East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1906-03-06
USE THE PORTAGE
EMPIRE MUST DEM
ONSTRAT,E ITS VALUE.
Congress VIII Make No More River
Appropriations Until the People of
the Columbia River Basin Show
That They Really Use the River for
TranSportation-Wo of Keeping
the River Open Belongs to the
Three Northwest States.

In an interview yesterday, E. II.
Libby, who, as is well known. has
been active for many years in the
movement for the opening of the Col
umbia and Snake rivers to through
navigation from lewiston Charleston
to the sea, declared that we are likely
to lose the benefits Of river competi-
ton in transportation, unless the
people interested all along the val
ley now Join hands in an active, Wig
orous, continuous agitation and in
voicing an increasing demand upon
the national government for the i'm
provement Of these waterways, says
the Lewiston Tribune. Mr.. Libby
said, in part:
you remember when the rivers
and harbors committee of congress
was here in 1901, Chairman Theodore
Burton declared in his speech at the
Lewiston banquet that the only way
for us to secure the desired improve
ments was to 'agitate, agitate, agitate.'
Demonstration Required.
THE same idea was put in much
more strenuous form by Mr.. Burton
In Washington the other day when he
declared that now we have portage
railroad around the Dalles- Cello rap-
ids. IL Is for the people TO demonstrate
by use of this portage road in conncc-
require the river route, that IL is in
reality an important factor in the de-
Nelopment of the resources of the ba-
sin of the Columbia river.
''Mr. Burton stated positively that
unless this portage road was really
used hy the people. he should oppose
any further appropriations for the
proposed Dalles-CeliIo canal.
This is a strenuous fact which we
must deal with. If, in this day of
canal building and improvement of
water routes the world over, the peo-
pie of the Columbia and Snake river
valleys are Indifferent to this magni-
ficent water way, if we continue to
act as If in ignorance of the vital i'm
portance of an open river to the sea.
then we cannot blame the national
congress for refusing to do more for
us.
To Put Three Steamboats, on River.
Some of us, in Portland and Lew
iston, have been trying to bring to-
gether the Lewiston Navigation COM
pany, owner of the steamboat Noun
tain Gem. and the Open River Navi-
CATION company, in a combination of
the two concerns, following with the
construction of two more boats so
that the combined company would
have two boats above Cello and one
below The Dalles operating from
the portage railroad.
This movement for a cooperative
consolidation is going on healthily
although meeting with some opposi-
| ton which will be overcome, and
have little doubt that in the near fu-
ture an Independent line of boats will
be running regularly over this route
This will certainly be the case, If the
I, people interested all along the line
really want the river opened and viii
| join hands energetically and force
fully in working to gain the desired
object.
"To succeed there must be a thor
ough understanding of the subject
knowledge as to what we want anC
absolute unanimity not only here bu
in all the river sections. From Asto
ria to Lewiston we must stand, advis
and cooperate together. The worl
belongs to three states, not one city.