The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1891-02-04
OPPOSED BY OUR SERVANTs.

The following in the Monday Oregonian
from its Salem correspondent, is a di-
rect ''slap" at all Eastern Oregon,
! and would fit the waste basket much
better than tle columns of our big con-
temporary:
"The passage of the portage railroad
bill in the senate has been opposed by
the Oregon delegation in congress, and
is argued for by the governor. AS one
senator expressed it: :"
"Here is a slap at the Oregon delega-
tion in congress, and the furthering by
a republican legislature of the political
plans of our democratic governor"
while the portage bill gives, or is in
tended to give, reliefAto the obstruction
at the Cascades, the benefit would only
be to The Dahes and the country tribu-
tary thereto. The main distractions
those at TIE Dalles and Celilo-still re-
main and impede navigation farther up
the river, thus leaving the major portion
of Eastern Oregon just the same. The
bill is somewhat ambiguous, and doubts
are expressed by many members of the
house as to it's practical utility. The
bill is still in the hands of the committee
on railways and transportation"
The fact is that while the building of
the portage road would perhaps help The
Dalles directly more than any other To-
cality it is beneficial to all Eastern Ore
gon. The argument comes with poor
grace from the Oregonian, for if true the
building of the jetties should be aban-
doned because it helps Portland more
than Eeastern Oregon, the dredging of
the Columbia should be stopped because
it helps Portland and by making the
river navigable for deep sea vessels in
jures Astoria.
Appropriations for wagon roads for
the same reason should not be made be-
cause localities are benefited, and the
new boundaries for Portland should not
be established because it makes our
metropolis larger without benefiting the
rest of the state. On the same principle
the state house should go without a
dome, because Salem citizens would see
more of it than the balance of us. The
canal and locks should not have been
built because it benefited the Willamette
valley alone, and the catching of salmon
should be prohibited because the Column
bia does not flow through Crook or Har-
ney county, thereby depriving the good
citizens of those counties of their proper
share of the fish. The canal and locks
at the Cascades should not be fin
ished because the river is not nava-
gable from The Dalles to Cello, and
nothing should be done at that point be-
cause the river is not open at the Cas-
cades. There is a large portion of Ore
gOn lying east of the mouth of the Will
lamette river, and our legislators might
as well acknowledge the fact. There is
no politics in the matter, and as for be-
ing slap at our delegation all we can
say is that they need it. For fifteen
years we have waited on political prom
ises made by both political parties, and
we are tired of delay and hopeless of re-
lief except through state aid. If the ef-
fort to help ourselves is distasteful to
the delegation they can either put up
with it or resign, and this remark ap-
plies to this or any succeeding delegation
regardless of politics. If we are not to
help ourselves for fear of offending our
public servants, then we had better dis
charge them and do our own housework.