0 E EGO NCI T T ENTERPRISE
- 1 - 1 - 1 ' .
THIRTY-8IXTH YEAR No. 40.
OREGON CITY ENTERPRISE, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1907.
ESTABLISHED 1868
PROPOSED NEW CHARTER FULL OF HOLES
Strong Play Made to Cover Up
Errors of Former Officials
PUNISHMENT FOR PRINTERS
Confession of Past Mismanagements-City
Has $50,000
Floating Indebtedness.
A New Charter Needed.
There can bo little duubt that
there Is great opMirtiinlty for a bet
terment of governmental conditions In
Oregon City, There Is no doubt but
that the present Charter can be great- j
ly Improved upon. Hut of what use'
would it be to adopt a new Charter!
contiiltilng greuter evils than the and perhaps not for any of it. Tho! ;
present one, or i-ven containing rr-j fact that they are trying to set things t "(Jp(,at Kung an(J Ue j,MMt(vl,t
rorn as glaring as at present? j right does not Indicate that they are ! ti.ar- mit Bln-t that like taking candy
At tho present time the city Is in tho wrong, but simply that they j fTom the baby!
three years behind In paying its bills, i see the need of a change. Hut as wo The editor called Mayor Caufield's
The city Is running Its business by! said before, It Is up to tho people to Ltu-ntlon to tho proposition, and he
the Issue of warrants, which draw six dot ermine whether they wish to klss'sald:
per cent Interest, and at the present j that $r0,ooo gtsidbyo and let It go at ,in't think It possible that we
time there are about $5i,oiio of these that or have an Investigation and see w fcvT j,avo a ngjorlty In Council
warrants afloat, or about three years who Is to blamo before they fix up ' who will abuse this privilege. . We are
of the revenues of the city represent- their finances. ' not ,lkey tf, loct a Councn a mttjor.
ed. With the city three years be- 8o much for tho financial condl jlty of whom are Incompetent or dls
hlnd In IU running expenses you nnt-Jtton of Oregon City, and now to the honest"
nrally wonder what's the trouble? It (new Charter promised: The city Is now three years be-
Is not for the Enterprise to say what Knifing the Publisher. hind on Its warrants for expenses of
Is the trouble, but on the eve of the"
voting on a new Charter Its editor j men who are dishonest can be beaded
feels called upon to point out the .off from mulcting the city on occa
fact that there 18 trouble. Jslon. Hut as a means of protecting
The Way Bills Pile Up. I the Individuals personally it haa been
Whence this Indebtedness? asks I provided that before any extensive
many a man. What kind of business I street, sidewalk or sewer Improve-1 Council an agency for secrecy what
management Is it wblcl periulia th'nents can be made publication la one Iran you expect In the next decade?
cltya finance lo get Into such ajr more newspapers must be had. In) Don't Imagine that It Is necessary
shape and all the time the public kept i this way tho public at largo Is made .that you have a majority In Council
lntho dark as to conditions and out- aware of what Is going on and If j who are dishonest or Incompetent In
come? And not a few are wondering j some certain Individual happened to order that harm may be done. It Is
why the facts have not been proclaim- j bo away from home and did not re-1 not the belief of the editor that you
ed from the housetop rather than thoicelvo his personal notice friends of have had at any time a majority In
present plan of covering up pact bin were certain to sen tho publics-! Council who have been Incompetent
shortcomings of one nature and ; Hon and were thus enabled to bring, or dishonest; but you can see what
another by the subterfuge of a new j to bis notice the change and the cost j has been done If you will look.
Charter which shall provide for the likely to fall on him. And this meth- The plea that tho "papers may form
glossing over of past errors In the : od has been approved by cities from j a combination" Is very lame. So may
taking up of these floating bills and
substituting a fixed debt? i
The New Charter Bad.
Hut the new Charter starts out bad
ly, lt starts out with an effort to
cover up at least with an oppor-
tunlty to cover up If Council so do past had reduced tho charges for such have decided to discipline, and that
sires. In the past, with a necessity j publication In the papers In this city Is the newspaper men. And why? Be
to publish certain things we see the j to less than the cost of composition, 'cause tho papers, who had been duped
public fooled Into tho anticipation of j When the present management took! Into printing at a loss for years de
their revenues for three years ahead. ! charge of tho Enterprise it found It I elded that the foolishness of the past
yet this new Charter would make It I had a contract to fill out which en-: should cease and that for the future
possible to carry on all sorts o flm- tailed a loss on the paper during auch there should be a profit or no work,
pmvements without even making their Period of publication. Not wishing! And at that the rate Is but 35 per
acts public In tho newspapers. At to sustain continued loss tho publish-; cent of what rules in a majority of
least Council could so fix things that
It may "hide Its light under a bushel"
If It wishes, and thu public shall not
be made the wiser unless the papers
of tho city aoe fit to print tho news
free grails, 1
In their plea, for the passage of the
Charter, the committee of four con
cedes that the floating debt of the
city tho debt made by anticipating
the city's revenues has grown to
$50,000. Think , of Jtl - The city has
gone on buying more than It could
pay for from year to year and much
of the tlmo contrary to law until
now Its anticipation of revenues In
$50,000, or throe years' revenues. But
little Is said of thla matter as an ex
cuse for the adoption of a new Char
ter, however, though this Is the prime
cause for the new Charter. 'What
do you think of tho 'management of
the city In the past which permits of
such things? . , 'r,1', ' , '.
Not that the preaent city govern
ment Is responsible for this state of
affairs, for It Is not' responsible for
all of It and It may not be, responsi
ble for any of It; It would take a care
ful revision of the city's finances for
years back to determine who are
really responsible.1 , And we are not
certain that an expenditure for an
expert accountant might not . be a
wUte ono. But the city's finances are
In that condition; and. yo'ur ' present
city officials see Jt and wish ,to In
some way make an,, improvement In
affairs. In this thV' are to be com
mended, and Very naturally' heyj pre
fer to bring about th'jB, change with;
out a scandal,,, but U, .remains for t,he
people to say whether they will foot
this shortage In JUje finance .of, the
city at thl:t time without more defi
nite Information as to how It came
about, or whether they will first have
the accounting and then determine
un the remedy.
. u,..-. ...., ..nil. s.Hieine.H rigimy
-the present city government Is' not .
. - .. . i. I . ....... lt.
responsible for all of this trouble,
mere is no known method by which -
'one end of the land to the other, and
In many stateg tho rights of the poo-
plo are safeguarded by a State lswjthe manufacturers, the bankers, the
making such publication necessary, j worklngmen; w here Is the provision
Hut strife between the editors of ,
the two Oregon City papers In the j
of Oregon City agreed to bury the j
hatchet and charge a reasonable rate
for such services.
, As a result the rate for such publi
cation was ralaed to 35 cents an Inch
each Insertion. At that the City
Fathers raised a mournful howl and
at once Inserted a clause In the new
Charter permitting them to post cer
tain things on the City Hall door and
call that publication, using the papers
If they could beat thein down to a
low price perhaps a losing price, -Let
us compare tho rate hero with
that In other States: In Ohio all such
publications must be printed In two
papers, of opposite politics, and the
rate Is $1.33 1-3 for first and CC 2-3
cents for second Insertion. This
makes a net rate for each of two pub
lications of $1 per Inch. In Pennsyl
vania, Michigan, and other States we
could name the rate Is as high or
higher, while In a half dozen others
it la about C5 per cent of that figure.
In Oregon City the rate, when put to
a profitable basis, Is 35 cents,' or 35
per cent of what It Is In the majority
of the Stat In the Union. Still, the
City Fathers, having anticipated the
revenues of the city for three years,
and having piled up a floating debt of
$50,000, must begin Its retrenchment
by compelling the newspapers to
print at a loss or else It will post Its I
notices on a dor that no one sees
once a month. . ,
. WHAT DO YOU THINK OPTMAT
AS A MOVE FOR RETRENCHMENT?
, ! ,Not Fair With! thel Public.' . ;
But, that Is only half the tale
t In all cases whore , an Individual
corporation or firm la compelled to
pay for the publication In question IT
MUST, BE PRINTED IN A NEWS
PAPER and tho flrnii Individual, or
corporation nuy not resort to the bul
letin board. Why? Do tho City
Fathers wImIj to tell us they have no
I Interest In Having other from the
"robbery of tho press"? Do tho City
Fathers wish tho public lo under
stand that they are simply safeguard
ing the rity'n Interests In go far as
they have to pay tho bills, but that
j when t comes to a queston of the
I other fellow's ox being gored they are
not seared nt the night of blood?
I Further, when tho city la seeking
j for bids, or wlahea publicity for the
ptirtiorio of getting tho widest clrcula-
tlon possible for It news, it provides
for tho publication in a newspaper.
..... ...... .
Hut when It wishes an ordinance to
go Into effect, or when It wishes to
Improve a street, build a sewer or
have a sidewalk repaired, and It
might desire to save objections and a
dispute, It can post on Its little bill
board, away back where nut one In a
thousand will see it, and Its all right.
Funny, Isn't It? Where tho city Is
j doing something that all are certain
to approve, It must publish In a news-
,,ap..r; where It Is doing something
1Ilt ht tlr ff.w hftr(, klckMI,
t fin pui, on jt
s little closet
the city, and with a floating Indebted
ness of $50,000. Is that from Incom
petency, or dishonesty, or both?
There's something wrong, that's gure,
and what haa happened In the past
mny happen again. Now, if you give
the lawyers. Is there any provision
as against them? So may the grocers.
to head them off? There Is only one
class of men whom these City Fathers
tho States In the Union
OH YOU NAUGHTY NEWSPAPER
MENI
And throughout the East the legis
lature makes lt compulsory, In the
Interest of the man of small means
who must pave and build sidewalks
and sewers that the j(gnt ot pubj(.
cation shall be turned on to the acta
of the City Fathers and the contrac
tors who work under them before
he can be made to take up the bur
den that Council sees fit to Impose.
And we believe any fair minded man
who will give this matter careful con
sideration will agree to the propo
sition. Two Bltea at the Cherry.
The second proposition, which Is
very bad In fact It Is pernicious
comes In the provision for street and
sewer Improvement. Read the pro
vision: Section 109. If, upon completion of
any Improvement of a street or con
struction of a sewer, It is found that
the ' sum .assessed therefor Is insuf
ficient to defray the cost thereof, and
the amount charged to any lot or part
thereof extract of land Is less than
the benefits accruing thereto, the,
Council must ascertain the deficit and
by ordinance . reassess the land so
benefited In excess1 of the original as;
sessment. When the assessment for
said deficit la so levied, the, recorder
must enter ' the same In the docket
of city liens, In the column reserved
for that purpose In the original entry,
WlthUho date thereof ami such deficit
shall thereafter be a Hen upon such
lot of part thereof or parcel of land,
In like manner, and with like effect a&
In case of, the sum originally assessed.
and shall also be payable and may be
collected In like manner and with
like effect an the original assessment.
Tho evil of UiIh provision doe not
show on the surface. Suppose you
have a Council In which there are a!""1 'r rap.my putting tne saloon where it
fi., mi.n ,!,. n-t-i. . i young Klnzcl. That It came because , belongs. That is, out of business al-
few men who w sh a certain linprwa- dlHrard for law That I, true Wer. Perhaps the church camp
ment because It will greatly benefit ,r a '"r ara ror ' ' V , ' In divided against itself In Oregon
them. They have tho power to "fix" ,,ut who regarded the law? Was . clty pernap K , not more
the appraisers and likewise In a 11 not the saloonkeeper? How do you than In any other city in Oregon. Per
, ' ,1. -v. , , separate the saloonkeeper from the sa- haps the saloonkeepers are laughing
measure the assessments. They know ,,,,, You cannot lo lt and the aw ! In their sleeves. They are laughing
that it will take $10,000 to make the I does not do It. Ion the wrong side of their faces In
Improvement. Thev know. too. that It is easy for minors to get liquor Corvallls. Eusrene. Albany McMlnn-
if they start out with a proposition
to spend $10,000 other property own
ers who do not want the Improvement
I at that fienre will oblect. and will I
, bavts powor (tufflc(,nt to make thr.r j city, and when they came out their ac-
Lf)(,.rton k Sn th . ., tntUm ",aln,y "ald that tlHy had hM
loojoction suck. 8o tney decide to, drlnk)nir f)n Surwi niht
play a amorjth game and give It out
that It will cost $5,000. At that figure
the Improvement Is voted through I
and work la begun. Then, when
t j,uv unq oeen speni ana me im-
provement Is not completed a re-as-jsessment
Is ordered to complete the
work.
According to the views advanced by, in favor of the enactment of the Ex-.pinch the saloonlst If he had the evl
Mayor Caufleld such A thing Is notclHe ordinance. idence necessary to a conviction? Fur-
likely to occur. But for answer we
must affirm that such things have oc-
currid, and few readers but can
bring to mind incidents In city gov-
ernment on a par with this example.
Rome one says, the man who wishes
can object at the increase the same,nelf, responsible for seeing that the! bind the corner and throw stones?
as at the first. But after he has spent . law la enforced any more than any Square Deal says It Is easy for ml
$100 and sees the work half done he'other class of citizens? Why is it notjnors to get liquor lnregon City. If
must go on even If he cannot afford i tne b"8ne8 of the editor of the En-1 he has the evidence why don't he push
it. or If ho would not have started In I terPri,WJ as much 88 tnat of any the case? If the editor waa on a Jury
In i v r m . churchman In the city to see that the 'and there was conclusive evidence of
naa be known the outcome. aw la enforced? Why should the I that fact he would vote to give th
You say again, he can appeal to the church men bo held particularly re- j saloonlst the full limit of the law. It
(P,t,in.,nj i,..t sponsible for seeing that the liquor Is easy to make a charge but not al-
(Continued on Page 7.) laws are enforced any more than the! ways so easy to convict. Ed.
IT WOULD GIVE MAYOR POWER OF CZAR.
PROPOSED EXCISE LAW HAS PRO
VISIONS THAT PROMISE EVIL
TO ALL.
All I ID TA AMP MAW'
(111 UI IV VII L, Ulitl!
If He Is a Saloonlst Temperance Ele
ment at His Mercy Unlimited
Opportunity for
Graft.
and con of an ordinance providing for
an Excise Board In Oregon City to
have in charge the saloons, drug
store and other places for the sale of
I intoxicants, etc.
Principal among the things said In
favor of this proposed law is that it
haa been put in force In diverse places
and that lt Is a great success.
"The proof of the pudding la In
chewing the strlng,"ls an old proverb,
but
v..,.. v.in ,,.
mcic DU1UC IUIUK3 mat kiic
verv nntnr of them nlnre th hrand ' 4""J uioanv. uac un-u ifui w.c pimun) mm imviug
very nature of them place the brand done nd there are men ,n Oregon published his notice as provided by
of Cain on them without waiting to j city today who would do that thing If law. no objections having been made
prove them. Let us examine together j it was made necessary to carry a to the saloon, "all other provisions of
this proposed excise law. : point. And that statement Is not In law having been complied with, such
The very first vital clause of the or- any sense personal, or for personal license may be granted or denied."
dlnance paves the way for very grave. application. Think of It! The man is encouraged
evil if taken advantage of. It pro-1 And In voting this ordinence the; In spending his money, gets neces
vldes that the board Is to consist of ! temperance people want to remember ' sary number of signers for a saloon,
five members, the Mayor and four oth-1 that lt may be a short time only until there are no objections filed to it,
ers. Next It says that the Mayor the saloon men are in the saddle. Six and then he may be denied. There
shall appoint the other members to sit ' years ago the temperance people of a is nothing against the man or his
with him. Think of lt! Appoint the! city in Ohio by a hard struggle, and character, for all that has been look
members to comprise the new board J with the aid of both Republicans and ed Into, no remonstrance or complaint
with him! Not four members elected ; Democrats alike, won a election; ! simply the board don't like the col
by the people to constitute a board but at the next election, with both or of his hair or the elevation of his
without his personal influence, but
four members to sit with him and he
and his four, five in all, are the board.
What more pernicious proposition
than to allow one man such power!
It matters not whether he is a tem
perance man or not, the principle Is
as bad In one case as another. Sup-
pose for the sake of an argument the
Mayor proves td be a saloon man. We ! As one who believes In law and or
know of several towns where the ! der the warning Issounded don't
Mayor himself runs the town wide ; prescribe something -you don't want
open because he happens to favor the , to take a few years later yourself,
saloon. But herethe Mayor, would Section three in this new ordinance
have four others of his appointment, ' provides for a penal bond In the sum
and of his kind, to back him up, and of $5000 pledging the saloon keeper to
what could the people do? If he har-' at all times be good, and for a slip he
pened to be a temperance man his ef- must pay $5000. Where Is there a
forts would perhaps prove as drastic provision for the punishment of a pet
In the other extreme, and that might j ty crime In the sum of $5000 In any
please a few fanatical temperance ; other Instance? Why single out the
people, but we believe only a few,
Ilave the temperance people of Ore
Kon City, who are fair-minded people.
stopped to consider that feature of'
the ordinance?
Temperance people as a class are
fair minded people. A few fanatics
make a bit of noise but even they
often do not mean as badly as they
talk. But as a whole we feel free to
bank on temperance people.
And right here we want to say that
any reference we may make to the
Mayor and his powers, and perhaps
abuses, have no reference to the pres
ent". Mayor1 personally, or to any Mayor
whoi; has ever served, personally.
Thoy are pimply abstract statements
and have :no personal reference,
Now that you have thought of this
feature of 'the ordinance you are not
WHERE ARE THE FACT8?
lng7
Editor Enterprise: In your issue' H ' fact apparently unknown to
of October 25 you refer to the Canbyho Enterprise that the churches of
' "u "u '".Citizens outside the churches very
. . it i. i j it m 1
in uregon uty. i ne marvel is mat j
there has not been several tragedies
like that In Canby right here in this
city. On Labor Day I saw four boys
In their teens go Into a saloon In this
than a month ago two men and a
young boy reeled up the Seventh
Htre't 8tt',g drunk that could
ZeriT. SZ'Z so
drunk that he could barely walk. I
want to see lt made as nearly as cm
be Impossible for any minor to enter
I a saloon in Oregon City for the pur-
loose of getting liquor, hence I am
Whose business Is it to enforce the ther on he says It Is the editor's busi
law? Is it not the business of the j ness to do such acts; why did he fall?
sltw Ittnraav. naii.F,..M Mn.nk.ln I . Tf Snn.rp r0fll m-.nt. ts n.if trio o n
f,h.riff9 jIKltfe8 an.j BO on? Were loons out of business, as he Indicates,
they not elected or appointed forj'hy does he talk of licensing them
this purpose? And are they not paid
to attend to this business? Why
Dhni.M r.n .un L 1 V.
ao positive but that there might evil
come of Its enforcement; is that not
true? But what of that which is to
follow?
"The Mayor may remove any mem-
fiber of the board at any time, and ao-
point another person to fill out the j
"nexplred term; but on removing any
member of the
board the Mayor shall
j make a written report to the Council
I setting forth his reasons for such re
) moval. and the same shall be filed in
the tftecorder's office."
Great guns and little fishes! The
power of the Czar Is not greater. The ever knew, would defend it and ex
man who wrote that ought to at once i cuse the crime on the olea that the
go Into hiding for If the Czar of Rus-
sla ever hears of him he is likely to
send over and steal him. He can tell
..The M ,
ber of the board at any time." A man
may go to a meeting of the board on
aionuay nignt ana wnen ne gets up
and makes a speech against a pet
resolution of the Mayor he may be re
moved then and there, before the;ous?
question can come to vote, and a sue
cessor may be appointed, or if it may
look too raw to do so at that time an
adjournment can be taken to some
other night. That Is the possibility
of his power, and to say no sane mart
would do such a thine la msv hut
v c
I tVllnm. OniiaUir nM .)..... I. n V.
candidates the same, the saloon man
was elected by a majority four times
that given the temperance man two
years before. And the saloon man
kept his seat for two terms and was
only defeated by a combination of cir
cumstances at a recent election. And
the city in question has two church
worshippers to Oregon City's one,
saloonlst? It is not a question of his
committing a crime or doing damages
In the sum of $5000; the ordinance
provides that If he does commit a pet
ty breach he shall forfeit his $5000.
Every man Is admittedly innocent
of any crime before the law until pro -
yen guilty. There is not a lawyer In
the city but will concede this. Yet
lawyers, knowing the unrighteousness
of their act, write Into this ordinance
that every Oregon City saloonlst U
guilty, or willing to be guilty, and If
he wants to satisfy, this "righteous"
excise board he must put up a bond
of $5000 to prove to them that he will
curb his natural propensities to evil
and be good at least when any one Is
watching. i ,'...'.; - '
There is no code of the saloonlst
that permits him to do evil. The bet-
I laws against forgery or horse steal-
... ...
vine and a number of smaller places
in Oregon.
SQUARE DEAL.
Ordinarily the editor of the Enter
prise would publish the above without
reference to it from his own pen, but
in this case the contributor makes a
personal criticism of the editor, which
opens the way for his reply.
In the first place the Enterprise did
not say that . the saloons were not
responsilbe for young Klnzel'g death;
It said the saloon business: that's a
different proposition,
"Square Deal" tells of seeing four
iboys in their teens eo Into a saloon
and later their actions showed they
had been drinklne win HiHn't ha
and advocate the Excise law? Why
not come out and say what he wanta
' anrl tFtt It If Vi a nan anA iyvt kl.lA Ka-
ter class of saloon ista wish to obey
the law and deprecate the fact that
they are thrown under suspicion by
the acts of those not ao Inclined. Yet
here comes a bunch of lawyers, whose
code does permit of their committing
a wrong, and the whole fraternity will
back him up In it, and they wish a
bond of $5000 of the saloonlst so he
may not dare to do wrong.
Let us prove that contention: A
lawyer can break every law against
lobbying, and his fellow lawyers may
know it, and one and all so far as we
lawyer was the counsellor In the case,
We could name to you an United
States Senator who receives $7500
t, t obb for them , , ,n
most of his time for the corporations,
' and yet every lawyer in the universe,
: aimosi, win aeiena nira in n.
Don t you think that clause In the
proposed ordinance a trifle sltrenu-
The saloonlst must advertise his
wants In a newsoaper. and cannot
! use the city's bulletin board on the
j barn door. The men who are drawing
' ordinances are willing the saloonlst
; be robbed by the editors and publish-
' ers. Just blue nenrll this!
I Cn.lxn 1.1 41... I
, .
nose.
That Michigan professor who wants
to crown Roosevelt King should come
to Oregon City; he'll find congenial
company.
What farce Is this Excise Board!
What do the people who drafted It
think runs through the heads of Ore
gon City people? Board appointed by'
tne Mayor; he may remove on Instant
notice; his board may call a man be
fore it and when he has toiade good he
i ...i ,, n Meirinnni v.
one oversight so far that we have no
ticed the board should have provid
ed that the applicant shave and take
a bath before he appear before so
august a body.
Section six provides that a man
must have been good for a year prior
to receiving license. Suppose that
the saloonlst should wish for a hear
ing as to their moral character before
a board that could show a clean bill
for a year. Wouldn't that prove as
fair a proposition, to have those who
sit In Judgment show a clean record
1 for a year? We fear that there would
be few men eligible to membership,
and we are certain no such a man
could be elected to the position of
Mayor.
The saloon business Is becoming a
fine haired proposition Indeed. No
one can have a license who haa not
been good for ayear. . Men may sin
Saturday pight, be forgiven Sunday
morning and commune at church be
fore dinner; but If a man wants to
keep a saloon he must have been good
(Continued on Page 4.)