Page Six
DEVELOPMENT OF WATERWAYS MEANS
BOOST TO OTH ER TRANSPORT LI N ES
(Editor's Note This is the fourth
in a series of articles on development
of rivers for transportation, written
by a former Heppnerite who is now
connected with a program of such
development in the southwest with
headquarters at Dallas, Texas.)
By GARFIELD CRAWFORD
Pioneer railroad development fol
lowed the traffic lanes established
by the waterways. The first rail
roads were as local as the turnpikes
and only where there was already a
profitable traffic, was it profitable to
project a railroad.
First came the waterways. Small
craft carried merchandise far into
the hinterlands to maintain and
support outposts of civilization.
Streams, today long forgotten, were
once bearers of commerce. Railroads
came and built on their banks and
soon the rivers were passe. But Old
Man River has just kept right on
running and today he is coming back
to become the "beast of burden" he
once was.
We have people, even members
of our national congress, who would
pass our waterways over to the
railroads. This is the ultimate con
sequence of the pending transporta
tion bills (H.R. 4862 and S. 2009).
Should they become law then it
would simply be giving the lamb to
the wolf. The waterways have never
had a breath of scandal attached to
them. On the other hand the his
tory of our railroads reek with scan
dalous acts.
It is true that many of the rail
roads have suffered materially in
recent years. But these sufferings
have been because of their own acts
and not the fault of the waterways.
Shortsighted financial control which
has manifested itself in stock bonus
es, underwriting commissions and
over-capitalization, have been an
unwarranted drain upon the rail
road operating revenues.
In Holy writ we find these words:
"For I, the Lord thy God, am a jeal
ous God, and visit the sins of thy
fathers upon the children unto the
third and fourth generations." And
Old Euripides, the Greek philosoph
er, said something about the Gods
visiting the sins of the fathers upon
the children, too.
So in both Christian and pagan
warning the story of the American
railroads has been tersely told.
Granted that railroad management
today is fair and perhaps as busi
nesslike as humanly possible, yet the
railroads cannot come into court
with clean hands. Their fathers
have visited sins upon them, there
fore the children must pay the pen
alty until atonement has been com
pleted. We are told that it is not fair to
use government money to improve
waterways to compete with rail
roads. Was it fair to use govern
ment funds to build highways? Do
not the highways compete with both
the railroads and waterways? They
certainly do. But government mon
ey has always been available to
railroads.
No industry in the history of the
nation has been so favored as has
railroading. Twenty railroads, out
side of Texas, received free grants
of land to the amount of 305,114
square miles. This is equivalent to
all the area east of the Mississippi
river and north of the Potomac and
the Ohio rivers excepting the states
of Wisconsin and Michigan. On top
of the donations by the Federal
government many states made
grants running into millions of ac
res, among them being Texas, Mich
igan, Florida and Minnesota. In ad
dition the federal government has
loaned its credit time after time to
railroads.
Pioneer residents of Oregon and
Washington can tell about railroad
land. Many farms in these states
were first the property of railroads.
Thousands of acres of the best tim
ber land in the mountains were once
owned by railroads and railroad
script claimed large tracts of fertile
valleys. In looking over the record
we find that the Central Pacific
(Southern Pacific) received a grant
of 9,379,140 acres; Southern Pacific
in its own name took down 14,351,
587 acres; the Union Pacific re
ceived a grant of 19,144,394 acres
and the Northern Pacific annexed
the mere trifle of 43,893,728 acres,
as bonuses for building their lines
into the most fertile wildernesses
the world has ever known.
Long before a railroad reached
the shores of the Pacific boats and
inland waterways had established
settlements along the main water
routes. And these lands have made
millions upon millions of dollars for
the railroads and individuals. The
Southern Pacific, the records show,
as far back as 1914 held timber and
oil lands valued from $100,000,000 to
$700,000,000 with a book value upon
the records of the Interstate Com
merce commission of slightly more
than $40,000,000.
But aside from all this the fact
remains that the railroads making
the most money today, as it has al
ways been, are those roads racing
down navigable river banks in com
petition with water traffic. On eith
er side of the Columbia river are
railroads. These lines are the road's
most valuable property, yet they are
in direct competition with the boats
and barges plying the river's crest,
Your county tax rolls will prove
this assertion. Tax renditions show
the route along the Columbia car
ries a much greater taxable value
than does the line coming up the
creek from Heppner Junction.
Coming up in the next regular
session of the national congress will
be a bill, perhaps the composite of
H.R. 4862 and S. 2009, battened down
by the 76th Congress to be lifted at
the incoming .session, which will
seek to place inland waterways un
der the management of the Inter
state Commerce commission. This
commission is railroad minded. It
was conceived and born into the
railroad world and at all times has
had an antagonistic attitude toward
the waterways. Should this bill be
come a law then the American peo
ple will lose the freedom of their
waterways, because the rivers and
harbors will be buttoned up in a
sack along with the railroads and
in the interest of the railroads.
The railroads are lobbying for the
passage of this bill. They have been
knifing at the waterways these last
50 years. They have bought up wa
terway transportation lines and
junked them. They have pitched
their widest curves at river im
provement, and yet, the railroads'
very life depends upon the mainten
ance of , waterway transportation
which will care for the heavier and
slower traffic.
Barge lines can and do move
wheat, coal, oil, sand and gravel
and many other commodities at a
rate which makes it possible for the
industries to stay in business.
There are commodities which cost
more to- carry by rail than their
production. In recent years, during
this depression or repression, it cost
25 cents a bushel to carry wheat by
rail from Salina, Kans., to Chicago.
On December 15, 1932, the records
show, the average price of wheat on
the farm was 31 cents a bushel. It
cost the farmer 40 cents a bushel to
produce that 31-cent wheat and to
got it to market in Chicago meant
another quarter, making a net charge
against the bushel of wheat of 65
cents or a loss to the grower of 34
cents for every bushel he marketed.
Naturally what a farmer cannot
grow at a profit he will cease to
grow a rule that holds good for
everything else that comes from the
farm, mine or factory.
But the bulk of the freight now
moving by water is non-transferable
to the railroads. So if pouring
the revenues of the water-borne
traffic into the treasury of the rail
roads would bring about their re
habilitation, there would still be a
great demand for the cheap water
service.
Many commodities are being mov
ed by water transportation that can
not stand a higher tariff. This be
ing true then the business must
cease or values boosted out of rea
son. All that can be accomplished
then by rate boosting would be the
shutting down of the coal mines,
the return of grain areas to pasture,
and the crippling of factories. Then,
and remember this, such a move will
create vast new unemployment and
add to the already overburdened
charity rolls.
The waterways of the nation stand
Heppner Gazette Times, Heppner,
today a powerful fortress against
the rape of farm, factory, mine and
oil field all demanding a low-cost
transportation the railroads cannot
supply. Develop our waterways and
the highways, airways and railways
will continue to grow and prosper.
BOARDMAN NEWS
Board man Squad
Leaves for Valley
Mr. and Mrs. Everett Westland of
Portland spent the holidays with
her mother, Mrs. Wm. Nickerson,
Part of the time was spent in The
Dalles with another daughter.
Mr. and Mrs. Louis Kobow are
visiting Louis' mother, Mrs. Maude
Kobow. Louis attended high school
here two years ago and is also see
ing old school mates.
Mrs. Robert Berger is pleased to
have her parents, Mr. and Mrs.
Brown of Madras to spend Christ
mas with the Berger family.
Mr. and Mrs. Chas. Nickerson
spent the holidays in Pendleton with
Bob Nickerson and family.
Coach Mallery left with his bas
ketball squad this morning for his
home town, McMinnville. They are
to play three games while on this
trip. The boys going are R. Skoubo,
D. Russell, N. Bleakney, R. DeMau
ro, H. Tyler, R. Miles, J. Olson and
B. Smith. Roy Partlow was unable
to go on account of illness.
Mr. and Mrs. Chas. Goodwin ar
rived at the home of Mrs. Eva War
ner to spend a week. They drove
up in a car.
Mr. and Mrs. I. L. Stout were
Christmas dinner guests of Mr. and
Mrs. Ed Souders.
Mr. and Mrs. Neal Bleakney's
home was the scene of a family re
union at dinner Christmas. Those
present were Mr. and Mrs. Lou Mor
gan and son Bobby of Cascade
Locks, H. H. Weston and the Neal
Bleakney family.
Kenneth Ransier and Doris Hood
left Saturday for Husum, Wash., to
spend the holidays with Mr. and
Mrs. A. W. Tubbs. Miss Hood and
Mrs. Tubbs are sisters.
Vernon Root spent Christmas with
his parents, Mr. and Mrs. L. V.
Root. They also entertained Mr.
and Mrs. Ed Barlow and Carma at
dinner.
Lynn Gillespie, young son of Mr.
and Mrs. Z. J. Gillespie, had the
misfortune to fall out of his swing
and break the right arm just above
the elbow on Tuesday of last week.
At this writing he -is getting along
quite well.
Teddy Wilson and La Verne Baker
of the E. O. N. are home for the hol
idays.
Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Herman, nee
Wilma Myers, were at the Claud
Myers home over Christmas day.
Birthday Dances
Set for January 30
Although the holiday season is
still in swing, already thoughts are
turning toward January 30, the
president's birthday and the date of
the annual celebrations for the rais
ing ot iunds to combat mlantile
paralysis. County chairmen are al
ready making preparations for var
ious events, according to Dr. E. T.
Hedlund, Portland postmaster and
state chairman.
The 1940 campaign will be concen
trated on two main features, the cel
ebrations and the "March of Dimes."
The celebrations will include enter
tainments of all kinds. These will
range from' huge dances and recep
tions in the larger centers to church
socials and school affairs in smaller
communities. All will come to a cli
max on the president's birthday.
The "March of Dimes" is expected
to enlist more millions of people this
year than ever before.. Many will
mail birthday cards containing dim
es directly to the president at the
White House. These cards are now
available to all state, county and
local chairmen. Others will contri
bute by buying "March of Dimes"
buttons, which this year will be of
decorative design, or will deposit
their donations in "March of Dimes"
coin collectors to be placed in var
ious stores and public gathering
places.
Dr. A. D. McMurdo has been nam
ed chairman in Morrow county. He
will name his assistants early in
January, at which time the pro
gram for this section will be announced.
Oregon
Grand Coulee Water
Adds Forage Problem
A distinct forage problem for the
Pacific northwest, with the devel
opment of the Grand Coulee project,
is foreseen by G. R. Hyslop, head
of the division of plant industries
at Oregon State college. Hyslop
points out that approximately 1,
200,000 acres of new land will be
subject to irrigation with the ulti
mate development of the project.
"Past experience shows that a
minimum of 60 percent of newly
opened irrigated land is used for
the growth of forage," Professor
Hyslop pointed out "Such a sud
den large increase in forage produc
tion will necessitate the creation of
a means of utilizing it here in the
northwest, due to the cost involved
in shipping hay any great distances."
One possible increased outlet for
alfalfa hay production may be in
connection with the current empha
sis on feeding more northwest wheat
for fattening livestock in this re
gion. Experiments have shown that
alfalfa hay is probably the best
roughage to feed along with wheat
in fattening operations. Thus, any
material increase in livestock feed
ing with wheat as the grain concen
trate would automatically increase
the demand for alfalfa hay.
The forage situation in the north
west is in good state of balance at
present, Hyslop added. The tendency
is always to increase the number
of livestock where there is an excess
of forage.
FARM PRICE LEVEL DOWN
The general level of farm prices
in Oregon at mid-November stood
at 72 percent of the 1926-1930 aver
age, according to a review of the
farm price situation prepared by the
OSC extension service. Compared
with a month previous the Oregon
farm price index was down a point,
but it was seven points higher than
in November, 1938.
Professional
n rectory
ISiSS'
Phe!ps Funeral Home
Ambulance Service
Trained Lady Assistant
Phone 133
Heppner, Ore.
NEW AUTO POLICY
Bodily Injury & Property Damage
Class A $11.25 Class B $12.90
See us before financing your
next automobile.
F. W. TURNER & CO.
Heppner City Council
Mrrts Firs Mnnrlnv FnMi 1T
Citizens having matters for dis-
cussion, please bring before
the Council.
G. A. BLEAKMAN, Mayor.
Heppner Blacksmith
& Machine Shop
Expert Welding and Repairing
L. H. HARLOW, Mgr.
GLENN Y. WELLS
ATTORNEY AT LAW
ATwater 4884
635 MEAD BUILDING
5th at Washington
PORTLAND, OREGON
A. D. McMurdo, M. D.
PHYSICIAN & SURGEON
Trained Nurse Assistant
Office In Masonic Building
Heppner, Oregon
Morrow County
Abstract & Title Co.
INC.
ABSTRACTS OF TITLE
TITLE INSURANCE
Office in New Peters Building
Thursday, Dec 28, 1939
J. O. Turner
ATTORNXY AT LAW
Phone 171
Hotel Heppner Building
HEPPNER. ORE.
Dr. Raymond Rice
PHYSICIAN & SURGEON
Office
First National Bank Building
Office Phone 523 House Phone I
Heppner
Abstract Co.
J. LOGIE RICHARDSON, Mgr.
BATES REASONABLE
Roberta Building Heppner, Ore.
P. W. Mahoney
ATTORNEY AT LAW
GENERAL INSURANCE
Heppner Hotel Building
Willow St. Entrance
J. O. Peterson
Latest Jewelry and Gift Goods
Watches - Clocks . Diamonds
Expert Watch and Jewelry
Repairing
Heppner, Oregon
Vawter Parker
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW
First National Bank Building
Dr. Richard C. Lawrence
DENTIST
X-Ray and Extraction by Gas
First National Bank Bldg.
Phone 562 Heppner, Oregon
Dr. L. D. Tibbies
OSTEOPATHIC
Physician & Surgeon
FIRST NATIONAL BANK BLDG.
Roc. Phone 1162 Office Phone 492
HEPPNER, OREGON
Jos. J. Nys
ATTORNEY AT LAW
Peters Building, Willow Street
Heppner, Oregon
V. R. R is 21 n ion
AUCTIONEER
Farm Sales and Livestock a Speolalty
405 Jones Street, Heppner, Ore.
Plione 452
MAKE DATES AT MY EXPENSE
Frank C. Alfred
ATTORNEY AT LAW
Telephone 442
Rooms 3-4
First National Bank Building
HEPPNER, OREGON
Peterson & Peterson
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
U. S. National Bank Building
PENDLETON, OREGON
Practice In State and Federal Courts
Real Estate
General Line of Insurance and
Bonds
W. M. EUBANKS
Notary Fublio
Phone 62 lone. Ore.
Laurence Case
Mortuary
"Just the service wanted
when you want It most"