The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1920-02-26
The HON. NlCk

Our representative in congress, Hon.
\. j. Sinnott, hasn't won any wide
reputation for filling the halls of con-
gress with sensational. windjamming
utteranees. He does rot burden the
public printing plant with tasks Of
setting up many pomDous words. But
the Hon. Nick. Of The Dalles. is busy.
All the time he is quietly working
away in the interest Of his constitu.
eney.
Mr.. Sinnott is now reaping the re-
wards Of hard work in personal emolu-
ments. the pride of a work well done,
and vast benefits to the Northwest. in
bringing to a successful issue his bill
for the lease of minerals. His pro,
posed release of valuable minerals and
fertilizers will be of nationwide benefit.
Many look on the bill as the end of the
old struggle between the factions Of
ultra.conservatism and those who have
asserted supreme rights of states to
control their public wealth. The Ore
glonian in a discussion of the bill saws;
The loss to the nation through the
arrested development of the west while
the conservation controversy has ragged
Is incalculable. Demand for coal has
grown, bat addition to TIE supply
through opening of new mines has
been blocked The prlce of coal has
thus been artihcially enhanced and ex
pausion of industry in the west has
been checked An unbalanced develop
ment of manufactures in the east and
south to the exclusion of the west has
resulted, causing congestion OF traffic
on the railroads and at the ports Of the
east The effects of this evil were es
peclally felt during the war, when the
nation needed its full productive power
and the full use of all lines of trans
port and of all ports. lndustrially it
was IN the position of man who
fights with one arm, mighty as was
that arm. Use of oil as fuel on rail
roads. ships, automobiles. in factories
and residences has created demand
exceeding the supply, and has made us
partly dependent on turbulent, grasp
ing Mexico. Intensive cultivation of
farms has increased demand for fertil-
iZer at a time when the nitrate beds
Of Chile approach exhaustion and when
the need of greater agricultural pro.
ductlon has become apparent.
If the terms of lease should prove
attractive, all the deficiencies in ques-
tion will be made good in few years.
Cheaper fuel-either coal or oil will
stimulate manufacture Of products of
mine, forest and soil. Growth of
towns in spatcely settled country west
Of the Rocky mountains and growth OF
trans Pacific commerce will result, all
leading to more symmetrical develop
ment Of the whole country industrially
and commercially.
AS 52b per cent Of the royalty from
leases is to be paid into the reclama
tion fund, irrigation Of arid land will
be FASTENED, the productive area of the
west will be enlarged population will
become denser and there will be d
wider market for the products of in
dustries consuming the new supply OF
fuel The states are to receive 37t pei
cent Of the royalties, being thus assured
Of revenue in place Of taxes, a revenue
which will increase as development
progresses. This fund may be devoted
to construction of highways or to i'm
prONement of rural schools or to rec
amatiOn schemes which do not fall
within the scope Of the government s
plans. Some skeptlcism may exist as
to the willingness of investors to devel
op and operate mines and oil wells un
der lease, since they have hitherto op
Grated under outright ownership of the
land The small amount OF work don,
in Alaska under the coal land leasing
law is not encouraging as to results al
home, but the Alaska experiment was
made in a remote territory. dependent
almost entirely on outside markets
when the war had produced labor
famine and before railroads to tn,
mines had been completed. The Goa
and oil fields Of the west have hun
cry home market and have railroads
close at hand or can be reached by con
struction Of short branches. Adoption
Of the leasing system at the end o
many yeras' discussion should convinc,
mine and oil operators that there is m
chance of return to the old policy ant
that they must reconcile themselves t,
thesnew dispensation. They will lear
to work under it as has been done il
Australia and other countries.
Neither party to the conservation
controversy has won a complete vic
tory. The conserVationists have Sc
cured adoption Of the leasing system
but not the rich revenue for the FEEDER
al treasury with tho prosDprt nf "a hi -
they won support for their theory il
the east and south. The public LAM
states have not secured full sovereign
ity over the land IN question throug
patents to individual owners, but the
secure three-eighths of the revenu
without restriction as to its use. NOR
than half of the royalty is to be eX
pended in their development, and tn
10 per cent which goes into the nation
al treasury will about suffice to pa
expenses Of administration We are t
have conservation with development
for which the west has contende
throughout, and the solid benefits vii
accrue to the west.
This settlement is a noteworth
achievement of Representative Sinnot
of Oregon, for he brought about tn
compromise between conflicting view
and pioted 1t through conference t
final enactment. He has earned re
noWned confidence from his fellow cit
zens by constant work and close after
tion to the interests of the west.
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