140
WEST SHORE.
FUIUHIO CVMV IATURDAY.
WEST SHORE PUBLISHING COMPANY, PUBLISHER,
L. 8AMUIL, Canaral Managar,
PORTLAND, OR., AND 8POKANE FALLS. WASH.
Inter. In In. Pott Offlc In Portland. Oregon.or Innmluim lrm
mmd clou rata.
iUiSCRIMIOM ATItrlotl In Advanoa.
o..v..r, I "'j0",""' ..';!
II, Month "5 I Uafto Capiat,
Th. WilT Show, offert the Best Medium for Advertlserf of any
publication on tne raomo vunai.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1H, 1HOO.
Read almut Portland's great exposition.
We want something more than "whereas" and "resolved," on the
world's lair queetlon.
Heed not only knocked all precedents ol the Speaker's desk to flinders,
but he splintered the desk Itself.
II any one wants to king It a little while the king ol Portugal would
probably turn bis Job over to him at a moderate price.
Much space Is devoted this week to Portland's great exposition. Next
week the Spokane Falls exposition will be illustrated and described, after
which Wist Snout will again have its usnal diversity ol contents.
With but lew exceptions the press ol Oregon lias taken np the question
of a proper representation of the state at Chicago, in a spirit ol Intelligent
enterprise. If something creditable be not done It will not be the fault of
the press.
Khali the future citiien be able to ak English, Is the question at issue
In Wisconsin. The democrats, In their eagerness to secure the foreign vote
to help them beat the republicans, have endonied the proposition that it Is
ol no concern to the slate whether its cltliens shall do so or not. There are
too many loyal, honest Americans. In the democratic party who will not
supiort such a principle to permit It to succeed.
Probably no clly in the United States has such a lot ol " home-made "
sidewalks as Portlsnd. They are the crudest, roughest, homeliest affairs
ever put under the loot of man to try his sole. Whether It is because the
sidewalk commlsslonej is crosseyed, or because he never pays any attention
whatever to the details ol hli business, or both, Is unknown ; but it is a lact
that the new walks put down this year are a disgrace to a Bussian village.
The boards vary In length all the way from one to six Inches, and are as
uneven on the top as a worm fence. Some are thicker than others, making
a iurlsca like a corduroy road. Different grades are maintained, so that
the luckless pedestrian either stubs his toe against the higher and leaps for
ward like a kangaroo, or steps down with a jar that makes him wonder
where the earthquake Is. It certainly can not be more expensive, or take
much more time, to lay a good, smooth sidewalk, with the ends of the
boards evenly matched on both sides, than to put down one of these side
walk poems In blank verse. The manner of selecting the property to be con
taminated by association with one ol these iMnieotrian nightmares might 1
Improved upon. There are walks, especially In Iront ol vacant proerty,
where It Is only at the riek ef breaking his limits that one can venture after
dark, where broken and missing boards make rwdestrlaniam even by day
light a work of caution. Neglecting three, the authorities have frequently,
torn up walks that were, to say the least, far (rem being dilapidated, and
laid down the crude affair that passes for an olllclal walk, when, had the
owner known of what was to have been done he would have put down a
good walk himself.
I'pon tills important matter of good sidewalks a volume could be
written. With the moist climate of this region our people should endeavor
to lay down stone or artificial atone walks. They are the best In appear
ance, and are the most economical in the end. The frequent rains of winter
u Aa rtf a wmden walk, which are still further warped
rot and swell the boards of a .
out of Potion by the long se so u,,
tificial etone is not affec '"""known he re! Itis.sham
to see tne mi ag much de the
front of his -T M in f oS
Wen the time shall come that our residences are not only surrounded with
in ! awn Tnd beautiful flower,, but are bordered w.th neat stone e.de
wX with only, low stone wall or short hedge between the grounds and
SftCtto residence portion will cease to look like an overgrown village.
The last intrenchment of mossbackism seems to be a few of the country
papers whose managers, either because they have not the abdity to com
Ed Strength and volume of the progressive movement, or are den,
Logically catering to the ultra-conservatives and anti-progress.ontsts with
he nope of gaining their approval and support, foolish y seek to oppose the
movement for a proper representation of the state at he Co umbtan expo
.m n They will learn by dear experience that the element honored wrth
their sycophantic eulogies approves but little and supports nothing .and a
fewyesrs hence they will be seen desperately clutching at toe tad of the pro
cession as it disappears around the bend and leaves them hopelessly strand
ed in the barren desert of mossbackism.
It Is gratifying to see such representative bodies as the State Horticul
tural Society and the Portland Chamber of Commerce pass resolutions in
favor of a legislative appropriation of (250,000, because it shows that the
live members of those bodies have a just appreciation of what the true
interests of Oregon demand; but resolutions are not deeds, and actton is
what is wanted. This is not a Portland matter, and it is wise that the
Portland chamber do not take the Initiative, lest their conduct be miscon
strued and the object aimed at be defeated. The whole state is interested.
It concerns one section as much as another, and can only properly be han
dled by an organization in which each county In the state is represented.
The proper body to initiate the movement is the Oregon Board of Commerce,
for the reason that it is the most representative of the whole state of all the
organizations within its limits.
While it is true that the Oregon Board of Commerce should assume the
initiative, it it not wise that it should undertake to handle the question
iiself. There are too many sections unrepresented in that body to render
such action advisable. Nothing but a convention that shall be composed
of delegates from every county can take hold of this matter with a certainty
of securing complete public confidence in its ability and representative char
acter, without which perfect success is impossible. Such a convention can
be called by the officers of the Board of Commerce, the president of which
fully appreciates the importance of practical action. ThiB convention can
organize an association, in which every county shall be represented, that
shall have charge of the state's Interests at Chicago. The two worthy com
missioners, as has been stated in theee columns, are not necessarily charged
with the duty ot attending to the state exhibit. In fact, they are not
charged with it at all, and will not be unless the legislature make an appro
priation subject to their disbursal. It was to arouse the public and the gen
tlemen themselves from the mistaken idea that they were, and to change
the drift of events that was tending In the direction of so making them, that
Wkht Shori sounded the note of alarm, happily with so gratifying an effect.
Politics must be rigidly excluded from this matter from first to last.
We want no executive appointees, no men elected by the legislature nor
any set ol men whose names have been inserted in an appropriation bill by
any sort ol slate-making hocus pocus. Universal confidence can only be
secured by placing the matter in the hinds of a completely non political
body composed of representative citizens from every county in the state. It
would seem to one In the least acquainted with the details of legislation
and the nature of the body to assemble at Salem next January, that the
only hoi of securing an adequate appropriation lies In the ability to pre
sent to the legislature a well digested scheme for its useful expenditure.
Two important questions will be asked: "What are you going to do
with so much money?" and " Who shall be entrusted with Its disburse
ment? " These must be answered satisfactorily or there will be no appro
priation large enough to accomplish anything with, and possibly none at
all. The necessity of organizing an Exhibit Association in the manner sev
eral times pointed out in these columns stems too evident to require discus
sion. Such an organization of representative men can go belore the legis
lature with a comprehensible outline of what they expect to do, with some
hope of securing the money necessary to carry out their plans. Otherwise,
o far as the legislature is concerned, the whole movement will be a dismal
failure, resulting, at best, In the appropriation of a smalt sum to be ex
pended by the commissioners or some other non-representative appointee.