Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1926-01-14
G. w. EBERI4EIN ADDRESSES
THE SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY

WAO HIS HUME a
San Francisco, Cal, and at Kla
math Falls, Ore, and who with his
wife has been visiting here with his
home people, addressed the Scien.
tific and Historical meeting on the
subject Of Irrigation"
Before beginning his address prop.
er, he spoke of this his home town
which he stated he was always pleas
ed to visit. He also paid the found
er of McConnelsville, Robert McCon-
nell, fine, tribute, in which he
spoke of the very nice manner in
which McConnelsville is laid out.
He said that he had had much ex-
lperience with towns in their forma-
tions, in the west, and he had often
wondered why other towns had not
been laid out on lines similar to Nc
lConnelsville. He mentioned in par
ticular our public square, our COM
mon, and the way in which Mr.. Nc
lConnell endeayored TO look to the
religious development of this place,
in giving the various religious de-
nominations ground on which to
ierect their edifices, all of which
showed the farsightedness and
Ibreadth of the founder of this place.
Taking up his subject, that of Ir-
rigation, he stated that it opened up
such broad field, that justice could
not be done to it in an evening. He
mentioned the influence irrigation
has played in development in differ
ent parts of the world, and mention
ed particularly Egypt, and the in
fiuence England has in the control
of the water of the White Nile,
which is used for irrigation pur-
poses
When he spoke of irrigation in
| the United States, he did not dwell
upon the purposes of irrigation, or
the method in which it is carried on,
letc., but spoke principally along the
line of part the government has had
in controlling irrigation in the west.
He was at times somewhat bitter in
his denunciation of the manner in
which the government has attempt
ed to carry on irrigation, and of the
blunders which have been. made. He
did not hesitate to class national ir-
rigation as failure.
| National irrigation started back
under the Roosevelt administration.
in the year 1902, and it was Roose
welt who put it through congress.
Mr.. Eberlein believes the law to be
unconstitutional. He spoke of the in
competency of those who were en-
, deavoring to run the government
end of irrigation; that politics had
ientered into it; that water rents
had become SO high in many in
stances that they are prohibitiye.
He called attention to the fact that
good, competent men bad properly.
Iplanned the method of carrying on
irrigation, but because of the poll
ried out. He feels that Secretary of
the Interior Work is not big
enough man for the place he holds.
He expressed himself as thinking 1t
wrong for the government to lay
claim and control certain public
"a III tuC StuSCoy Shuks 4ShN- Aohao
should be the property Of the state,
and not of the United States. He
considers this fact the reason Ore
gon and other western states have
not progressed as they should. He
feels that the people of that section
of the country have a just claim for
their dissatisfaction. Because of
the larger part of the representatives
in congress coming from the east,
the east controls congress.
Mr.. Eberlein believes that there Is
to be shakeup in congress, and
that the time is coming when the
demand will be made that the lands
of the states be turned back to the
states; that as things are now, one
part of the country is antagonistic
to other sections, and that the tariff
discriminates, and the sectional in
equalities are retarding progress and
development in certain sections of
the country.
He stated that the farmers are
hard hit, and they have just cause
for plaint-that in many places
they cannot make both ends meet. |
The president and congress, he said
know little of the western prob |
lens. The people of the west want |
the same treatment and to be on the
same footing that the people Of
Ohio had regarding government |
lands when she entered the union in |
1903. He said there are three par |
ties in this country at the present |
Democrats, Republicans, |
and the indifferents-that the latter |
are in the majority.
Mr.. Eberlein spoke at length, and /
it is impossible to give complete
review of the manv good, practical
points he brought out, and as he
spoke, his hearers could not but be
impressed with the soundness of his
logic. In closing he paid a glowing
tribute to a native son of Morgan
who is almost forgot
ten. He classed him as one of the
nations great men. He was Com
missioner of Land Patents under
Andrew Jackson, and had the back
ng of "Old Hickory" He was
man of moral stamina and had the
to stand up and fight for
what he knew to be right. He had
L,