The Mercedes News (Mercedes, Tex.), Vol. 5, No. 84, Ed. 1 Tuesday, September 11, 1928 Page: 4 of 8
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Page 4
THE MERCEDES NEWS. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1928
©he ptercehe® JflettJS
SEMI-WEEKLY
Published each Tuesday and Friday morning at Mer-
cedes, Texas, in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, by the
United Printing Company, Inc.
SUBSCRIPTION: $2.00 per year.
ADVERTISING RATES: Classified, full information
on classified page. Display rates upon request.
TELEPHONE 431-2-3 for news, advertising or job
printing. Entered as second class mail matter at the
postoffice at Mercedes, Hidalgo County, Texas.
PORT QUESTION SETTLED.
While the Valley continues to discuss the
port question from various angles, and the
Isabel port promoters continue to talk about a
two-county navigation district in which Hidalgo
County is to be included and required to pay
a big share of the cost, and in which the Har-
lingen section is to be included and required to
pay a share of the cost in addition to paying
for their own port, and other day-dreams of
these promoters, the people of the Harlingen
district are going right ahead in a business-like
manner toward the actual construction of a real
port for the Valley. And without asking Hidal-
go County, or even the remainder of Cameron
County outside of the Harlingen district to pay
for it.
We greatly admire the common sense busi-
ness methods of these progressive people of
Harlingen. They are not only building a splen-
did community, and getting their port, but are
doing this in a manner that is rapidly winning
the confidence and support of all the people
of the Valley. They are showing qualities of
real leadership in the Valley.
It was common sense and good business on
their part to employ an engineer of such out-
standing ability and prestige as General Lan-
sing H. Beach, former Chief of Army Engin-
eers, to advise them. BJe was asked to make
an estimate on the cost of a 16-foot channel
from Harlingen to the Gulf, by two routes, one
directly across Padre Island, and the other by
way of Point Isabel, and did so, with a com-
parison of the two routes, all in favor of the
northern route directly across the Island to the
Gulf. No matter what interested parties may
say, that finding of General Beach settles the
matter so far as the people of the Valley are
concerned. It is useless to argue for the Point
Isabel route in the face of that report.
In submitting his estimate of the cost of a
16-foot channel by each of these two routes,
General Beach is quoted as stating: “However,
I would not be doing my duty if I did not tell
you that in my opinion this channel is of too
ambitious a chraacter for your Valley at this
time.” That statement does great credit to
General Beach, but was to be expected of a man
of his standing that he would state the facts as
he found them, even if these facts were dis-
appointing. His finding that tonnage in the
Valley does not justify a 16-foot channel port
in the Valley at this time was not a surprise,
as it merely confirms the Army Engineers. No
matter what interested parties may say, that
finding of General Beach settles the matter of
a 16-foot channel at the present time, so far as
the people of the Valley are concerned.
It appears to have settled the matter, so far
as the people of the Harlingen district are con-
cerned. The Harlingen Star reports that at a
great mass meeting of more than 1,000 tax-
payers of their district it was voted with great
unanimity and enthusiasm to construct this
nine foot channel immediately.
This marks the real ending of the port con-
troversy. There may be a great deal more
talk about location of the port, but it will be
academic. Since the people of the Harlingen
district have decided to follow the advise of
General Beach and construct the port, and have
the cash in hand to do so, and have voted to
proceed with the work, we may now congratu-
late them and the people of the Valley upon
actually securing a port for the Valley.
GLASS HOUSES.
Long ago it was agreed to be good policy
for, those who live in glass houses not to throw
rocks at their neighbors’ houses. The Pot did
not have much support in its criticism of the
Kettle for being black. Nor did the one mem-
ber of the jury who complained of the other
eleven as being obstinate and contrary gain a
great deal of sympathy.
These reflections apply to the complaints
from supporters in the Brownsville section of
the plan to place the whole Valley in a naviga-
tion district and thereby force the Valley to
pay for the port at Point Isabel, to the effect
that those who do not favor this plan are
“Selfish.” A recent editorial in the Browns-
ville Herald entitled “The Attack on the Valley
Port” refers to the statements and arguments
of those who do not approve of the two-county
district plan as “The carpings of selfish inter-
ests,” and says that “No project of real value
to the Valley as a whole has ever failed to
draw that barrage of criticism, emanating from
selfish interests posing as friends of the Val-
ley.”
This is not the language of conciliation, nor
is it convincing argument in favor of the two-
county navigation district plan. The Herald is
a splendid paper, one of the best of its class,
with a long record of fine service in the prog-
ress of the Valley, and we are sorry it is
“peeved” at the people of Hidalgo County. We
are all in perfect good humor at this end of the
Valley, and hope the Herald and all the sup-
porters of the two-county district will soon re-
cover their equanimity.
We think no one will deny that the coming
of the Southern Pacific was a “project of real
value to the Valley as a whole.” We remember
that this project drew a “barrage of criticism”
and met strong opposition in certain quarters
in Brownsville, but in the heat of that con-
troversy none of us were unkind enough to say
this was “emanating from selfish interests pos-
ing as friends of the Valley.”
We could ask the Herald to specify what
“projects of real value to the Valley as a
whole” have originated in Brownsville, and
think it would have difficulty in naming any
long list of such projects. It is true that a
number of projects have come from that sec-
tion to which all the Valley has been asked to
contribute on the argument that same were
“Valley-wide,” but some of these have been
open to question as to whether they were of
“real value to the Valley as a whole.” Collec-
tors and promoters push this Valley-wide idea
to the limit, and there is never any lack of pro-
posals for our people to subscribe or contribute.
On the whole, we think our people of Hidalgo
County have been very liberal in this respect,
and ought not to be called “selfish.”
They have been leaders in all charitable
work, and aided in all movements of public in-
terest or welfare, such as the Boy Scouts, Y.
W. C. A., Parent-Teacher Association, Schools,
Red Cross, and Religious endeavors. Our peo-
ple are not selfish, and when the Herald is in
a better humor it will agree they are not.
It does seem difficult to get the Herald and
those promoting the two-county district to
understand the position of our people on their
proposal for a port at Isabel. The editorial of
the Herald mentioned above is headed, “The
Attack on the Valley Port,” meaning, of course,
the port at Isabel. We have never heard of
any attack on a port at Point Isabel. The Mer-
cedes News has never made any such attack,
and if any one in Hidalgo County has done so it
does not know thereof. The only attack we
know of is confined strictly t» opposition to
the two-county district proposal. Time and
again it has been stated that if the people at
Brownsville and Point Isabel wish to build a
port at Isabel, and will go ahead and build it
without asking the people of Hidalgo County
to pay for it, they will have our full support.
COTTON.
Government figures based on the last cotton
report indicate a yield of 5,100,000 bales this
year compared" with 4,352,000 bales ginned last
year. The same report indicates a yield for
South Texas of 660,000 bales as against 519,-
000 bales ginned last year. Taking the state
as a whole only the northwest section shows an
indicated loss over the 1927 figures.
With the price holding fairly steady the
state, and particularly our own section, can
look forward to a considerably larger crop re-
turn than was enjoyed last year. Indications
are that the Valley will have ginned, by the
close of the season approximately 90,000 bales.
Some estimates have placed it as high as 110,-
000 bales, but the general opinion of ginners
is that this is too high. We have what we
can fairly term an average crop, considering
the fact that fewer and fewer acres of our
high priced land is being planted to cotton.
The Mercedes-Weslaco territory seems to
have been the hardest hit of all of the Valley
communities and unless the second crop turns
out to be larger than is anticipated we can
write the cotton year off as a loss. Some Val-
ley communities, however, have had an excel-
lent year and the growers are encouraged. On
the whole, however, cotton cannot be said to
have brought any considerable addition to Val-
ley wealth, and in comparison with other com-
modities is not and probably never will be a
profitable crop.
CAMPAIGN SONGS.
Everyone knows the “Sidewalks of New
York” is the campaign song of Governor Smith.
Mr. Hoover and the republicans did not have
a song, until recently repulican leaders an-
nounced that “Hail, Hail, the Gang’s All Here”
would be their official campaign song this year.
The Democratic National Committee at once
published a statement recalling that this song
was from the “Pirates of Penzance,” and gave
the real words of the song, as follows:.
“Hail, hail, the gang’s all here,
Truce to navigation,
Take another station;
Let’s vary piracee
With a little burglaree.”
If that song is really used by the republicans
the people may wonder what “gang” is meant ?
Will “Hail, hail, the gang’s all here” mean “The
Ohio Gang,” or the notorious “Vare Gang,” or
“Harry Daugherty’s Gang,” or the “Sinclair-
Doheny-Fall Oil Gang,” or “Elder Hayes Gang,”
or all these “Gangs” together? It does seem
that republicans have selected a most suitable
and appropriate campaign song, and should be
congratulated on their frankness.
An educated mind is said to be distinguished by the
ability to doubt. “Education may not end in doubt, but
it ends when a man stops doubting,” says Everett D.
Martin in The Meaning of a Liberal Education.
If it weren’t for women some men would never enjoy
a sense of superiority, and other men would never suf-
fer from a sense of inferiority.
,\i
Working Man In U. S. As
Important As Boss Or
Capital, Says Secy. Davis
By JAMES J. DAVIS
U. S. Secretary of Labor
Labor Day has come to be an institution in this coun-
try which was a pioneer in recognizing the dignity and
importance of labor’s contribution to progress; and,
on each Labor Day the significance of our national re-
spect for labor and its accomplishments deepens.
The working man in America, as a citizen is just
as important as his employer. In industry he is as
indispensable as capital. These simple facts have be-
come part of our national understanding. It accounts
for the fact that employer and employe get on so well
together. Like partners each respects the position
and functions of the other. It has taken us some time
to reach this sensible position, and yet in the light of
long ages of misunderstanding in the past, our progress
toward industrial harmony and team work has been
rapid indeed.
Our welfare as a nation is largely an outgrowth of
this accord between the employers and employes. This
is widely and thoroughly understood. Because of this
the present good feeling in industry has become fixed
fundamentally in our principles of business. Disturb-
ance of the present harmonious relations would be
trifling with our prosperity, and no one thinks any
longer of attempting anything so foolish and so costly.
This is the state of affairs that labor is able to cele-
brate on the Labor Day of the present time. The
whole country is able to. celebrate this condition be-
cause it is of such enormous consequence and benefit
to us all.
America is setting before the world an example of
a country unparalleled in history for the volume of
production, for the excellence of its product and for
the reward which goes to those who produce. Never
in history has wealth been created on any such scale.
Never before in history has anything approached a
distribution of this wealth as fair and' wide as that
which obtains among ourselves. Never before in his-
tory has the worker been paid such a liberal wage or
enjoyed such a standard of living and so many of the
good things of life.
These are only more of the matters we have reason
to celebrate on Labor Day. And again it is not only the
worker who has reason for rejoicing, but the entire
country may so rejoice. For the workers of the land
are by far the greatest customers in our markets and
so are in large measure the creators of national busi-
ness, as well as the creators of our manufactured
wealth.
The wise employers recognize the wisdom of the
liberal wage, and as a whole they recognize that any
curtailment of the purchasing power of the wage
earner w'ould tend to reduce the volume of business
and the measure of the country’s prosperity.
And while American productive efficiency has be-
come the marvel of the industrial world, we have cer-
tain difficulties to overcome. We must watch with
care and caution the steady increase in our use of
labor saving machinery. This wider use of automatic
machines is an inevitable step in the evolution of in-
dustry. No sensible man would think of impeding its
spread. Anything that spares the human being his
heavier burdens and more dangerous toil is in the long
run a benefit to humanity. Anything that speeds the
production of wealth increases the sum of human hap-
piness and well being. But the introduction of each
new advance in machine power likewise creates a
temporary problem of human adjustment. Each new
machine that does the Work of many men temporarily
relieves those men of their jobs.
We must learn to take care of those men and keep
them usefully employed until they have found new,
permanent occupations. This always happens in time.
But for the sake of its continued welfare the country
must keep its entire population profitably employed
all the time. Otherwise the nation’s market is robbed
of many active purchasers and our general welfare is
affected accordingly. Our great industrialists should
seek to create new industries on the same scale that
they create new producing machinery in the old ones.
They should do this for the simplest business reasons,
that of keeping everybody fully employed and at full
purchasing power in the national market.
Farm Relief Is the Chief
Problem Before Congress
By KENNETH CLARK
Washington, D. C. (INS)—Regardless of who wins in
November, farm relief will be the chief problem con-
fronting Congress this winter.
That much is assured as result of the stand taken
both by Herbert Hoover and Gov. A1 Smith on the
agricultural question.
Neither Smith nor Hoover will take office until
next March 4, but both have promised to tackle the
vexatious farm problem immediately after the election.
It is hoped thereby to have a definite farm aid relief
plan ready for presentation to the new Congress, likely
to be called into extra session.
The idea of summoning a conference of experts to
diagnose and prescribe a legislative remedy for farm
ills Was first advanced by Gov. Smith. Later, Hoover
announced he would ask counsel from farm leaders, in-
cluding such men, for instance, as ex-Gov. Frank O.
Lowden of Illinois. Smith had earlier mentioned Low-
den as among those from whom he would seek advice.
Some of the more militant farm leaders have de-
clared they would re-introduce the vetoed McNary-
Haugen bill with the highly controversial equalization
fee. That would be the signal to touch off the con-
gressional fireworks, and possibly would cause sup-
porters either of Smith or Hoover to bring forth bills
approved by their respective candidates.
Such a situation might concievably result in a farm
aid bill being passed before the winter session dies in
March.
A disparity of opinion exists among farm leaders as
to just how far Hoover and Smith would go in a legis-
lative way to solve the agrarian surplus problem, ad-
mittedly the crux of the question. The McNary-
Haugen bill sought to solve it by the equalization fee
to be paid by the farmers themselves. This embraces
the corollary question of systematic cooperative mar-
keting.
Hoover adopted the Republicans’ platform pledge to
create a Federal farm board “to assist generally in
solution of farm problems but especially to build up
with federal finance, farmer-owned and farmer-con-
trolled stabilization corporations which will protect the
farmer from the depressions and demoralization of sea-
sonal gluts and periodical surpluses.”
Smith, likewise taking his cue from the party plat-
form, declared for “the development of cooperative
marketing and an earnest endeavor to solve the prob-
lem of the distribution of the cost of dealing with crop
surpluses over the marketed unit of the crop those
producers are benefited by such assistance.” Some
farmer chiefs professed to see in this an indirect ap-
proval at least, of the equalization fee principle.
Farm leaders and organizations have thus far divided
almost equally as between the two candidates. There
have been defections from both parties. Some of the
congressmen wfho were most active in the McNary-
Haugen fight are campaigning for Hoover, although
he opposed the bill, while some of the prominent farm
organization leaders have gone over to Smith.
Advocates of a big Navy have evolved plans to jam
through the cruiser building bill before the Senate
takes up ratification of tbe Briand-Kellogg treaty re-
nouncing war.
The bill calls for immediate construction of 15 cruis-
ers of 10,000 tons each, and an experimental aircraft
carrier. It has passed the House but was caught in
the legislative jam in the Senate in the last session.
The measure was advocated by President Coolidge as
a compromise for the Navy’s program for an authoriza-
tion of 71 new warships to bring up America’s strength
to the 5-5-3 ratio of the Washington conference.
Naval leaders have appealed to President Coolidge
to recommend the 71-ship program in his final message
to Congress in December. He has talked over the
question at Brule, Wis., with Admiral Charles F.
Hughes, chief of naval operations. The Navy thinks
the bigger program would accomplish two purposes:
first, give America a bargaining point with other sea
powers at any future disarmament conference; and
second, place America in a position to counteract any
danger of a naval building race if naval limitation
agreements fail.
Is that all you paid for this . . . ?
Where did you find these . . . ?
Why, it costs me nearly twice that
much!
Do tell me where you get them for that!
How do you ever manage so well on so
little? i, •
But, aren’t they awfully expensive?
I wish I could do it.
READ THE ADVERTISE-
MENTS
Know what you want before you go to buy.
Get the most for your money by knowing
what manufacturers and merchants are of-
fering.
Advertisements will keep you abreast of the
times. They will enable you to spend the
family income wisely. They will help you to
live better at less cost.
Then—when remarks similar to those above
are made to you, pass on this good advice, for
all who want the best at the least cost—
READ ADVERTISEMENTS.
BON VOYAGE
benefits of
Cooperative
Marketing,
Cooperative marketing, like most undertakings
in which there is unity of aim under competent
leadership, has proven itself to be the growers’
salvation. A few of the advantages derived from
it are:
1. Prevents shipments to overstocked mar-
kets where prices would be low.
2. Concentrated efforts to procure better
freight and refrigeration facilities.
3. Keeps farmers in closer touch with pro-
duce for which there is a demand.
4. Furnishes expert information on best
methods of growing each product.
5. Creates demand for local product by es-
tablishing trade name.
6. Enhances credit standing of association
members.
7. Cheaper seed.
These are factors which will turn failure into
success and loss into profit. Join the Rio Grande
Valley Vegetable Growers Exchange now and
watch your profits mount.
H. B. SEAY S. H. COLLIER JOHN C. JONES
President Active Vice-President Vice-President
JACK TROLINGER O. W. DUBE
Cashier Assistant Cashier
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The Mercedes News (Mercedes, Tex.), Vol. 5, No. 84, Ed. 1 Tuesday, September 11, 1928, newspaper, September 11, 1928; Mercedes, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth651674/m1/4/?q=%22~1%22~1: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Dr. Hector P. Garcia Memorial Library.