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Show THE RICH COUNTY REAPER, RANDOLPH, UTAH vma iTTva sro 1 1948 Long Way Off, but Taft Looms as GOP Hope By BAUKHAGE Afcws By EDWARD EMERINE WNU Feature. w'lbv Oregon country, including T the most northwesterly portion of all, the present state of Washington, was the unwanted and land of a little more than a century ago. Back East they felt that the Rocky mountains were the natural western boundary of the United States and refused to vote one cent lor the development of a region so far away. There had been two wars with the British; why chance a third? Let the British have it. The United States had all the land it . N iAKER NATIONAL FOREST H OLYMPIA A seeded. But those thousands of pioneers who had urged their oxen along the Oregon trail and crawled over the mountains thought differently. They had found a good land, rich in beauty and vitality, where the mountains and forests came down to meet the Pacific ocean. The British wanted the country merely for trade with the Indians. The pioneers wanted it for their homes, their farms, their ranches, their dream cities. And they wanted it to be a part of the United States. They had traveled hundreds of weary miles, fighting Indians along the way, burying loved ones in unmarked graves. And now they had cleared their land, built houses, planted crops, and knew they had found an area with resources so vast and varied that even they were bewildered by the prospects. Somehow the East and Washington, D. C., must be told about it, made LONG BEACH V fi ur MON C. WALLGREN Governor of Washington Born in Des Moines, Iowa. Home town, Everett, Wash. For- mer state representative United States senator. and the White House, Pres. Benjamin Harrison, issued a proclamation on November 11 that Washington was admitted as a state. When the Indian wars ended, the eastern part of the territory was platinum. Standing timber in Washington includes Douglas fir, yellow and white pine, spruce, larch, cedar and others. Normally, Washington leads all states in lumber output, shipping its products all over the world. It has wood pulp and paper mills as well as other industries built on wood products. On Washingtons coast are innumerable harbors on which Seattle, Tacoma, Everett, Olympia, Vancouver and other important cities are located. This great commercial area is the nearest American gate way to the ports of Asia and handles most of the shipping to and from Alaska as well as world trade through the Panama canal. During World War II the shipbuilding and airplane manufacturing industry reached gigantic proportions and is expected to continue. d Coupled with its natural resources is Washingtons mighty output of hydro - electric power for industry. The Grand Coulee dam is part of a reclamation project that will ultimately irrigate 1,200,000 acres of land and produce electrical power far in excess of present needs. The Bonneville dam and others also contribute to the generation of potoer. however, remains Washington, chiefly agricultural. It leads all states by far in the production of apples and is high in output of other fruits such as pears, peaches, cherries, grapes, apricots, prunes and berries. Other crops are wheat, barley, oats, corn, alfalfa and clover hay, sugar beets, peas and hops. Huge herds of cattle and sheep graze throughout the state, and horses, hogs, chickens and turkeys are grown profitably on most farms and ranches. In the eastern part of the state, with irriWashington is semi-arigation used extensively. Its grain and cattle industries thrive there. West of the Cascades the rainfall is extremely heavy, ranging as high as 80 inches annually, with a resultant profusion of vegetation.The people of Washington have a rich heritage of thrift and courage and they retain the pioneer spirit that led them through the perils of settlement. They have the vision, too, for greater strides tomorrow. - -- possibilities. Perhaps that is why, along about the middle of May, the heavy backers of Bob Taft began to be heard from. Up until then, most of the talk in the couloirs was how Bricker was the No. 1 boy, and how Stassen mustnt even be mentioned above a whisper. Even Stassens own men decided it was better for the young man' from Minnesota to keep his head down so he wouldnt attract any lightning until he had found out whether his forums were more potent than thet against-emNow Its getting to be more serious fun to talk about Taft. Taft wants to be President. He has wanted to be President before. He is pretty much master of the Republican organization, but even if he werent, Bricker, his present friend and rival, is morfe beatable, despite the good impression he made on his speaking tour be fore the last convention . . . what with the leftist look in so many veterans eyes. Bricker has a staunch and solid conservative following. But it is a little too solidly conservative. Taft could hardly be called a radical. In fact, his political garden has never produced even a pale and lonely pink. On the other hand, his prudently can point to many a constructively liberal measure which has had his blessing. Only the other day, I was talking with an ardent administration official who has been battling for a measure badly battered by conservatives of both political stripes. I asked him if he could expect to retrieve in the senate a certain provision in his legislation, lost in the s. - sup-porte- d, Largest concrete structure that man ever made. Power from this dam accounted for the major portion of aluminum for construction of our airplanes for the Army Air Forces during World War II. as 1845 they had carved the area opened to settlement and brought into two 'enormous counties, Lewis immediate prosperity throughout and Clark. More settlers were cross- the Northwest. The arrival of the Mercer Girls, widows and oring over and sentiment for a division was evident. A group met at phans of the Civil war, provided wives for the territorys excess male v Cowlitz Prairie to memoralize conRailroads raced to not heard. were population. They They gress. met again in 1852 at Monticello and reach the great empire, with new sent another petition to Washington. towns and settlements following the Joseph Lane, Oregon territorial ribbons of steel. There was a severe however, when the new delegate, offered his aid and introduced a bill to organize the terri- state was hard hit by depression and tory of Columbia, for that was to be panic in 1893. its name. The bill was passed, but Washingtons recovery was rapid, not before it was amended to for its people were virile and deterchange the name to Washington ter- mined. The Alaska gold rush of 1897 ritory. On March 2, 1853, just two made Seattle the metropolis of the days before he left the White Northwest, and a few years later, House, Pres. Millard Fillmore in 1903, there was a mining boom at Spokane which tripled that citys signed it. extended population. Ports and shipping grew territory Washington befronq the continental divide to the rapidly on the coast. Fishing Pacific ocean, including what is now came, an important industry. Agrithe northern part, or panhandle, of culture flourished and livestock inIdaho. But the settlers were not yet creased all over the state. Lumsatisfied. Agitation for statehood be- ber business and mining brought gan and continued for nearly 15 prosperity to thousands. The Evergreen state (or Chinook years. In 1889 they were successful and Pres. Grover Cleveland signed state) holds more than the majestic the bill a month before he left the mountains, canyons, gotges, forWhite House. At a convention in ests, lakes and highways shown in Olympia on July 4, that year, a con- a tourist' folder. It is more than stitution was drawn up, and at an scenery.- It is a land of vast natural election on October 1 it was adopt- resources, many of them as yet uned by the citizens. A new man in developed or not fully utilized. - . fs house. Bob he answered, Oh, yes, Taft will go along on that. And Taft has a good liberal recmeasures ord on such mass-appeas housing. The Republicans dont have e to deal with the bosses to the extent that the Democrats do and in two of the larger al old-lin- cities where the Republican machine is vital Philadelphia Cincinnati and everything would be jake so far as Taft is concerned. He, himself, is kingpin in his home state organization . . . and Mr. Pew, who makes the Republican wheels go round in Pennsylvania, wanted Taft in 40 and 44. It is to be presumed hell feel the same set-bac- k, - Eye Street, N.W., see-ga- almost-unlimite- GRAND COULEE . . 1616 the fly on your nose. Among these are the politicians. Its a great time to lean back in a chair in the Senate office building or thereabouts, open another bottle r, of White Rock, light another and burble on about whats going to happen come November, and, still more intriguing, to prognosticate on presidential possibilities. Its fun for the newcomers because its so easy for them to predict, in the light of whats happening right now, just what will happen then. Its still more fun for the old timers because they know that the voters who may not love you in the autumn often seem very palsy in the spring and vice versa. Since there isnt much use in speculating on who the Democratic presidential nominee will be, its more interesting to talk about Republican Washington is rich in minerals coal, gold, silver, lead, mercury and zinc. It has clays, granite, sand stone, marble, limestone and cement. Also found in the state are antimony, arsenic, tungsten and Washington finally heard, and the of Fifty-foForty or Fight went up. The settlers cleaned their rifles and waited. If the British wanted war, they were ready. But war was averted by the treaty of 1846, in which joint American and British occupancy was ended. A compromise boundary of the 49th parallel was established, and the Oregon country became a Npart of the United States. The Columbia river, however, remained a natural dividing line running through Oregon territory. The settlers north of the river wanted a territory of their own. As early Service, ther away than to believe. cry the international horizon.- On the other hand, these activities, both in Washington, D. C. Along about June of any election quantity and quality, have taken year, when a lot of simple souls are lim far afleld from the usual political approach to a Republican presithinking about dential nomination. moonlight and It may be there is a niche in the roses, electric that would need a man of making fans, and where lis proportion to fill but one Demoto go for a sumcrat said to me the other day: mer vacation, a Sometimes it looks as if Van would lot of longer-rang- e be right than President. rather planners Times change, almost kaleidoscop-lcally- , are wondering these days. The presidential about next wincandidate of tomorrow may turn out ters coal supply, to be (if youll excuse my Irish) a harvest time, and dark horse of an entirely different other many color. things a lot furWNU CANADA fT'HE Analyst and Commentator. in 48. CASCADES wallips river, park. Of the national Dose-Olymp- ic This doesnt eliminate other brilliant possibilities, including Messrs. Stassen and Vandenberg, both of whose political futures may be molded by international developments. Mr. Vandenberg has done a lot of the molding himself. This coulc work both ways. On the one hand, the energy and devotion with which Mr. Vandenberg has applied himself to foreign affairs, and the powerful influence he has exerted, have greatly increased his silhouette on Columnists Speak Out of (in?) Turn The carping critics of today and yesterday enjoy decrying (he various inroads upon our founding fathers ideas of government by the people. We hear much about government by lobbies; government by executive order; government by this and by that . . . President Roosevelt used to inveigh against what might have been called an attempt at government It always seemed by columnists. rather unnecessary on his part since he used to be elected regularly with a preJs 80 per cent hos- tile. Recently President Truman was called upon to comment on the work of the distinguished columnist, Walter Lippmann. Lippmann expounded the somewhat startling theme with even more startling trimmings that Britain and Russia were pursuing a foreign policy based on the possibility, if not the probability of war, with each side hoping to enlist eventual German support. In fact, Mr. Lippmann even discovered an invisible German army in the British zone. (I dont mean that literally, for I understand that he did not visit the British zone in his tour of investigation.) The Presidents comment was that hindsight was belter than foresight, but as far as a hidden army was concerned, he never heard of it . . . and didnt think it existed. The same day, Mr. Truman was asked to comment on the statement of another distinguished correspondent, Harold Callender, Paris correspondent for the New York Times. Mr. Callender had reported a sharp reversal of American foreign policy toward Russia. The President slapped that down, too, saying that he knew of no change . . . and he made the policy. Some days before, Sumner Welles, former undersecretary of state, now a radio commentator, made observations similar to those of Callender. Recently Harold Ickes, another former civil servant turned columnist, declared that the careful newspaper reader could get more authoritative information than the secretary of state possessed, because the secretarys information was screened by a reactionary and in- efficient aide. Just how much influence the individual writer or commentator wields is a question. In most cases, it takes an almost unanimous repetition of an idea to produce action. And then its effect on the government is usually indirect. It results from the pressure of public opinion, which in many cases is created by press and radio, when the many men of many minds and political faiths can agree on some one subject. When the majority agree it usually means that they are as nearly right as mortals can be in these confusing days. In the case of Walter Lippmann, I believe that he is voicing what many of us who have followed recently international gatherings and who have been in Europe since the war, agree upon: namely, that the statesmen of the major European powers have fallen into the old pattern . . . basing their diplo. macy on the thesis that war if more or' less inevitable, instead of the new pattern where the objective is to prevent war rath' er than prepare for it. Another theme of Lippmanna which is not held by him alone, to which this writer certainly agrees, is that the problem of the proper handling of Germany is the most important foreign problem, and the one upon which all the other problems depend. |