The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1907-07-27
NEW STATE PLANNED.
PROPOSITION TO UNITE REGION
KNOWN AS FINLAND EMPIRE
Sections Of Idaho, Oregon and Wash.
inston Hemmed in by Cascade
and Rocky Mountains May
Be Joined Together.

Spokane, Wash.-Spokane' cham
Der of commerce has started tri.
state agitation for the carving of
brand new state out of the region now
known familiarly in the northwest as
the inland empire meaning that
rich section of northern Idaho, north
eastern Oregon and eastern Washing
ton which is cooped in between the
Rocky mountains and the Cascade
range.
While the creation of new state
is always a difficult proposition. invit-
ing the Interference in congress of
both political parties, every effort is
made to keep this agitation from be-
ing fash in the pan.
TO this end the committee which
investigated the feasibility Of the
scheme spent several months in argu.
ing the pros and cons and in sounding
other organizations in Washington.
Idaho and Oregon. Thus far the re.
sponse has been wholly favorable and
for reasons easy to see
This INLAND empire" is a rich and
conservative territory, geographically
a unit, but politically the fag-end cor.
ners of three different states. This
has bred endless friction.
For instance, all the Idahoans resid-
ing in the finland empire" are cut off
absolutely from Boise City, their state
capital by an impossible range.
When they want to travel from Boise,
they have to leave Idaho, pass
through Washington, then into Ore.
gon and then curve around into Idaho
again.
Furthermore, all the Oregonians
living In the finland empire" are cut
Off by the Cascade range from the
main part of their state, and have
been in conflict for years with the
industrial interests dominant at their
capital. Broad-minded men from both
sections have tried to overcome this,
but the two sections have been so
utterly unlike that these efforts came
regularly to naught
The eastern part Of Washington is
in precisely the same fix, cut off from
range. Jealousy in and out of the
legislative halls has done much, it is
generally agreed, TO keep Washington
back.
Now they propose TO bind together
these three secluded but mutually re.
lated districts.
This might be accomplished, the
committee suggests, by projecting
westward the northern boundary of
Wyoming as the northern boundary of
Idaho, throwing all of Idaho above
that line into the new state,
This line. running to be exact, on
the forty-fifth parallel of latitude,
would terminate at a line drawn
straight north through Oregon and
Washington from the present eastern
boundary of California. the one hun
dred and twentieth degree of longi.
tude
This new state could then select a
plot without further friction the in
terests of a homogeneous section.
II is interesting to recall in connec.
tion with this the efforts of the peo.
pie in that particular strip of Idaho
referred to-generally known as the
Panhandle-to free themselves from
their harassing and illogical connec.
tion with the rest of the state. After
a long fight they got through congress
a law transferring their section to
the state of Washington, with which
they had at least something in com
mon. TO their great disappointment
President Grover Cleveland vetoed the
bill in 1888.
Now they have made common cause
with two other communities In sim
liar predicament, and plan to drum up
a sentiment at three state capitals in
favor OF their independence.