
the greater and the more contemptible. By his own disloyal
equivocation, to put it no more harshly, he would cast the taint
of dishonor upon two and a half million American citizens. He
would have it understood that they are not Americans unless
it can be arranged that their Americanism can be so worn that
it will not offend pro-Prussians and their sympathizers.
Mr. Roosevelt calls the attitude of the mayor "meeching
meanness." Chicago approves the epithet for all that it means,
and more too. The federal government is moved to a consid
eration of the apparent 'disloyalty of this man who sits in a
high place in a place that circumstances developing in war
might make mighty important.
But it is not certain whether the city or the federal author
ities can lay the hand of merited chastening upon William Hale
Thompson. It is certain, however, that "meeching meanness"
will not be forgotten for many a year, and that when we hear
it we will always think of it as a burdock of obloquy that sticks
to this Prussian-fearing Thompson, never to be removed.
Portland Telegram.
-t-i-
IN THE EYES OF THE WORLD.
Washington and Oregon today hold a most important
place in the campaign for national preparedness.
These two states will be called on to furnisli a large pro
portion of the immense fleet of ships required to transport sup
plies to the Allies.
Steel shipyards in both Portland and Seattle are working
to the limit. '
f Wooden ship construction is the only alternative for the
rapid organization of an oversea fleet of fair sized carriers.
Douglas fir, one of the greatest natural assets of these two
states will be the material used and in this way its great value
for shipbuilding will be proved in a short time as in no other
manner. Also the Oregon and Washington shipyards will be
brought to the attention of th whole world and give us an in
estimable amount of valuable advertising. After the war our
shipyards will be recognized the world over and be in a posi
tion to claim their share of business.
Add to this, equitable laws and regulations for American
hliip owners and shipbuilding and operation will be one of the
Pacific Coast's greatest industries.
One of the arguments against the road bill to be voted on
at the coming election is that the war situation may make is
inopportune to do public work. If the measure carries, it will
not be compulsory upon the counties to grade the roads. They
can do as they like, and there will be no undue hastening of
the work. The money to be raised by the bond issue will be
raised during a period of five years. It is not likely that the
war will continue that long. When the war is over, it would
, be a very fine thing to have a lot of road work planned and
ready so as to give the returning soldiers work. Last summer
when the boys began to come back from the border, all over
the country the press urged the ieople to make an effort to find
jobs for the boys. . There will be a greater demand for work
when they come back from this war. Many positions now oc
cupied by men will be filled by women then. So, instead of the
war situation being a valid argument against the measure, it
is a big argument in favor of it. f
I he situation m hurope has shown, too, that the good road!
has a great limitary value. Before we are through with the
war, we may wish we had been building real roads long before
this. As a measure of preparedness, good roads may prove
the very best kind of an investment. Railroads may be easily
crippled, and it might be of the utmost importance to have
roads over which trucks could be operated to supplement the
railroads.
i-i
THE END MAY BE AFAR OFF.
With each passing day more talk is heard of how badly
whipped are the Germans and how short will be the time before
terms of peace are agre'ed upon and the roar of battle shall be
heard no more. We wish with all our heart that this could be
so, but let its' reflect with our minds unbiased and consider the
cold facts which have grown out of the past. In this manner
we may be able in some degree to judge the future.
The German retreat on the Eastern front several months
ago, which almost became a complete rout before Von Hinden
burg succeeded in turning the Russian army, was turned into
one grand conquering advance, and almost before the news of
the great Russian victory had died away, the vast Slavic ter
ritory was being overrun, by the Kaiser's great military ma
chine. The Teuton came back strong after it seemed he had
lost all.
The effective blocade which was being maintained by
England, would in itself have ended the war in a short time
through the starvation tactics practiced upon the Teutonic na
tion. But here witness the entrance of the submarine and the
installation of U-Boat warfare. Again the Kaiser's forces
overcame what seemed to be an almost insurmountable bar
rier. Although the submarine has not yet been effective inso
far as getting foodstuffs into Germany, it has been a means of
creating havoc with shipping of foodstuffs into allied terri
tory. There can be no doubt that the submarine menace exists
today, and will continue to exist until practical means are
found with which to combat it.
Present indications point to English and French successes
on the Western front, and the great Hindenburg line appears
to be in rapid retreat. Yet what the next few weeks of fighting
will bring out it is impossible to forecast. We can only hope
it will bring victory for the cause of humanity and the democ
racy of the world.
Americans are too apt to believe that the Kaiser is literally
all in. But such an idea must not predominate. Rather, we
must make preparations for a long war, and such preparations
as will in themselves insure the defeat of Kaiserdom and the
ultimate peace and safety of the world.
THE WAR BOND ISSUE.
The eeffct of the $7,000,000,000 loan will undoubtedly be
stimulated in some respects. There is no doubt whatever but
that the issue will be a tremendous success and largely over
subscribed. That of course will prove encouraging and will
promote confidence. Then the .bulk of this huge sum will be
spent at home for supplies of all sorts, benefitting many indus
tries and filtering through many channels of trade. By issue
on the installment plan inflation will be kept down to a mini
mum, though for minerals, metals and products of the same
high prices must be expected as the war continues. Our farm-J
ers, too, are sure of good prices; so the activities induced by
war are bv no means at an end. At the same time it will hard
ly be prudent to overlook the effect of withdrawing such vast
sums from the ordinary channels of investment. Eventually
this whole sum must be taken out of profits and savings that
would otherwise go largely into new enterprises. The prospect
of seven billions of new government bonds being placed on the
market in comparatively few months is a factor that cannot be
ignored. From the Clews Review.
; The government should take drastic measures to deal with
the speculators who juggle with the foods of the nation in such
a time as this. Reports from the large cities show that mves
tigators have found where these human sharks have hoarded
up foodstuffs to the very roofs of their huge warehouses in order
to boost prices to unheard of heights. Ihese men are worse
than freign spies and enemies, for they are taking advantages
of the American privileges offered them. And the poor con
sumer is forced to the limit to meet the demands of the spec
ulators. The food shortage is bad enough, without having
added artificial means to run the price higher.
t-t
Currv countv stands out conspicuously as the only county
in the state refusing to call a special election for June 4. At
torney General Brown is preparing to issue mandamus proceed
ings against them in the supreme court. It is quite likely that
the people of Curry county will have an opportunity to at least
register their wishes in regard to the road bonding measure,
Curry county maintains that they are not able to bear the add
ed expense of the election, and that the road bond measure will
in no way effect that county, ,
County sheriff George McDuffee has received a letter from
Governor Withycombe in regard to taking a census of this
county's war strength, as affected by the new conscription bill.
It is likely that all the necessary data will be secured by our
sheriff with the aid of volunteers and the method used will be
along the same lines as a general election. Every man will be
expected to do his duty.
The healthy condition of Heppner's financial constitution
is reflected in the announcement of a new bank, and new out
side capital which is becoming interested here. We already
have an established reputation as being one of the few towns
in the 'state, of our size, with a bank having deposits of over a
million dollars.
The little city of Lexington is getting in the limelight as
having the only postoffice in the county over which the Ameri
can flag does not fly. Let us hope, if such a rumor is true, that
"Old Glory" will soon be waving over Uncle Sam's recruiting
station in the Wheat Center. ,
BU
GKS
LEAD
For This There Is A Reason
B See These Cars
V,'.. .' . s-a
Five Passenger, six cylinder, 45
horsepower - - - $1220.00
Five passenger, four cylinder,
3& horsepower - - $795.00
These prices are F. O. B. Heppner
BUICK DESIGN
BUICK VALVE-IN-HEAD POWER
The lightness of the Buick Valve-in-Head motor and
not the enthusiasm of its salesmen has made the "Buick
conspicuous for leadership.
This new four has a Buick Valve-in Head motor (with
electrio starter) which develops thirty-five horse power
on brake test and is so reliable for rugged service that no
eulogy is necessary among "men who know Buick."
Its lines are beautiful. Finish and color are exception
al Deep, tufted black genuine leather upholstery. Cov
ered floor and running board, with aluminum bindings,
give a trinmess of appearance that is peculiarly Buick.
Body, hood, fenders and running gear are painted a
glossy, long-wearing black; wheels are black with white
stripes. Times 31x4 inches.
SEE THE BABY BUICK AT THE HEPPNER OARAGE
ALBERT BOWKER, Local Agent
All Buicks have the Delco lighting and starting system.
There is none better.
C. H. Goldsmith
Dealer In
WOODAND'COAL
HANDLES ROCK SPRINGS COAL
SLAB WOOD AND CORD WOOD.
All Deliveries Made Promptly.
PHONES, MAIN 393 or 396.
' HEPPNER, OREGON
The First National Bank ,
M. S. CORRIOALL, President
3. B. NATTER, Vive President T. J. MAHONEY Vice President
W. P. MAHONEY, Cashier
HUGH E. BRAN. Asst. Cashier W. P. COX, Asst. Cashier
I
P you can use money on
on your farm to make
more money, see us.'
7 CAPITAL $100,000.00
THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Heppner, Oregon.