The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1914-04-11
MEETING OF THE
SEVEN GOVERNORS

Governors of seven states, delegates
to the Western Governors conference
in session at Denver, late Tuesday
went on record with a demand to
congress for the establishment of two
more regional reserve banks-one in
the Pacific northwest and the other
in the Rocky mountain states.
The action was taken on motion of
Gov. Ernest Lister, of Washington,
and was eoncurred in by Governors
Tasker l.. Oddie, Nevada; Joseph NJ.
Carey, Wyoming; Oswald West, Ore
gon; John NJ Haines, Idaho; william
Spry, Utah, and f. M. Ammons,
Colorado. Governors Lister, West
and Haines were appointed as com
mittee to draft resolutions in confor-
nifty with the motion as passed.
1t was Governor Carey who breach
ed the question .of the regional re-
serve banks.
"I think the gentlemen who fixed
the places for those banks forgot the
west.' he said. "We discovered in
1907 that it wasn't so much the own
ership of money that counted, but the
fact that the east held all our money.
A bank has ben placed in Boston, an
other in New York, another in Rich
mond-nobody knows any reason for
placing it in Richmond. The Union
Pacific railroad is given no convenient
banking facilities.
"To us in Wyoming, San Francisco
is more foreign than London, and We
have no business relations at all with
Kansas City The governors should
insist upon the enactment of a special
law creating two more regional banks.
The northwest is entitled to one, and
believe one should be in Denver
Urge Federal Aid for Highways
| The governors took a positive stand
on the subject of Federal aid in road
making, by adopting resolution urg
| inf congress to turn over to the west
ern states 5 per cent of the public do
main within their boundaries, the pro-
ceeds to be used for the Improvement
of the highways.
| Governor Ammons, in his address of
welcome, outlined the plan of the ex-
ecutives to demand more liberal Fed
eral policies in administering the
public domain, adding:
"We don't ask anything unreason-
able we intend to ask only the rights
that were granted to all older
| states
Brief speeches were made by Gov
ernors West, Lister and Spry, after
which Governor Carey took the floor
to discuss the Carey act irrigation
projects He declared that 100000
acres of land in Wyoming had been
reclaimed under the provisions of the
statute.
"But,' he continued, restrictions
/ .ar@ IF bn Ea1aral
ment and the long delays thereby oc-
easioned have largely neutralized the
good results of the law. Lack of CO.
operation by the general government
has driven men away from this form
of investment
A part of the faults he charged
against the Federal government he
laid at the door of the civil service,
declaring that department heads care
unable to discharge men who are in
Efficient
OF conservation he said:
Conservation of resources is
right in fact and right in theory. But
lust so soon as you go so far as to say
that the government of the United
States snail assume complete control
and stop the parceling out of the land
among the people, it will bring stag
nation. -
Governor Oddie urged the governors
to take measures to check the migra-
tion of farmrs to the Canadian north
west, declaring that more liberal land
laws, with this in view were impera-
lively needed.
Governor Ammons then presented
Federal aid to states in road build
ing. There was a spirited discussion,
in the course of which it was brought
out that the western executives con-
slider the Shackelford bill. appro-
priating money for road building. is
unjust to the more sparsely settled
states.
The early session Wednesday was
devoted to the leasing system in the
administration of the public lands.
Chairman Carey appointed Governors
Spry, Ammons and Lister as com
mittee to prepare a program of ad-
dresses on that subject.
Government Aid for Irrigation.
Assistant A. A. Jones, of the interi-
or department. rendered to the irriga-
ton conference Thursday evening the
proposal of the department of the in
terror for the financing of Carey act
projects. 1t provides for government
loans to settlers in low interest bonds,
secured by liens on the irrigation
land and with the interest guaranteed
by the reclamation fund, now amount
ing to $10O,000,000.
Mr.. Jones suggestion came near the
end of the long evening session, de
voted for the most part to discussion
of plans for completing present Carey
act projects and financing new ener-
prises. Mr.. Jones told the delegates
that a proposal for patenting the land
inside Carey act projects to the state
was hopeless, and that to secure di-
rect appropriation from congress was
equally hopeless. Then he made his
suggestion.
Text of Proposal.
Instead of having the general gov