The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1920-06-24
SINNOTT SAVES DAY
FOR RECLAMATION BILL

Nick Siunou OF oregon saved the
day for Reclamation al the RepubH-
can conference on the Soldier Com
peusation Bill In eight minutes Of
boiled down data on this subject lie
gave the eastern members a liberal
education on the possibilities Of irri-
cation in the West which changed
vote after vote. The result was that
the reclamation provisions were re
tanned IN the bill as It was adopted
by the conference and passed the
House.
Sinnotts speech which is regarded
as one of the finest specimens OF terSe
augmentation heard here during the
present session Of congress was as
follows:
There is no legislation, Mr.. Chair
man, that has been before the House
for years that is more defensible than
the land provisions of this Soldier
bill. 1t is defensible both from an
economic. sentimental and patriotic
stand point.
From an economic stand point 1t
is defenSible because it will increase
crop production and add TO the
wealth Of the Nation. DefenSibie
from the sentimental and patriotic
stand point because the boys who
fought across the waters to defend
their home land are justly entitled TO
an opportunity to secure a piece of
that very home land they so bravely
defended.
No legislation before Congress
for years has been so misrepresented
as this land legislation. 1t has been
sneered at, hacked at, and stigma
tized as a Western arid desert land
scheme-as southern swamp land
scheme Those who so stigmatize|
this legislation have either never read
the testimony before the Public
Lands committee or they willfullyI
ignore the hearings in order to mali
ciously misrepresent the bill. l took
testimony for several weeks upon this
legislation, reported a bill from the
Public Lands committee containing
the same.
This bill that reported has been
made the basis of this legislation. 1t
is not Western scheme. 1t is not
a Southern scheme, 1t covers every
State in the Union. Director Davis
of the Reclamation Service said the
preferable projects were in the East.
en- states, that they were cheaper,
could be made habitable sooner than
the Western irrigation projects, He
said projects existed in almost every
state.
Now, what do you think OF men
who stand up on the Floor of this
House, whose sole stock in trade is
to deride the deserts of the West
say that We want to put the boys amid
the cactus OF these deserts?
The gentleman from Indiana
(Mr. Wood says there is dynamite
in this land provision. There is no
dynamite in it, but he is trying to
inject Wood Alcohol into the bill
TO blind you to the merits of the
provision, and kill the bill.
Mr.. Wood still lives in the time
and in the atmosphere of the States
man who said;
Let the Ridge of the Rocky
Mountains be the Western boundary
of our Republic and let the status
of the tabled god Terminus be erect
ed upon the highest summit never
to be thrown down to mark the Wes-
tern boundary of our Republic.
This is not a Western irrigation
scheme alone. If it were it would be
absolutely defensible and justifable
would be the best investment the
Government could make, for the Re
clamation Service with an expendi-
ture of less than s120,000,000 pro-
duced in one year nearly $90,000,000
of stock and crops.
'Mr. Wood tells us that not one
boy in one thousand would take up
home on one of these projects. He
is absolutely refuted by what is 60
ing on today. A few months ago
got though the House and the Con-
gress a bill giving soldiers a prefer
ence right to enter the Government
irrigation reclamation projects. This
spring there was an opening under
the Shoshone and North Platte pro-
jects. | have in my hand letter.
dated March IS, 1920, from Chas.
S. Hill, State Commander, American
Legion of Wyoming, in which he
writes:
The recent opening of 10000
acres of land under the Shoshone and
North Platte projects should dispel
forever any idea that ex-service men
do not desire to secure farms g.
79S farmers sons, mechanics, bank
clerks. engineers, doctors and law
yers, and in fact ex-service men from