PAGE FOUR
HEPPNER GAZETTE TIMES, HEPPNER, OREGON; THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 1937.
Heppner
Gazette Times
THE HEPPNER GAZETTE,
Established March 301883;
THE HEPPNER TIMES,
Established November 18, 1897;
CONSOLIDATED FEBRUARY 15.
1912
Published eyery Thursday morning by
CKAWTOBD PUBLISHING COMPANY
and entered at the Post Office at Hepp
ner, Oregon, as second-class matter.
JASPER V. CRAWFORD, Editor
SPENCER CRAWFORD, Manager
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
One Year $2.00
Three Years 5.00
Six Months 1.00
Three Months .75
Single Copies 05
Official Paper for Morrow County
1937 MARCH 1937
Son. Mon. Tuc Wed. Thu. Frt Sat.
W 1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31 01 IS EQ
m a ra c
Mi llt IW
The Last Bulwark.
TjRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S plan
JT to reorganize the Supreme Court
through forcing retirement of judges
past seventy years of age and ap
pointing men more in sympathy with
his desires provides one of the
gravest tests of constitutional gov
ernment in the history of the United
States.
The plain issue is whether tripar
tite government with its system of
checks and balances as provided for
in the Constitution shall stand or
whether the executive shall have
the power to nullify effectiveness
of the other two branches and there
by open the way to absolute dicta
torship.
The Supreme Court today stands
as the last bulwark between the
liberties of the American people and
the will of a dictator. However
much confidence the American peo
ple may have in Franklin D. Roose
velt he who promised in campaign
speeches that the sanctity of the
Supreme Court would be preserved
and that any attempt to amend the
Constitution would be done in the
manner provided by the Constitu
tion they should think seriously
upon this action.
Behind the smoke screen of prop
aganda being used to force the re
organization plan through Congress
there are facts definitely ignored by
proponents. One of these, and really
the only one that matters, is that the
Supreme Court does not have the
power, and has never exercised the
power of acting arbitrarily upon any
act of Congress. The only way in
which the Supreme Court has ever
passed upon the constitutionality of
any law is through the process of
appeal of an individual case which
came to it through the lower courts
In such instances they have checked
the law involved against constitu
tional provisions and have said that
the law either did or did not conflict
with those provisions.
President Roosevelt has made no
"bones" about the reason for his re
organization plan. He wishes Con
gress to pass laws which the present
bupreme Court has ruled uncon
stitutional. He chooses the reor
ganization route rather than go to the
people with necessary amendments
to the Constitution. The amend
ment route, he says, would be long
and tedious, and it is doubtful
' whether satisfactory amendments
could be written.
On the face of his position, Presi
dent Roosevelt admits weakness in
his proposed legislation. If "satis
factory" amendments to the Consti
tution could not be written, and if
the course he expects to follow
would not stand the test of the nec
essary time to let the people decide,
then that course may not be the
proper course.
The President has failed to show
that there is a crying need for speedy
action. In the recent election cam
paign he pictured the country in a
rosy condition. In the face of im
proved conditions on every hand, it
is harder now to find excuse for this
high-handed procedure.
He has failed to give evidence that I
any Supreme Court justice over
seventy years of age has not acted
capably in any matter. The pres
ent court has kept up with the
heavy demands New Deal legislation
has made upon it. In some instances
as in the NRA decision the ver
dict of unconstitutionality was unan
imous; so that his accusation of one
or two men holding up the wheels
of progress is not justifiable.
There is, in the final analysis, only
one conclusion. Mr. Roosevelt in
tends to run the country as he thinks
it should be run, and anyone who
crosses him is wrong. He is not
willing to tolerate rights of minor
ities as provided in the Constitution
he so recently pledged himself to up
hold; and in his alignment of class
against class he shows no recogni
tion of the fact that these classes
are interdependent, that the welfare
there remains much work, and we in
Morrow county who realize its im
portance must not sleep at the
switch.
The benefits of the project are far
reaching. Immediate construction of
the dams will mean a sizeable pay
roll for several months to augment
local business. Insurance will be
given production of hay lands in the
bottoms below the dams, as well as
result in a sizeable increase in the
hay crop, and should result in keep
ing much money at home that before
has been spent on the outside for
hay, as well as reducing the price
of hay to stockmen. (A large amount
of money was sent out of the county
for high priced hay this winter.)
Taxable wealth of the bottom lands
will be increased, thereby lessening
the tax load on other lands. All this,
in addition to bringing relief from
of the one depends upon the welfare danger of future devastating floods,
of the other.
A similar attempt to bring the su
preme tribunal of the land into dis
favor was once made by another
Roosevelt who later backed up from
his position. Of that attempt, Frank
H. Short, noted California attorney,
made comment back in 1906 pertin
ent to the present situation, from
which these excerpts are taken:
L,oionei Jttooseveit seems to as
sume that while other generations
were profoundly wise they were not
makes the project one of major im
portance. Wheels of progress grind
slowly but, we hope in this instance,
surely
Engineers Approve
Continued from First Page
those here who have studied the
situation believe the thing to do is to
work for the survey appropriation.
Following are the letter of trans
mittal from the secretary of war to
comnarativelv so. and that nil hn. the speaker of the house of repre-
man intelligence of the irresistible sfntatiyes, and the report of the
and unanswerable sort came into the cmef of enSineers: (The letter with
wnrM imp fiftv vr accompanying papers was referred
"Such changes, innovations and 10 ommiuee on riooa control
devices have no more to do with tho on January a, ma, and ordered to
powers of government, and have no
more connection with the rights of
property, than has the invention of
be printed with illustrations.)
War Department,
Washington, December 11, 1936
the aeroplane the effect of replacing sPeaker of the House of Repre-
the Ten Commandments. . . semauves;
"It is now arfnieH tw Wnco f Dear Mr. Speaker: I am trans-
a change in condition and the do- fitting herewith a report dated De
velopment of values and usps not cember 10. 1936. from the Chief of
known. ... a risht of srovprnmpnt Engineers, United States Army, on
fixed by unamended law is to be Preliminary examination of Willow
swept aside merelv because nn in- week, Ureg., a tributary ot the Co-
dividual thinks it would be better lumbia River, with a view to the
for the great mass of mankind to contro1 ot lts lloocls authorized by
take from the one and bestow upon tne act aPProved June 13, 1934. to
me Other. . . gemer wun accompanying . papers
"If conversion nf tm immorhi ; and illustration
- . . MMV I, J AkJ
commendable under a higher law,
and tor a greater good, who can say
that it is not merely another and
easy step to repeal of any other ob
jectionable commandment or law
that interferes with the greatest
good of the greatest number, in the
opinion of the greatest politician of Subiect: Preliminary examination of
... n i r . -, i
vviiiuw vreeK, reg., wun view
to the control of its floods.
To: The Secretary of War,
1. I submit for transmission to
Congress my report, with accom
Sincerely yours,
HARRY H.WOODRING,
Secretary of War.
War Department,
Office of the Chief of Engineers,
Washington, December 10, 1936.
a particular generation?
"Fullness of heart and deepness
or affection belong apparently to
those who are either doing politics
or doing nothing,
"We have always known that there Panying papers and illustration, on
could be one man of a generation Preliminary examination of Willow
who knew more of many things than week, ureg., a tributary to the Co
any other one man. but we have lumbia River, with a view to the
never before known that one man contro1 of its flods, authorized by
of one generation could know more me act approved June 13, 1934,
of all things than all other men of 2- Willow Creek, a small stream
that generation, and at the same m northern Oregon, rises in the Blue
time be equal to the task of revers- Mountains, tlows generally north
ing the precedent of the past, deny- west 70 to join the Columbia
ing wisdom to our ancestors and ver 20 miles above the mouth,
hope of further intellectual achieve- uPPer basin is very rugged, but
ment to posterity.
Relief in Time.
TIHIRTY-FOUR years ago this
JL coming June 14th, a flood
a llood oc
curred at Heppner which shocked
the world. The worst catastrophe tion is practiced to some extent alnnff
. -
below the town of Heppner the to
pography is rolling. The basin has
an area of 910 square miles and a
population of approximately 2,500.
Stock raising and the growing of
wheat by dry-farming methods are
the principal occupations. Irriaa-
of its kind in the history of the
world considering lives lost in pro
portion to population affected it
wrote the name of Heppner indelibly
upon the roll of unfortunate com
munities.
the valley. Rail and highway facil
lties appear adequate for present
needs.
3. Floods in the Willow Creek Ba
sin are caused by precipitation in the
headwater areas. The flood of 1903
Now, after thirty-four years have caused property damage estimated at
helped to clear the vision, there ap- $250,000 and the loss of more than
pears possibility that action will be 200 lives. Lesser floods occurring in
taken to prevent another such ca- 1905 and 1934 also caused serious
tastrophe here. The secretary of damage. Local interests have en
war, after all preliminary red tape larged bridge openings and have
has been complied with, has sub- done some channel clearing, but the
mitted to the speaker of the house work accomplished is ineffective for
of representatives the approval of controlling floods such as that of
the board of army engineers for a 1903. Local interests desire the
$5000 appropriation to be used in construction of two reservoirs, one
making a survey looking to con- above the town of Heppner to con
struction of flood control dams on trol floods from Balm Fork and up
Willow and Rhea creeks. per Willow Creek, and a second on
The report carries recommenda- Rhea Creek below the mouth of
tions of local interests, including Sanford Canyon. They believe that
use of the dams for storage of irri- these reservoirs could be used for
gation water up to May 15 each year, supplemental irrigation until May 15,
While the program of work is still the beginning of the cloudburst sea-
in the nebulus stage, it is encour- son, after which date storage would
aging that the first red tape has be available for flood protection,
been cut to gain recognition from 4. The district engineer is of the
federal agencies including congress, opinion that the flood protection can
Before the project is finally realized ' be obtained only through construc
tion of reservoirs and that a plan
can be developed for their construc
tion at a cost commensurate with the
benefits expected. He considers the
area worthy of further investigation
and recommends a survey of Willow
Creek and its tributaries for the pur
pose of determining the best plan
of flood control for those streams.
The division engineer concurs with
the views and recommendations of
the district engineer.
5. The reports of the district and
division engineers have been re
ferred, as required by law, to the
Board of Engineers for Rivers and
Harbors, and its report herewith
concurs with the views and recom
mendations of the reporting officers.
The Board finds that available data
are inadequate for the preparation
of definite plans and cost estimates
and recommends a survey, at an
estimated cost of $5000, on Willow
Creek, Oreg., with a view to the
control of its floods.
6. After due consideration of these
reports, I concur in the views of the
Board of Engineers for Rivers and
Harbors, and recommend that a
survey of Willow Creek, Oreg., be
authorized at an estimated cost of
$3000 for the purpose of developing
plans and estimates of costs for the
control of its floods.
E. M. MARKHAM,
Major General,
Chief of Engineers.
V. R. Runnion, auctioneer, an
nounces he will cry a large commu
nity sale Saturday at Condon stock
yards where a large number of stock
will be sold.
A. E. Porter and son Arthur were
business visitors in the city Tues
day from Boardman. The younger
Mr. Porter makes his home at Port
land. '
Mrs. Josie Jones went to Portland
the end of the week for a visit at
th.e home of her daughter, Mrs. Har
old Stiles.
Herman Nf ilson was a business
visitor in town yesterday from the
Rood canyon farm.
Read G. T. Want Ads. You way
find a bargain in something needed.
AAAAAAAA
IDEAL TONIC FOR TIRED
CHILDREN AND ADULTS
Mrs. Edward Burchell and baby
son are visiting at the home of Mrs.
Burchell's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Pat
Healy, coming up from their home
at Corvallis.
Bill Doherty was in town Tuesday
from the Alpine ranch.
The GOLDEN YEARS PLAN.
James J. Hill said: "If you want to
know -whether you are destined to be
a success or a failure in life, you can
easily find out. The test is simple
and it is infallible. Are you able to
save money?" If interested in Gold
en Year Plan see ALTA S. BROWN
Agent
Oregon Mutual Life Insurance Co.
Heppner, Oregon
Builds Rich, Red Blood,
Stimulates A p petite and
Improves Digestion
If your children are skinny
and underweight, fretful and
whiny, it may be because their
blood lacks sufficient iron. The
growing years use up terrific
energy and weaken resistance.
Pursang not only relieves this
condition by correcting iron
deficiencies and restoring the
balance between white and red
blood corpuscles. It also helps
to arouse appetite and improve
digestion.
Check up on your family's
health. If your children are run
down, or you yourself are be
low par, why not try the Pur
sang treatment for a while?
Pursang every day before or
after meals.
Humphreys Drug Co.
WE PAY SPOT CASH FOR
CREAM and EGGS
MORROW COUNTY. CREAMERY CO.
WW
FINANCE your
automobile this
NEW WAY
that assures you
y Lowest financing cost.
More convenient payments.
) Insurance placed locally
(with your own agent or broker).
V Confidential attention to your affairs.
V Established bank credit for future needs.
tSM - 7 indlvdual tavin satisfactory credit record
and steady income, who can supply one-third the cost of hi.
trJH 7 rrUsed ? purchase either in casl or by the
trade-in value of another automobile. Thi, bank then supplies
the balance needed to make a cash deal.
Before Buying a New Car or Refinancing
Your Present One, Investigate This Plan at
HEPPNER BRANCH
The FIRST NATIONAL BANK
OF PORTLAND
"FIRST NATIONAL BANK
WS7 Of THE ROCKIES"
"""" HPAl Dt POSIT INSURANCE C O R P O R ATION