East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1912-02-21
MEETING
FAvORS UMATILLA
ACCLAIMs RATHER THAN
RECORDS ITS APPROVAL
Enemies OF West Extension Are
Prominent on Floor of Congress in
Session at Portland-Experts De-
liver Addresses

In giving an account Of yesterdays
session of the oregon Irrigation con-
gress. meeting in Portland. the ore
gon Journal. in part. printed the fol-
lowing:
Denying that the Coe, Furnish or
Sloan Interests are behind the pro-
ject, J. c. Hoskins, rancher of Echo,
this morning swung sentiment of the
oregon Irrigation congress in favor
Of affording relief for tract Of co.
/ 600 acres Of arid land in Umatilla
county by granting TO the owners wa
ter rights TO which the government
now holds control. The congress did
not officially go on record in the mat
ter but the sentiment was expressed
| by the ovation rendered the speaker
after his impassioned plea
Hoskins stated emphaticaliy that
the owners of these 10000 acres are
not opposed to the west extension
OF the Umatilla government project.
as seems to be the prevailing opinion,
! but that they ask only for the privil-
ege of using the waters Of the upper
Umatila river for irrigating their
lands, after which II may be drained
into the west extension reservoirs for
usage again on lands Of a lower level
Ditch Is Wanted.
Hoskins classed himself among
those who had been "scrapping' over
the West Umatilla extension. and said
he had appeared before the federal
officials at the various hearings, but
| explained that in no way should the
Impression prevail that the scrap
pers" are opposed to the proposed ex-
tension.
"All we want" exclaimed Hoskins.
''is the privilege of building a ditch: /:
we have figured out the cost and are
ready to bond the property for the
funds required. BY securing such a
ditch we will be able to water these
acres and make them support 1900
people instead of 135 as at present
Cost of Ditch.
Hoskins explained that private en-
gineers had been engaged to estimate
the cost of ditch as that desired and
the cost will not be more than S25
per acre. He contended that the wa
ter would bring the land to a high
state Of productiveness. whereas un-
der existing conditions 1t Is worth very
! little. The project could easily be
carried out, he explained. He denied
that he or the other settlers were in
any way interested with the projects
of w. ]. Furnish. Frank Sloan or DR..
Coe, who are interested in nefghbor-
ing properties.
G. L. Smith, the agricultural ex-
pert of the O.-W. r. & N. company,
who spoke yesterday at the afternoon
session, rallied to the support of Mr..
Hoskins, saying that in his opinion
the lands referred to should be given
water without delay, as the larger
percentage of these lands were un-
der cultivation and hence their pro-
ductiveness could be increased at
once and to greater advantage than
raw land.
Sam Hill spoke on good roads and
eulogized the efforts of Governor
West in that direction in this state.
He said good roads are as important
to the country as are water, for with
out roads the farmer is at a heavy
disadvantage in getting his products
to market.
II am not a politician. said Mr..
Hill; II am republican, but you
have In this state democrat. a young
man who has taken the right stand
and I want you to stand by him. He
Is solving the problem of better roads
and he should have all the support
you can lend him.
Solution Is Offered.
II have found that the American
farmer pays twice as much as he far
mer in Europe to get his products to
market, and that Is one Of the causes
of our high cost of living. / have
found method of road construction
the cost of which Is not to exceed
$500 per mile, and 1t is not patent
ed. Good roads will solve the prob
lem of how to get the people of the
city to move into the country. Give
them roads, telephones and other
comforts and accommodation of city
life and they will answer to the call
| of the rural districts"
w. w. Patch, klamath reclamation
engineer, showed the results obtained
by irrigation in that district, explain
ing that the average gross returns on
irrigated land are approximately 20
per cent Potatoes had brought the
| best results, the net receipts per acre