The Carbon County news., 1930-05-01

oil is case in point. At time when
American production is drastically
limited, paralyzing exploration in
your state, we are importing crude oil
to the value of $100,000,000 year
from abroad and the gate was left
wide open for an increase in this i'm
portation when Congress failed to
give American oil producers protec-
tion 1t is argued that this action was
intended to conserve our national re-
sources, but we are beginning to
realize that our potential supply of oil
is almost unlimited, and that before
it is exhausted some new form Of fuel
may be developed. Possibilities of oil
production in Montana are doubtless
far beyond any present knowledge,
but the effect of the action of Con-
gress, in denial of the protective prin-
ciple, is to withhold employment
from thousands of Montana workmen
and oil royalties from thousands of
Montana farmers and cut down the
returns of Montana people interested
in existing production. The truth is
that the opposition to such a tariff
came from the international oil COM
panies, which seek domination of the
oil production and distribution of the
world, and they were able to dictate
this denial of justice to one of Mon
tana's most important industries.
Montana should have a senator on the
job who will see to it that the just
interests of the state, especially dur
ing period of unemployment like the
present, are not Disseminated against
in national legislation. There is no
excuse whatever for any unemploy-
ment in the United States when the
reason for it can be seen in the vast
volume of foreign materials which
displaces commodities that should be
made, mined or grown by American
workingmen receiving wages upon
(, which high standard of living can be
based, thus creating an outlet for all
that the farmer and wage Garner pro-
duce within the confines of this coun-
try. The true measure of prosperity
f, is the degree of comfort and luxury
in which the masses of the people are
enabled to live. Only by keeping
employment in high gear, and at a
high and increasing wage scale, can
we provide the consuming power suf-
ficient to absorb the production of
this machine age, increasing in vol
ume and variety, Unless the work
ingmen and farmers are we'll employ
ed and we'll compensated, the prosper
ity of our whole economic system is
impossible.
Mr.. Shelley is opposed to the un.
due centralization of industry and fl
nance, in so far as this may be af-
fected by national legislation. 1t is
evident that organized efforts are
now in progress to bring about an
undue and unnatural concentration Of
finance and commerce which, if eff
fected, would make states like Mon
tana only an economic hinterland and
that there is an attempt to constitute
an economic and financial super gov
ernment. While large scale industry
is an inevitable and useful accompan-
iment of our economic development
the problem Of the future is to see
to it that this does not result in the
stunting of the growth of our inter
ior states, whose resources are con
stantly to be siphoned out into a few
great and remote financial and indus.
trial centers. Western Canada has
felt the effect of this unwise policy
and with all businesses mere branches
of distant concerns, there is lact
of local credit and industrial activity
which makes the growth Of smaller
centers of population almost impos-
sible. The effect of this on agricul
, ture is especially distressing since