East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1908-12-15


/ share of that wealth. 1t is because
private wealth Is now so largely rep
resented in those things upon which
existence depends, and I'm which every
man has common interest, that public
sentiment Is aroused, and a remedy
now too long delayed Is sought.
The difficulty goes back to the in
fancy of the race, when the only law
was force and when the strongest and
most alert made the masses his surfs
and his associates yassals; when kings
and feudal lords parcelled out the
| have passed, but the conservatism Of
the race have kept the customs Of
savagery occasionally veneering them
with the appearances of civilization,
hence that basic principle, the survival
Of the strongest, still In large decree
obtains in the laws of property.
When the nations of the western
world were established advancing civ
illzation and intelligence led them to
insist upon the adoption of principles
of civil liberty and human freedom,
but the idea ,of applying principles Of
ordinary prudence IN the matter Of
national resources does not seem to
have entered into the conception of
the founders Of government anywhere.
Mistakes of People.
Finally, after 1870 years of expert
once, universal education and the am
bition to achieve which follows knowl-
edge. has brought this nation to a
realization that much was lacking in
the scheme Of government designed
by the fathers, that they forget the
very things which could assure equal
ity OF privilege, and avoid the asscur-
ed landlordism of all the past. We
now know that with political powers
the people should have reserved to
themselves for lease and not for own
ership. the waters, the forests the
natural deposits of coal and oil, and
that the ownership Of land should
have been limited to the actual needs
o. the individual.
The mighty public sentiment now
behind this conservation movement is
the response of the people to an idea
which is not new, but which has been
terminating in the public mind for
half a century, and which accepts the
conservation propaganda as a con-
crete expression Of reasonable de-
mands. It means that the people de-
sire that the nation and the states
shall withhold the remnant of our
once almost limitless natural resour-
ces from private ownership and eX-
plotation, and that the machinery OF
justice shall be set in motion to correct
as far as possible the economic errors
OF the past by recovering for all the
people that which the few have IL
legally obtained.
What People VIII Rrcquirc.
The man who becomes a candidate
for governor Of oregon today will re-
quire four planks in his platform
preservation of the existing political
privileges of the people, the prompt
and complete enforcement of all law,
the conservation Of public resources,
and the just restoration to the COM
monwealth of the lands and waters
OF which At has been despoiled.
We are confronted with problems
quite as serious and as difficult of
solution, as those which were met by |
the statesmen of the early and the |
middle periods of the republic. A So
luton will be found not IN blood, but /
in those avenues of human effort /
which Intelligence and Justice con-
troll The problems are worldwide, /
but this nation must meet them first (
Another generation will see the air
navigated as freely as the ocean is
today II behooves us to begin the
solution of these problems by assur-
ing national control of the landing
places in order that the pathways of
the atmosphere may not be monopo-
ized as are those of the sea by private
ownership of docking privileges. The
water rights upon those streams yet
under control Of state and nation must
be reserved forever to the people, as
must the remaining coal and oil up
'N ihbilN lohlNoi SubINNN W lttN9t l'l
actual use and scientific operation by
for immediate and bene-
fetal purposes.
Eliminate Timber Land Frauds.
The forestry statutes should be en-
larged and perfected so that no more =
private exploitation of timber shall be
possible. Under proper regulations I
he remaining tmbered area can min
ster TO the needs of man forever.
With a continuance of the system in ,
vogue for the last four decades an
other half century will witness their |
and an era OF famines I
will be ushered in To withhold this
of a once matchless tree ,
growth from destruction will not be {
enough. The state must regulate the d
lse and operation of the private for S
,sts. In such matters human intelli- c
yence recognizes, or will soon recog- {
lize, that individual ownership must $
,e exercised in subordination to the /
wider and higher interests OF the c
whole people, whom the state repre- a
ents. Modern study of ancient con- =
litions demonstrates that deforesta-