Page Four Heppner Gazette Times, Heppner, Oregon Thursday, October, 31, 1940 leppner Gazette Times THE HEPPNER GAZETTE. Established March 30, 1883; THE HEPPNER TIMES, Established November 18, 1897; CONSOLIDATED FEBRUARY 15, 1912 Published every Thursday morning by CBAWTORD PUBLISHING COMPANY and entered at the Post Office at Hepp ner, Oregon, as second-class matter. JASPER V. CRAWFORD, Editor SUBSCRIPTION RATES: One Tear $2.00 Three Years 5.00 Six Months 1.00 Three Months .75 Single Copies 05 STATE CAPITAL NEWS GOP Mid-West Preparedness Debt Record By A. L. LINDBECK Official Paper for Morrow County The Final Word TN the weeks leading up to the el ection next Tuesday, this news paper has joined Wendell Willkie in his crusade to save America from the alarming approach toward na tional socialism reached by the new deal administration. That, and that alone, we consider the fundamental issue of the campaign that wlil come to a close next Tuesday when voters step into the voting place to mark their ballots. There is no contest of men. We concede that Mr. Roosevelt is a big man. But we do not concede that he is indispensable, for so to concede were to say that America will be helpless when the day comes that he may no longer serve. And there is no denying that to continue Mr. Roosevelt in office for a third term is to establish a new, untried pre cedent of which Washington and Jefferson, the country's founders. warned as being dangerous because it is a big step toward perpetuation of one family in powerto them considered monarchy, to present day freemen, dictatorship. We never have believed, and do not now believe that Mr. Roosevelt is wittingly attempting to establish a dicatorship in America. His mo tives are laudible, but his accom ' plishments have fallen short of ex pectations. His promises of future policy have lacked conviction. Neither do we believe Wendell Willkie to be a superman . . . though his tireless energy in waging a cam paign to arouse America, summon ing her back to the principles of freemen so long taught as the her itage of Americans, evidences a much more than normal capacity for hard work ... but with the help those who truly love their country will give, we believe him capable of the brand of leadership neces sary to make America strong. The case has been argued for weeks, and will continue to be ar gued late into the eve of election, What we write here is of little mo ment, but should it be occasionally read, may we emphasize that at this election the voter is not casting his vote merely for a man, but for a cause a cause that may, and almost surely will, determine the entire future course of government in Am erica. It will be for the individual voter to decide on election day. Tuesday the voters of America will have the final say. It will be hard to see clearly after hearing the last word from Mr. Roosevelt in his fire side chat from the White House , on election eve, an unmatched privilege and advantage he holds by being presently the chief executive. It will take strong hearts to sur vive Mr. Roosevelt's soothing words, as it has taken strong hearts to ac complish every major advance in the nation's history; but now, as on occasion before, the American peo ple will not be found wanting. So commanding has been the pres idential race that minor candidates and issues have fallen far into the background. These need to be con sidered. , On the local ballot few contests for, offices appear, and most voters will by now have their minds made up on these. The ten meas ures, if not now understood, will require considerable study. The ar guments are set forth pro and con in the official voter's pamphlet on the several measures, excepting the Morrow county initiative measure. Every registered voter should have ' Salem. Governor Charles A. Sprague, who recently completed a two-week stump tour through the mid-west in behalf of Wendell Will kie and Charles L. McNary, be lieves the republican ticket has that area "in the bag." He made the trip witn his son, Wallace, visiting 14 states travelling by train, auto, bus and airplane. In eight of the states he made speeches before clubs, political groups and at impromptu gatherings, and over the radio, once on a state-wide hookup in Oklahoma. "In the mid -west Willkie pros pects are certainly excellent. In the north-central mid-west it is al most a certainty that the republic ans will prevail, with good prospects of carrying Missouri and Oklahoma as well," Sprague said. "In all these states," he continu ed, "there is a marked defection among the democrats' swing away from Mr. Roosevelt on the third term issue. "I found Charley Mac (Oregon's Sen. Charles L. McNary) in high favor all through the agricultural area. The farmers have watched his career and his policies for a good many years and they like the way he does things. "Political leaders in most of the states I visited believe the republi can campaign they have been con ducting will bear fruit. They have been in politics a long time, and they certainly wouldn't be fooling themselves." It was the first stump tour of its kind the governor had ever taken, he having been a political amatuer until he was rocketed into the gov ernor's chair in 1938 on an immense boom. The frequent talking he did on the trip left his voice obviously tired but he said, "It was a stren uous campaign but I enjoyed it." tnird or the states total are now entirely free of either bond or war rant debt, according to a survey just completed by Walter E. Pear son, state treasurer. The list of debt-free counties in eludes Clatsop, Columbia, Douglas. Lake, Marion, Polk, Sherman, Tilla mook, Umatilla, Union and Wash ington. Several other counties are exected -to unload their debt bur dens during the next year accord ing to Pearson who predicts that, barring unforseen circumstances, the public debt burden in Oregon, state and municipal as well as coun- A 111 , . 1 iy, wm conunue to decrease year by year. The remaining 24 counties are still shouldering a debt load aggregating $15,551,451, but, huge as this figure may seem, it is $4,478,716 less than the county debt load of two years ago and reresents a decrease of $2, 199,182 from the net debt of the sev eral counties only a year ago. Outstanding road bonds and road warrants of the several counties as of July 1 totalled $16,029,503. Off setting this debt total are sinking funds aggregating $1,194,115, leaving a net county oad debt of $14,835, 389. Outstanding general fund war rants of the several counties total led $716,063 on July 1, representing a reduction , of $1,165,529 in the past two years. Only four counties Coos, Grant, Morrow and Multnomah had a debt ratio in excess of three percent and only one of these Grant exceed ed four percent. The importance of the national el ection November 5 has so far over shadowed state issues that manv persons have nearly forgotten that Oregon has several interesting state races "upcoming. Most important state race will be between Leslie M. Scott of Portland and Al Brown, also Portland, for state treasurer, and between in cumbent I. H. Van Winkle, rep., and Bruce Spaulding, Dallas, for attorney general. Scott, the republican candidate to succeed Walter Pearson as state treasurer, is given the edge over Brown, the democratic choice, be cause of his state-wide acquaint ance. Van Winkle has been stav ing off threats to his position for years but is making an active cam paign in an effort to turn back Spaulding, the Polk county district j attorney who gained prominence in his prosecution of "goon" cases last year. Of national importance will be the races for congress. Two of the in cumbents, James Mott of Salem and Homer Angell of Portland, are re publicans and anti-new deal. Mott is opposed by Charles Robertson, retired army man who lives at West Salem, across the river from Mott's home. AngelL it is believed, will have a real contest against Nan Wood Honeyman, new dealer, per sonal friend of the Roosevelts, and an old campaigner. Mrs. Honeyman represented the third district before Angell defeated her in 1938. In the third district Walter M. Pierce, the old democratic war horse, is defending his fortress against Rex Ellis, former state senator now hop ing to branch out into wider fields. Remainder of the local interest in the campaign seems centered on lo cal issues and measures put on -to the ballot by initiative or referen dum. Among these are measures de signed to give control of liquor sales to private individuals (and the do ing away of the present Knox li quor control law), a plan to legalize gambling in the state, and a mea sure which would abolish the milk control law. There will be 11 districts voting on whether or not to form People's Utility Districts, and the election of local officials, county officials and local issues. RE-ELECT Giles L. FRENCH State Representative for 22nd District Has experience of two full terms and one special session. Has sponsored wind erosion district bill, Ditch Creek diver sion, and was chairman of Land Use Committee. Now on interim committee for reapportionment of state for new representative districts. Taxation committee vice-chairman and acquainted with tax problems, both real and' indirect. Knows entire district, its agriculture and industry. Morrow County property owner. Sensible, sane, carefully considered legislation. Introduced legislation making it possible for agricultural laborers to collect wages ahead of liens. Vote 23 X GILES L. FRENCH Paid Ad. by French for Rep. Club, J. B. Adams, Sec, Moro, Ore. Oregon is prepared to do its part in the nation's industrial prepared ness program, Governor Charles A. Sprague said here. A survey of the state's skilled workers has been planned by the Board for the Mobilization of La bor, appointed by Sprague, and 15, 000 firms in the state will list the skills of their 350,000 workers. There are 368 different defense occupa tions needing skilled workers. "This inventory of labor sources," the governor said, "which has been worked out by the board in coop eration with many other bodies, is absolutely essential if we are not to disturb the economic life of the state and nation. We expect to secure classification of workers that will justify plant expansion for na tional defense and also will tend to eliminate migration to other sec tions." Leon S. Davis, Hillsboro, is in ac tike charge of the survey, and will work under L. C. Stoll, secretary of the board. Peculiar weather during the first weeks of October is playing havoc with the 1940 turkey crop, the de partment of agriculture reorts. In the Albany sector, where tur key raising is a major interest, warm weather prevented the birds from properly developing pin feathers. The result was that now, when Thanksgiving birds are being fat tened, the turkeys do not have the proper coats and will have to be rat ed at a lower grade than they would be ordinarily. The same condition prevails in several other parts of the state. Twelve Oregon counties one- received his copy of the 1 official pamphlet and should study it fur ther" if now in doubt. As for the Morrow county measure, it is but the continuance of a precedent estab lished for several years of voting a small levy to provide funds with which to combat predatory animals and rodents. The cost is small, and those informed say that the benefits have been large in proportion. A. Save Yourself Money and Trouble Later On ACCESSORIES YOU WILL NEED Lb Winter is really hard on your car and if you do not get it ready to with stand cold and storms it may break down just when you need it. The smart thing to do is to drive it down to Ferguson's right now and lets us put it in perfect shape to withstand the cold weather. CHECK THESE NOW OIL. Change to winter grade Shell Penn and be sure of protection at all temperatures. RADIATOR. Put in Prestone anti freeze now before, you're caught by a sudden cold snap. BATTERY. Have it tested now so . you'll be able to start when it's cold. TIRES. Worn tires are dangerous. We have a complete line at special low prices. AND every other necessary inspec tion at Ferguson Motor Company a li.?! m Mj