Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1918-02-14
Oregon Has the Resources
for Wood Ship Building
She Does Not Get Contracts
By F. G. Harley
(MaYor of Astorial

Washington, ID. g., FEB. IA. - nc
state in the union is better equipped
for wood ship building than Oregon
She has the natural resources, easy OF
assembly at tidewater points; she ha;
yards already in operation and Others
can be quickly provided If given the
opportunity, this state could give the
nation a demonstration of record wood
ship construction. Her neighbor, Wash
ington, though probably equally equip
ped with timber resources, could moi
hope to surpass Oregon in wood shiE
production Yet Washington, at tho
present time, is leading Oregon in this
industry, as it is in many other line;
relating to government activities. This
is not stated in any feeling of envy
The point is that Oregon is neglected
and there must be a reason. | shall
try to indicate it. a..5
I have learned that there is vel
fixed idea in the minds of the Ship
ping Board that cit is physically i'm
possible for Oregon and Washington tC
cut lumber fast enough to meet the
orders of the shipyards. " To the peo'
pie of Oregon, knowing the state :
natural resources and milling capacl
ty, such an idea is ridiculous. But
there it is, in the Shipping board Is
noodle. 1t seems to me that it was es
sentially the business Eyes, the duty)
of the Oregon congressional delegation
to counteract this impression. Have
they done so, or tried to do so9 If so
nobody has noticed it.
Passing up the recent discussion in
the shipping board respecting the mer.
its of wood ships as compared with
steel ships, the fact stands out that
when the board finally decided on q
wood ship building program, Washing
ton was given nominal recognition
Oregon was comparatively sighted and
the bulk of the contracts went to At
lantic coast yards. 1t developed that
the latter could not obtain on the At
lantic seafboard or in the south suffi
cient lumber to fill their contracts
hence call was made for lumber from
Oregon and Washington, necessitating
an expensive haul and long delay over
the trans continental railroads
h Isn't it a fact that Oregon yards
could have had the keels laid for most
of this fleet and the work of construc-
ton well under way in the time re-
quired for such transportation of lum
Der eastward l think L am safe in
answering yes. And, since time is OF
the essence of the government s wal
ship building program, would it not
have been highly patriotic service
for the Oregon congressional delega'
tion to have laid down on the shipping
board and presented Oregon S advant-
ages9 Did they do soY Again, / say.
if they did, nobody has noticed it. II
they did, where are the resultsG
I ask, why are the members of our
delegation sitting around, letting Ore
gon shipyards go unnoticed when they
are not only ready and capable, but
anxious to take on contracts, and still
more contracts Have these represent
atives of Oregon in congress any idea
of the number of ships we are build
ing for the government, or how many
more we could build if given the
chance9
Does the Oregon delegation under
stand the government s need for ton
mage, and its inability to have ships
built as fast as needed back on the
Atlantic coast9 If SO, why did not this
delegation make a dusty patch be
tween its offices and the offices OF
the shipping board, eternally boosting
Oregon's shipyards and insisting that
they be given more work 2 The Wash
ington delegation kept the trail hot
and that why they got results; but