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About St. Helens mist. (St. Helens, Or.) 1913-1933 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 11, 1914)
ST. HELENS MIST imNDlOD JHHI iNMiiml Uvery I' inlay Hy T II K . M I H T I' U II li I Hil I $ t O .M y y M. K. Mlllitr, lldllor " KnKirt'il on mtcoiid cIiihm niutUir, January lOtTiTlttfi lit tlm l't Olllce a tBultit llul-wi. Orison, un-lnr Hie Act of Murcli 3rd, 1 87 1 " " BUUHUUI'TION KATKiJ " ()nti Yoar 1 50 Six Muii(li 7t AilvoitlHlng rnten made known on application l.oKiil notice 26 contit pr lino. " rti k cmTTTnt ' V 1 1 '"FT C I A I. T' A l K IT BE FAIR I low many people are there in Columbia County who favor throwing away $55,(MK) (,f llio County funds, raised hy taxation of the properly in the County, and paid hy many people who were nof and are not in a position to pay it? How many tax payers are there in Colunihia County who would deliberately spend $53, (KM) of the tax payer's money on a road that could not possibly lie used six months out (f the year, and the other six months only at a great inconvenience and cost? How many people are there in Colum bia County, who travel the roads of the coun ty, would travel a road thrown together with out any finish upon it, which would have ruts, chuck holes, and other obstructions the year round with mud hub deep in the winter time, when they cottjd travel on another road paral lel with the mud road and only a few hundred feet distant, with macadam finish, good bridg es and smooth surface? That is the situation in Columbia County at the present time. The State Highway I'.ngi neer has surveyed a road down tbe west side of the track from Scappoose to Tide Creek. A greater portion of this road, if constructed, would have to he entirely new road. That portion of the road from the railroad crossing just south of Warren to the underground cros sing at Mcliride Canyon between Columbia City and Deer Island is the road in contro versy in this County at the present time and which has caused so much ill feeling among the people and been the innocent cause of many charges of dishonesty and malfeasance in ollice. It has been the cause of charges and countercharges of inefficiency, grafting, rob bery, trickery, and every other rotten charge imaginable. Whether or not these charges are true remains to he seen, hut for the pur pose of showing the impracticability of build ing a new road where there is already one built, this article is addressed to the sound judgment and good sense of the people of Col umbia County. The plat shown on the first page of this issue of the Mist shows in detail the situation over which the recall is presumed to have been invoked against the County Court. This plat shows that the State Highway Engineer, Major llowlby, after having been invited by the County Court of Colunihia County, to sur vey and assist in building a road through Col umbia County starting at the Multnomah County line and then following the old road as far as practicable so as to avoid dangerous curves and steep grades, through Scappoose, Warren, St. Helens, Deer Island, Coble, Rain ier, Mayger, Clatskanie and Marshland to the Clatsop County line, surveyed a road from the Multnomah County line down through the County to the Clatsop County line. Hut in this survey he entirely ignored the wishes of the people in certain portions of the county and proceeded to survey a road that would accommodate the Portland people, according to his judgment, instead of the people of Col umbia County. lie allowed himself to he governed entirely hy out side inlluenccs in surveying and locating some of the road through this County. I Ic over looked the fact that there was an old road for him to follow which could he utilized at small cost in cer tain portions of the County, so that the great er portion of the money, caused hy a huge debt which the people of this County have hurdened themselves with for the purpose of Retting a road throughout the County, could he used on the lower road where there wa urgent need for it. lie undertook to dictate to the people of this County just what they should do and where they should spend their money so that the Portland automobile own ers, of which he says there arc more than 6000 vitally interested in the building of a road through Columbia County, so they can speed from Portland to the sea in 5 hours. He for K't the fact that there arc people in Columbia County who arc also interested in the building f a road that can he used by. them as well as the outsiders. He has acted in an arbitrary manner all the way through, hut in order to crry his point to a certain extent he suggest ed to the County Court and recommended that the greater portion of the money to he spent for road building along the river, he used on that portion of the road from Tide Creek down to Clatsop County and that the tax money raised hy the Court could he used m repairing the old road, taking out the dangerous curves and knocking of, some of the humps. Now he is insisting that even the inouev whii-li lw ,..,., 1. 1 i . ' - "-""MnciHieu oc useu to re pair the (.1,1 road so that the new one could be uilt, be also used on that portion of the roa.l Irom l.de Creek down and NO WORK AT ;V; ;,'K ,)()XK IN ''"hk southern 1 OUllON OF THE COUNTY. Call i what you will, this is the real object of recall and the recall is the direct result of agi tation and patting on the back by the Po land interests with Major Bowlby at the head. 1 he recall petitions themselves do not s'ate anything. Kach and every allegation contain ed therein arc groundless and false, as j Mat ed by the County Court in a signed statement m this paper. Then when the leaders of the movement are pressed for a reason for the recall they come back that the County Court has failed to live up to an agreement to turn over to the State Highway Engineer, Major Bowlby, all the money in the County so that he can use it wherever he sees fit and the peo ple who are d reetly interested in the payment of this money and the location of the roads may stand back and watch their money go where it will do them no good, but will accom modate more than 6000 automobile owners of Portland. That is the reason assigned by the recallers, but it is not so stated in the recall petitions. It is a subterfuge in order to get all the money some place else than where it should be. A question to the fair minded people of the County living between Tide Creek and Clat sop County. When there were $2o0,000 bonds voted to build a road from Multnomah Coun ty to Clatsop County, with something like $1K),000 more to be raised by taxes that could l:c applied on the main road and some side roads leading into it, and for the purpose of building and repairing the necessary bridges, and that portion of the County where you live receives every cent of the bond money, $260,(X)0, and at least one half of the tax money, do you consider it selfish or extrava gant if that portion of the County from Tide Creek to Multnomah County gets the small share of $55,000 with which to repair its old road? Do you think that is an unfair division of the money? Do you think that the people of the Southern portion of the County have been fair with you and that they have been magnanimous and patriotic enough to look to the best interests of the whole County? If you do think so then you should vote against the recall movement. If you think that we are not entitled to any of the money at all, when we are paying more than 42 per cent of entire taxes of the County, ami that we should he compelled to use our old roads without even repairing them so that your roads can have the benefit of all the money, then vote for tlie rcVall. Then look at it the other way. Suppose the County Court should turn over to Major liowlby that $55,000 with which to build the new road from Colunihia City to Warren, which is what the recallers are demanding, ostensibly for the purpose of building this road, and he should go ahead and try to do something with it on that amount of money? How far do you suppose he would get with it? Do you suppose he could secure the right of way for the road for that money? Do you suppose he could build more than 7 miles of road, secure the rights of way1 through valu able orchards, barns, residences and other buildings, build two bridges and put that road in shape that it could be used even hy a lone horse without a rider? Would you recpiire the people of this end of the County to throw away what little money has been reserved for them, on a road of this kind ? Would you con sider that a man, he he Highway Engineer or County Judge or County Commissioner, who would in this manner throw away the money of the taxpayers, a safe man to trust with the affairs of the County? Answer these ques tions in a fair way, fair to yourself and fair to your neighbor and your neighbors neighbor and then say what is the real object of the re call. Answer these questions, look into the road affairs of the County as they really arc and then decide whether or not there are rob bers, grafters, thieves and liars handling our business or whether they are men who have the interests of the wdiole County at heart and arc doing the very best they can for the entire people. - THE CLATSKANIE MEETING This recall election and the causes leading up to it are the important and sole topics of conversation among the people of the County at this time. The statement and charges be ing made by various people against the pre sent officers are so inconsistent that it seems very appropriate at this time to give some of the facts that are indisputable. The Clatskan ie Chief has said that the violation of a promise made hy the County Court at the Clatskanie meeting, was the important issue of this election and that had the County Court lived up to its agreement there would be no recall etc. For the edification of the readers and to call attention of the Chief and the peo ple of that section of the County just what was said in the Chief we give some of that article, as follows; "The Clatskanie meeting, which in the light of subsequent events assumes an importance beyond what was thought at the time, was at tended by over 500 citizens of Columbia Coun ty, every section of the County being repre sented. Judge Harris stated at that meeting in so many words that the sum of $315,000 would be placed by the Court at the disposal of the State Commission for construction work on the Columbia Highway, and that the Commission was to be unhampered in its con trol of this sum, which was $55,000 less than the Court had agreed in its published budget to devote to this highway. However, at the time of the meeting the people accepted as perfectly proper and consistent with good faith, the statement of Judge Harris that upon reflection the Court found they could not spare this amount to the highway, but for the Mist or the Court to deny that such a promise was ever given, is preposterous, since there were too many present to admit of such a posi tion being taken." Since the Chief, along with many other per sons have made the statement that the viola tion of the pledge made at this meeting by the Court, is the paramount reason for demanding the recall of the officers, let us cite to the Chief and those other people wlio are mak ing those statements some things which happened there and which of themselves prove what was actually done at the meeting and what the complete understanding was. If the Chief or the people who are claiming this as the real cause for the recall or the re callers themselves are willing to base their light upon the County Court on the violation of a pledge made at that meeting, we are ready to take them at their word and will take it for granted that they are fair enough to accept their own statement and to abide by the real facts of that meeting as they occured. The Clatskanie meeting was held at Clats kanie on the 9th of June, as appears from a dodger now in our possession and which reads as follows; "Good roads meeting. The Col umbia County Good Roads Associatfon will meet at Clatskanie, Tuesday evening, June 9th Governor West and Major Bowlby are ex pected to be present besides prominent men from different parts of the County. .The Rainier Citizens will come on a special train. The meeting is of vital importance to every fax payer. If the State Highway Commission refuses to oversee the roads it will mean a loss of about $84,000 to the tax payers. When the bonds were voted the Highway Commission was placed in charge of the work. Come one, come all and discuss these important matters" That meeting was called by the citizens of the lower portion of the County in response to a statement that the Court was refusing to acceptThe survey of Major Bowlby on the west side of the track from Warren to Colum bia City, and Major Bowlby had threatened to withdraw from the County if the Court did not accept his survey. So the meeting was held and the County Court was there. Assistant State Engineer Griswold was there, but Major Bowlby and Governor West were conspicuo for their absence. Now what happened ar that meeting perhaps could best be told from a letter written by Mr. R. B. Magruder, on? of the big taxpayers of the Clatskanie communi ty and one of the men who has been most in terested in the good roads movement in Col umbia County. Mr. Magruder was at the Clatskanie meeting and in explaining it In a letter to Major Bowlby some time later he says ; , Clatskanie, Ore., July 21, 1914 Major Henry L. Bowlby, 300 Court House, Portland, Oregon. Dear Sir; It is quite evident that you were misinform ed regarding the County Courts intentions in the road matter Saturday, and were justifiable in your belief that it was based on a ground less report. It seems that the County Court had asked for bids on the piece of road on which it was agreed that the upper end of the County should have and pay for out of its portion of the regular fund. This does not effect the $260,000 bond money which was to apply on the Columbia Highway. As this proposed road leaves the Highway and shunts around through St. Helens, there will be a few miles of Highway not opened until more funds are available, but as the proposed shunt will be according to State Highway specifications and only one and one-half miles longer, and seems to meet the approval of the upper end of the County and the upper end of the County has this $55,000 to spend, while the lower end of the County might question the judgment in applying it to this road, yet they have a right to do so and at the mass meeting In Clatskanie it was so arranged. We all feel sure that it is the intention of the Court to secure the right of way over the entire Columbia Highway as located, to provide funds for opening up this piece through Iloulton as soon as the funds are available. I am sorry this rumor got started, and wish that there was a more perfect understanding, and familiarity of plans between the Columbia County Court and the Columbia Highway. Yours respectfully R. B. Magruder Thus it will be noticed that Mr. Magruder understood that the agreement was that there would be $55,000 to be used on this road from McBride Canyon to Warren. In face of this letter will the Clatskanie Chief still say that the Court has violated its agreement when it is doing only what Mr. Magruder says was the agreement, and no more? If that is not sufficient proof we would like to have the Chief go back over its files and look over the report of that meeting as publi shed by it. We have no means of knowing what that report was but would just like to have the Chief tell us what it said about the agreement at that meeting. Also it might look up the report of the meeting as given by the Rainier Review. We have no means of knowing what that report was but are wil ling to take it that the report was in accord ance with the facts as set forth by Mr. Magru der. Then on the 7th day of June, 1914, Mr. Griswold, the Assistant State Highway Engi neer, who was the representative of Major Bowlby and Governor West at the Clatskanie meeting, in an interview with the editor of the Mist and Mr. L. R. Rutherford in the office of the County Clerk at St. Helens made the following statement; "The work from Tide Creek to Multnomah County line will be pushed forward as rapidly as possible; that portion of the old road on the west side of the track from Tide Creek to McBride Canyon to be graded and finished and the old road from McBride Canyon to Columbia City improved. From Columbia City of St. Helens a new road will be graded on the river side of the track and from St. Hel ens to Warren the old road will be straight ened out. You might also say that the State Commission has decided to do some paving starting from Johnson Crossing and working this way as far as the funds will permit." It will therefore be seen that Mr. Griswold understood what was to be done on this road and he attended the Clatskanie meeting and was a party to the agreement. Mr. A. L. Clark, the man who is now trying to become a candidate for County Judge at the recall election, was also present at that famous meeting. After the agreement had been reached Mr. Clark made a speech in which he said that the arrangement to use $55,000 of the tax money on the Columbia City-Warren road was perfectly satisfactory so long as none of the bond money was used. So the statement made by the Mist two weeks ago that there was a misunderstanding about this recall, 'which statement was so tpu'ckly. taken up by the Chief, was probably correct after all. From the statement of the Chief two weeks ago as compared with the letter from Mr. Magruder and the statements made by Mr. Griswold and Mr. Clark, it is still more evident that there was a misunderstand ing. In the light of events, of the proof of the understanding at the Clatskanie meeting and the facts that the Court is doing exactly what was agreed upon at that meeting, the fact that the Chief says the agreement at that meeting is the paramount issue of the recall election, we shall expect to see the Chief and a whole lot more of the people down there, now get behind the Court and put to rout the men who are demanding a recall on false and frivolous misrepresentations. The war in Europe has cost perhaps mil lions of lives and the destruction of property that cannot be estimated. Murmurings of peace settlements are in the air and it is to be hoped that these murmurings will result in a permanent peace. A continuation of the war will only result in more lives sacrificed and more property de stroyed and the final result will be the same. On a smaller scale but nearer home, the Col umbia County war is drawing to a close, but a peaceful settlement before any more dam age is done will have a beneficial result, while if the uncalled for troubles are continued it will result in no good to any person or any locality and the effects will be felt for some time. Let us have peace. This is an opportune time for the United States to set a worthy example to the rest of the world by attending strictly to its own knitting. Marriage is like a piece' of machinery which "requires two people to run, it. If pork continues its upward climb the only thing left us will be the grunt. Some crowned heads are as empty as a barrel with the bung knocked out.
