Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1910-02-17
Interesting and Profitable
Meeting.

Eugene, Or, Feb. u. Spirited
discussions of problems dealing with
the betterment of conditions of country
life, DEVELOPMENT of water resources.
irrigation and proper methods of
forestry conservation marked the last
days session of the annual Common
wealth Conference. which came to
close here tonight after successful
tWo-day session. The conference has
been held under the auspices OF the
University of Oregon. with delegates
present from develoument orGanlza-
tions and the lea1ing educational i
institutions OF the state.
Unusual interest was aroused in
paper read bv John T. Whistler.
formerly engineer in the United
States Reclamation Service on
Features of Commonwealth policy
for the development and conservation
OF water resources. Mr.. Whistler
declared that one of the greatest
needs of the state was more encourage
ment to private capital to induce it
to develop the states waterpower
resources. He asid in his opinion
the tax placed upon estimated horse
power in the bill passed by the last
Legislature was a mistake.
II would even favor granting i'm
munity from all taxes but a site tax
for term of years to induce capital
to invest its money, rather than not
have 1t do So" he said "For only
by such private capital can the re-
sources be developed. 1t is not
generally realized what risks capital
must take in developing power sites.
For instance, the most efficient steam
engines now developed utilize only
about 10 per cent 1t is estimated of
the potential power in steam coal. 1t
is readily conceivable that such prog
ress may be made in the near future
that much more efficient engines will
be devised. If only so per cent of
the possible power in coal were used
every power site would become drug
on the market.
In the discussion which followed,
J. @. Stevens, secretary of the Oregon
Conservation Commission, warmly
seconded statement by Mr.. Whistler
that the flow of water in streams was
not affected nearly as much as pop
ularly supposed by the presence of
forests.
Stevens backed up his position with
exhaustive figures, showing that
forests were only one factor and
probably the smallest one in deter
mining the flow of streams.
E.T. Allen. Forester Of the West {
ern Forest Forestry and Conservation
sounded a warning against letting
fire destruction and wasteful cutting
of Oregon's forests go unchecked.
Austin f. Buxton, master of the
State Grange. was the first speaker
of the session with an address on
1.-The Improvement of Country Life
in Oregon.
Mr.. Buxton denied that the farmer
is responsible for present high cost of
living. He went into detail in defin-
ing the factors which would make for
improvement in the condition of the
farmer He said in part:
"In many quarters the tendency is
to lay the present high cost of living,
concerning which there is such uni
versal complaint, at the farmers
door, and to charge that with the
present price Of his products he is
levying unjust tribute upon the re-
mainder of society. 1t is true that
farmers are now receiving very fair
prices for many of their products; yet
it is also frequently true that the
prices they receive bear very i'm
proper relation to the prices which
the ultimate consumer is required to
pay for these same products. There
is no influence which the farmer ever
seems to have exerted TO insure him
a continuous proper return fer his
labor. Those various classes who
have to do with the collection of these
products from the farmer and their
distribution to the consumer. have
fixed the prices at both ends of the
line, without consulting either of
the other interested parties, and have
levied a tribute for their services that
has prospered them out of all proper
tion to either the farmer or the con-
sumer, when the relative energy they
have expended and risk thew have
assumed in the operation, is taken into
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