The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1896-04-18
HIS ONE QUALIFICATION.

1t is urged by some of the supporters
OF Hon. W. r. Ellis that he should he
reelected to congress for the reason
| that he will continue in the future as
he has in the past to cast vote for Il
tariff on wool. This Is piraded as his
single and only qualification rs rep
| r sentative of the second congressional
| district of Oregon. Admitting this to
be true, then Mr.. Ellis is the represen-
tative of single interest, one which,
though it is of considerable Importance.
is by no means the leading industry of
the district. While wool raising is
extensively engaged in east of the
Cascade mountains, there are other
branches of agriculture that are of
more Importance even in the great
grazing region. The wheat crop of
the Inland Empire is of vastly NOR.
value than the wool product. and the
wheat farmers are too entitled to some
consideration at the hands of a MEM
ber OF congress. The only favors they
can ask at the hands of congressman
ia that all distractions to the naviga-
tiOn of the Columbia river be removed,
so that the product of their farms can
he carried to market at the least pos
sible cost.
There are three counties in the dis
trict, MultnOmah, Columbia and Clat-
sop, that have no wool industry. but
every one of them is interested in the
opening of the river from Lewiston to
the Pacific ocean. Therefore there is
at least one matter in which The entire
second district is more interested than
a tariff on wool. And what has Mr..
Ellis done in reference to this matter?
What has he done to secure the COM
pleti0n of the canal and locks at the
Cascades. or to advance the improve
ment of the river between The Dalles
and Cefilo? Virtually nothing. More
than year ago the government en-
gineers reported that an additional ap-
preparation of Sl74,OOO was needed to !
complete the work at the Cascades, !
but Mr.. Ellis did not bestir himself to |
secure such an appropriation until he
was petitiOned to do so by the different
bodies in the cities along
the river. Later his attention was i
called to the fact that money was
needed to do certain additional work
on the canal. SO that the locks could be
operated this season. and he secured
the passage through the house of a
resolution appropriating $4,000 worth
Of nothing for that emergency. Pos
sibly Mr.. Ellis was honest in his efforts
In this matter, and imagined he was
really doing something to further the
of the locks; but If. after
four years Of service in congress, he is
30 utterly stupid as to not know when
IN appropriation is made that it can
not be made available when drawn
against fund that is already ex-
he is too stupid to even claim
for his one qualification,
that of voting for tariff on wool. /
The opening of the Columbia river
Is something in which every resident
N the second congressional district is
directly interested. With them it is
that overshadows all other
ssues today. And the representative
Who trifles with this question, or allows
himself "buncOed," as Mr.. Ellis
riends must acknowledge he has been,
,r that he is willfully dishonest, is not
! competent representative of the peo-
pie. The sort of d representative the
econd district requires in the next
il man who is a representa-.
i've of all interests, one who ha. more
han a single qualification, one who
'an grasp the needs Of the entire dis
rict. A man with single idea might
epresent Morrow county. the home of
he honorable congressman, in the
legislature, but he can never become
N efficient representative of the entire
tate in congress. Let US have con-
'ressman who will guard the interests
I all Ike, the wool raiser, the wheat
armer, the merchant, the mechanic.