East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1913-04-17
CAPT. GRAY YTELLS or ADVANTAGES
TO Be GAINED BY AN OPEN RIVER

it has become necessary
that rates be reduced to a minimum
and all possible avenues of commerce
he developed. and can any one doubt
the possibilities or value of our rivers
as avenues of commerce.
No one expects that they will carry
all the traffic, but they will be the
truck and dray lines and carry the
commodities and crude products OF
forest and field and mine, and the
railroads will be the express wagons
and coaches and carry the class goods
and passengers, except the sight see
ing tourists, and the local dwellers on
the banks (did you ever notice that
when railroads parellel navigaole
streams they always place their depots
and warehouses as far from river
landing as possible, and that steam
boats land wherever they can get bus
iness). And right there will be an
other benefit as with the rivers I'M
proved the hester in every little Level
nook can have his skiff or gasoline
launch to carry his butter, eggs and
fruit to market without travelling three
or four miles through sage brush and
cactus or over rocks and cliffs to the
nearest station. Every upland owner |
can have his landing, every owner of
island or bar where fruit hay or vege- |
tables can grow will have his pump
| ing plant small villages with school
and churches will grow along the river
/ banks and every acre of our fertile
/ soil will help to make home.
The benefits of an open and inn
proved river are also incalculable in
a social and artistic sense.
Gentlemen. l believe the cause Of the
universal unrest that is permeatins
the social stratas of the world today is
! caused by the ruthless march of COM
mercialism that in its struggle to ell
inmate distance and time leaves in its
track a devastation of natures beau
ties greater than that of a conQuering
army in time of war. A few points of
Interest are reserved for their COM
mercial value, but the countless beau
ties the god of nature has so bounu-
fully distributed in every nook and
corner of the universe is ruthlessly de-
stroyed to clear the way for the Iron
wheels, even graves are desecrated.
If all these are necessary in the on
ward march of civilization, gentle
men. is it also necessary to destroy
by inanition the God given love of the
beautiful in nature which may be dor
; mant in us? The movement of wa
/, ters is the poetry of motion and the
: love of that poetry is inherent in our
, natures. Who of us that has read
{ Bryant's Thanatopsis has not felt the
, thrill of those words where rolls the
Oregon and hears no sound save its
, own dashing." But where now are the
; songs and stories of our childhood and
/ youth of oceans, lakes and rivers, Of
: cataracts and rills, and who of us does
not love to ride upon the water and be
. soothed by the gentle motion of the
T stream? Who has not wandered to
some lakelet in city park and en-
joyed the antics of the children? The
sdeshows and the games may inter-
est the "grown-ups" but the children
= love the water. The songs and stories
: of the heroes of the waters have been
} superseded by the rag-time songs and
stories of the wandering hobo and he
, roes of the rods" ana brake-beams.
D Gentlemen, this may seem foreign
. to my subject, but the point 1 wish to
Y make is that the utilization of our
q navigable streams will cause homes
= and hamlets to grow along their
r banks. The love of home by the rip
), pling waters will have a tendency TO
:, lessen the wanderlust. The innocent
:, amusements of the children in the city
=, parks can be enjoyed in every home
/, by the flowing streams; the youths
= will learn TO love the pleasures to be
e known upon and near the waters and
t to shun the hot city streets and their
t, temptations. Artistic views and points
d of interest will be studied and the
e dwellers of the up-lands will seek the
It cooling breeze and shades along the
= rivers for peaceful vacations, and not
d the shade of lonely water tanks while
It waiting for the train.
Gentlemen. did you ever stop to con
= slider where the greater percent Of the
: settlers in new countries come from
d or that environments create habits
Y The crofters of Scotland, the dweller.
- on the bleak and rugged coast of Maine
. or Newfoundland, cling to their small
s patches of land and homes beside the
e moving, moaning sea. The wealth
= producing millions who have theiI
g homes along the improved rivers o
e Europe are content to stay beside the
e moving streams. The nomads of al
= nations make what homes they have
- beside some living water. But an un
d rest pervades the breast of those whC
= live upon the prairies and the upland
d away from moving streams. TO gair