The times-herald. [volume] (Burns, Harney County, Or.) 1896-1929, 1909-02-27
THE "olD MAN" DON'T BELIEVE HIM

Bennett, VINO recently TtluIllcu
from an extended trip through
Harvey county, as has been told in
various letters to The Journal, this
morning made the following
statement concerning the railway
road situation as understood by
the people of the int ior of Ore
gon.
"The people of Oregon as u
whole do not understand the law
just enacted by the legislature,
and may be led to believe from
various editorials in the Oregoni-
an that the voters are to be call
cd upon t. saddle II huge debt
upon the state for the purpose of
building a railway or railways to
annex Central Oregon to the
state at large.
Such is not the meaning or in
tent of the law. 1t simply al
lows us to pass at the next gen
eral election upon a constitutional
amendment allowing the state as
n whole. or any neighborhood,
county or municipality to tax
property owners to build railroads
of their own.
"The morning paper would
have us believe that Mr.. Harri-
man is about to open up central
Oregon by criss-crossing the
state with system of railways,
and that the present agitation
will be detrimental to us all. for
the reason that it will retard Mr..
Harrimans operations and ham,
per his enterprises by obstruct-
ing him in securing rights of way
for his entrance into the interior.
1t may not be known to the read
ers Of The Journal as a rule that
the Union Pacific has had a right
of-way from Ontario west thro-
ugh that section. by the one fea-
sible route through the Crane
creek gap, for over a quarter of
a century, and has sat as tight
on it as a dog on a bone, and still
holds it as against any other cor
poration. Hence the statement
that Hartman is going to build
up the Deschutes as soon as he
can get the right of way comes
with little force.
THE Union Pacific and other
lines were built after securing
huge land grants, usually the al
ternate sections on each side OF
the road for a distance of 70
miles. We know something
about that in Oregon by the va
cant places down through the
Willamette valley, and how such
grants retard development.
Now, the people of the interior
do not ask for any such grants,
but there are some 5000. 00C
acres Of vacant government land
in the counties of Malhem, Har-
ney. Lake, Klamath and Crook,
which would be trebled in value
by transportation facilities and
such increase of values would
more than build all of the nee
essc ~ railways. Could the price
of that land be placed at even
50. so per acre in place of the pre-
sent minimum of $l.25 and the
accretion given to the state, there
would be funds sufficient to go
ahead, and without a dollar eX-
pense to the thickly settled por-
ton of the state.
1T may not be generally
known that two decades ago a
road was started westward from
Ontario. Why was it not built!
1t was not the fault of Mr. Har-
riman, for he had as yet not
emerged from his 8XlO Wall
street office, but his predecess-
ors thought they had that sec
ton bottled up, as they had, and
that there was no use in building
until some other road undertook
to do something.
"And now, when the situation
becomes acute by a bill allowing
the people TO build their own
road, Mr.. Hartman suddenly an
nounces his intention Of building
80. IL. n,,oLntnr AND -, nth