Washington State journal and Adams County news. [volume] (Ritzville, Wash.) 1906-1907, 1906-12-26
BOOSTER CLUB MEETING
Prof. Lyman Of WaIla WaIIa Delivers
an Interesting Address.

Another meeting of the Ritzville
Booster Club was held at the court
house Saturday evening and, while the
meeting was not largely attended as
far as numbers were concerned, there
was an enthusiastic audience made up
of representative business men. An
address was delivered by Prof. W. D.
Lyman, of Walla Walla, who came here
as representative of the Commercial
Club of that city. Walla r. Walla,
through her Commercial Club, is organ
izing campaign throughout the state
for the purpose of securing action in
opening the Columbia and Snake rivers
to navigation.
Prof. Lyman, in representing this
important interest of Eastern Washing
ton, said that Walla Walla is trying to
organize all Commercial Clubs in
Eastern Washington in order to bring
pressure to bear on Congress and on
the state legislature to get the Cello
Canal completed as soon as practicable
and to have minor improvements made
at various rapids so that good fleet of
steamboats, may be operated in con-
nection with the Portage railroad.
The terminus of the Portage railroad
is now at Big Eddy, three miles from
the Dalles, but will soon be extended
to the latter place. Prof. Lyman
stated that Portage railroad is doing
good work in view of some great
obstacles that exist at the present
time and that in time people will see
what a great work it is capable of
accomplishing.
He stated that the legislature should
be urged, through the commercial
clubs of the Inland Empire, to accom-
plish three great things:
First, To memorialize Congress to
push the work of opening to navigation
the Columbia and Snake rivers.
Second, To have the Washington
delegation in Congress unite with the
delegations from Idaho and Oregon,
forming northwest combination, and
by combining their strength, accom-
plish the desired ends as soon as
possible.
Third, To urge the legislature of our
own state to make an appropriation for
the purpose of removing minor obstruc-
tiOns in order that navigation may be
opened as soon as possible and in this
way secure cooperation with the gov
ernment.
He showed that when this work is
once accomplished the result will, at
the lowest possible estimate, show a
saving of between four and five
millions of dollars a year in freight
rates to the farmers of the Inland
Empire. Before the close of the
meeting the Booster Club passed resolu-
tions heartily indorsing this movement
and promising the aid of Adams county
in cooperating with Walla Walla and
with other counties Interested. This
enterprise is so much greater than any
other that has been devised for the
Inland Empire that the people have not
yet grasped its significance. 1t means
commercial and political independence,
and progress beyond the widest i'm
agination for this section of the country.
The committee which had been ap-
pointed at previous meeting for the
purpose of reporting on the problem of
freight rates, made its report last
night through the chairman, E. A.
Davis. The report expressed the
desire of the people of Ritzville to CO.
operate with Spokane in her fight for
rate reduction.