The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1916-03-17
IRRIGATION AND CREDITS
CONFERENCE ENDS AT SALEM

uOuDIleSS Will De called within tn
next few months to adopt the form i
which the proposed constitutions
amendments indorsed by the conven
tion, which closed here Saturday
shall be submitted to the people.
Meanwhile two committees will
work in conjunction with the attorne,
general on the drafts of the propose,
measures that are to place the pro
posed amendments in operation.
If a majority of the committeemel
determines that their work should b
reviewed by the whole conference be
fore it goes before the people, the. con
ference will be called together again
When the meeting adjourned ma
jority of the delegates seemed to ex
pect future meeting.
Since the convention now has deter
mined that it wants two separat,
measures--one providing a system o.
rural credits and the other providing
state aid for irrigation and drainage
the committees have their work def
nitely outlined for them, and the res
of the delegates are hopeful that har
mony at a future meeting will replac,
the friction that was so apparent il
the sessions of the last few days, car
rying both issues to successful con
clusion at the polls.
The convention, SO far as carrying
out the purposes for which it wa,
called together, virtually concluded it.
work Friday night. By remaining il
session until l o'clock in the morning
the resolutions expressing the policy
of the conference finally were adopted.
The session was devoted to the de-
tail of creating two committees that
shall have charge of the preliminary
Legislative work. 1t also was intended
as sort of harmony meeting, but
there was harmony only in the SEEM
ing attempt of both factions to drift
farther apart.
So the belief is pretty general that,
after an interim of few months, the
delegates will have had time to forget
their minor differences and that they
will be ready to unite in their deter
mination to conduct an aggressive and
cooperative effort to enact the pro.
posed amendments into law.
Summarized, the work of the con.
vention is about as follows:
An ouapdp,ant - +bo oona@:4,,4:.
enabling the state to lend its credit tc
a rural credits system was proposed.
An amendment to the constitution
enabling the state to use its credit fol-
irrigation and drainage was proposed.
The bonds to be sold under either OF
both of these plans are not to exceed
in the aggregate 2 per cent of the
assessed valuation of the state.
A committee consisting of ]. D.
Brown, president of the Farmers
Union; c. E. Spence, master of the
State Grange, and T. H. Burchard,
president of the State Federation Of
Labor, was appointed to work with the
attorney general in drafting the pro-
posed constitutional amendment for
the rural credits plan.
A. L. Mills, chairman of the conven-
ton, was authorized to appoint COM
mittee of three members-one drain
age man and two irrigation men-to
work with the attorney general in
drafting the proposed constitutional
amendment for state aid to irrigation
and drainage.
The committees also will have pow-
er to draft the proposed initiative
measures that will carry the proposed
amendments into effect, and to call
another convention if necessary.
$50 far as possible" the committees
are authorized to cooperate.
The convention closed as it had pro-
ceeded from the start-divided de-
cisively on one issue, that of linking
rural credits with state aid.
The delegates from the State
Grange, the Farmers Union, the Ag-
ricultural College, the State Univer-
sity and many from Western Oregon
were firmly united in their determine
tion not to permit the state aid plan
to be linked with the rural credits
plan. They were proponents of rural
credits but did not want to Swallow"
irrigation in order to get it.
They were championed on the floor
of the convention by Thomas B. Kay,
state treasurer, and at some stages of
the voting had the delegates from the
State Federation of Labor with them.
They had an abundance Of oratorical
talent besides the state treasurer, not
ably Judge W. M. Colvig, preresent-
ing the Southern Pacific; Senator s.
M. Garland, of Lebanon; W. H. H.
Dufur, of the Grange; A. R.Shumway,
Of the Farmers Union; E. J. Stack,
Of the Labor Federation, and others.
Governor Wjthycombe voted with
them when he was in the house.
On the other hand, the irrigationists
and most of the drainage people, to-
gether with large proportion Of the
Portland delegation, stuck together in
support of the plan to combine the
three issues.
This division was plain throughout
the meetings. One break came when
MIR. Stack. of the Labor Federation,