The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1907-04-10

of the nation, and the C. p. r. has
certainly been taking advantage of
that hold. OF course the new pro-
jected line of the Grand Trunk to
Prince Rupert, and the through line
of the G. n. which is being surveyed
will make some difference in the tar
ifs, but at present the railroad
freight tariffs are of such a prohibit
tive nature as to give one unaccus-
toned to this condition severe
cramp in the spine, and an unsavory
taste in the mouth.
This is not the only hold that the
c. P. r has on the people In order
to get this corporation to build
through, it was given as a bonus
$40, 900, 900 in cash and a land grant
of about 70,000,000 acres, and on
this land which the C. P. R. now
holds is designated as the &c. P. r.
odd section, which means in other
words that as the homeseeker or
investor pays taxes and works by
the "sweat of his brow to improve
and increase the value of his land,
the c. P. R. stands by and reaps the
fruits of his labor in the shape of a
corresponding increase in valuation
of their land, and the only thanks
he gets is eXtortionate freight rates,
and If he doesn't like it he can pack
his household necessities on his
back, or get back to "the states" as
many others have done before him.
This is not a product of the dis
turbed imagination of a respondent
dyspeptic with disappointed ambi-
tions, but is fair statement of the
prevailing conditions and as the re-
cent disclosures at Victoria go to
show that not only the C. P. r. but
even the fair fabric of the govern
ment have been besmirched with
graft. This is not new word with
the American people, for we are we'll
acquainted with it on this side of the
line and it explains itself.
A great deal has been said about
the irrigation near Calgary. Let me
take you to Calgary for a minute.
A progressive western city of about
$4,000 inhabitants. We get off the
team at Calgary at midnight, As
hours late on the G. P. R. The first
thing we see is a great illuminated
sign and read the glazing letters
c. P. R. IRRIGATED LANDS. This
means suckers please turn to the
left one square to the c. P. R. office.
where they will kindly relieve you
of your surplus dough and anything
else they can get and give you
what? A good sized fragment of
blue sky, which you are permitted
to dispose of at leisure. If you don't
turn to the left you have another
even worse alternative to run the
gauntlet of a horde of smooth and
glib-tongued real estate sharks, who
all want to drive you out and show
yer the ditch" Phil Barnum once
said "A sucker is born every minute
and the American people like to be
humbugged," and this must be so,
for there is a real estate office every
other door in Calgary, and there are
four henchmen in every office, so
that the innocent sucker stands little
show even If he does escape the first
one.
There is no one who knows better
than the Yakima farmer or grower
the value of irrigation when applied
TO practical utility for a laudable
purpose. but when coterie of real
estate men and railroad or govern
where 1t is not of actual practical
benefit and where the difference in
the value of the land does not war
rant irrigation on an improved scale,
II is high time that something was
said upon the subject, and when q
man expects to kick a gold brick
from the curbstone of Canada ne
merely relegates himself to the men,