The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1920-07-15
CONGRESSMAN
! VISIT YAKIMA
VALLEY PROJECT
Members of Congressional Ap-
preparations Committee Get
~ First Hand Data
DO NOT STOP in KENNEWTCK
Men Who Hold Government Purse
Strings Say Program of Econ
I'D omy is Necessary .s

Members of the congressional ap-
preparations committee, accompanied
by Director Davis and other high Of
ficials Of the u. S. Reclamation SER
vice will pass thru Kennewick tonight
enroute to Hermiston, Oregon, after
two days spent in viewing the COM
pleted and proposed units Of the Yak
ina reclamation project. Yesterday
they toured the Kittitas Valley and
viewed the Tieton project. Today they
will make trip thru the reservation
and over the Sunnyside project with
an evening meeting in Sunnyside.
Accompanying the official delega-
tion are Senator Wesley L. Jones,
Congressman John w. Summers, of
this district and Congressman N. ].
Sinnot, Of Oregon, chairman of the
public lands committee. These men,
as well as reclamation officials and
the citizens Of the valley are endeav-
oring to impress upon the visiting
congressman the necessity for resum-
ing work and continuing the storage
program for the Yakima project.
While none of the congressman will
make any definite promises regarding
reclamation appropriations they are
very frank and outspoken in their
praise of the Yakima Valley. At a
banquet rendered the visitors by the
people Of Yakima at the Commercial
Hotel last evening, Congressman J. w.
Good, of Indiana, chairman of the COM
mittee said their visit had been rev.
elation and that he and the other
members of his committee were frank
to admit that in agricultural produc-
ton. records the Yakima valley has
no equal in the United States. He
declared that one Of the most import
ant epochs in American history was
the passing of the free lands in the
rain belt. "This government never
faced a more important epoch than
when it had to say to its citizens, we
have no more lands in the rain belt
for homestead" said the congress-
man. "From that time forward there
devolved upon this nation the new
duty of providing homes. for its cit
izens thru the reclamation Of its
waste lands. One Of the greatest con-
structive measures which can possibly
be undertaken at this time is the
adoption of a broad and comprehensive
plan that will reclaim the arid lands
of the great west just as rapidly as
they can be settled"
While Congressman Good placed
himself and his committee strongly
on record as favoring continued re-
clamation he explained that it had
seemed necessary to them to prune
the estimates Of the reclamation ser
vice. He said his committee was fac
ed with the task Of spending money to
meet war hang-overs amounting to .
two and half billion dollars. On top.
Of this the government has usurped
the money market and borrowed
more than four billion dollars in ex-
cess Of the liberty loans. In face Of
this condition his committee had no
course other than to reduce govern
mental expenses to the minimum. To
do this they adopted a program which
called for the elimination Of all new
work, regardless Of the nature of that
work. "We put the country upon a
maintenance instead of a building pro-
gram" said the speaker. "With the
vast majority Of people clamoring for
a reduction in the high cost of living
it is certainly time to begin cutting
down expenses somewhere. The best
place / know of to begin to reduce the
high cost of living is to begin to re-
duce the high cost of government"
Congressman Good assured his au-
dience that just as soon as it possibly
can be done new reclamation work in
the west will be undertaken. As to
when that would be he did not say.
The banquet was attended by rep
resentatives from all parts Of the Yak
ina valley from -Ellensburg to Kenne-
wick, this district being represented
by M. M. Moulton and A. R. Gardner.
Owing to their limited time it was
impossible for the congressman to
stop in Kennewick.