9
UJKKENT lOPKS
I5CUSSED!
BY
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ADVERTISING IS COUNTRY'S GREATEST ASSET
Tom Richardson Writes on "Community Advertis
ing" and the Good It Docs.
THE SUNDAY OKEGONIAN, PORTLAND, APRIL 21, 1907.
P
i i wn. - slt-
BY TOM RICHARDSON.
ADVERTISING has reached a high
point in the United States and is
today the greatest single item in
the assets of our country. Neither the
corn, cotton or wheat crop is comparable
In Importance to the advertising .. crop.
The money spent in the United States
for advertising is greater than the com
bined value of these three great staples
in first hands. Seems as though we
should sit up and take notice and give
advertising serious attention under such
conditions.
Now cotton, corn and wheat have their
season advertising Is a twelve-months
harvest and no holidays. Necessity cre
ates something of a market, while adver
tising Intensities needs and daily adds
more demands than mere dull and taste
less necessity could invent, much less pay
tor. Advertising supports more people di
rectly than does the manufacture of
shoes and clothing, and indirectly great
armies of our population are dependent
upon tt for the largest percentage of
their income.
Advertising is the greatest force in our
modern civilisation and when not im
posed upon never fails to bring returns.
The article advertised must be forcefully
and truthfully presented, and the truth
is decidedly more essential . than the
force. The advertiser, whether he pre
sents a Btate. eity, town-lot. or cake of
soap, must tell the truth or failure is
certain. The liar In advertising is both
knave and fool.
The general belief that the success of
the present National administration is due'
to the strenuousness of the Chief Execu
tive combined with a most convincing sin
cerity and directness, is true, but it is uni
versally authorized publlcitiy that is re
sponsible for the almost unprecedented
confidence in Roosevelt and publicity is
but a synonym for advertising.
Thirty years personal contact with ad
vertising has given me great respect for
Its rank among our assets, and I am
NEED OF
BY J. B. 7.IEGLER.
N pursuance of my purpose to stim
ulate the public conscience on the
subject of good roads, I will at
I
tempt to show wherein a law like that
defeated by Governor Chamberlain's
veto of the Johnson bill would apply
to remedy certain difficulties of pio
neer roadbulldlng. The ordinary
neighborhood road In well - settled
places meets peremptory demands suf
tlclently to lull to repose the average
citizen. Their care and continuance Is
spontaneous and unthrifty, but as
sured. And as those who do not live
in such situation are largely in the
minority, they are accustomed to neg
lect." Tt is the pioneer who must hew
the first trail through the virgin for
est and the thrifty neighborhood feel
ing the first budding aspirations for
paved- roadways, that most need the
care of the state.
As 1 have said, the natural condi
tions of the upper California coast and
the Oregon coast are much the same,
yet In development the Oregon coast
cannot compare with that of Its sister
state. California has a good highway
running from San Francisco to Eu
reka. From Eureka to Astoria, a di
rect and but little broken line, the
nerd is as great and the difficulties no
greater. State aid to the same extent
as that granted the Lewis and Clark
Fair would build such a road. Where
are the able and public-spirited men
who promoted the Fair? Did not Gov
ernor Chamberlain sign the bill mak
ing the appropriation for the Fair
SEEK THE
BY J. L. JONES.
SOME twenty years ago I found in a
theosophic book the sentence. "Seek
only the unattainable." "Through
the Gates of Gold" was the name of the
"nook. I remember nothing about it but
the title and the words of the strange
commandment, "seek only the unattain
able". That la enough.
The words were impressed on my mind
instantaneously and indelibly. That was
Just my style. That was the kind of a
proposition I liked to tackle. I always
flt that way, but had never formulated
the thought Into words.
What Is the use of seeking the attain
able? After you get it you don't want it.
Only the unattainable Is worth attaining.
What you can't have is the thing you su
premely want. What you- can have speed
ily becomes a weariness to the flesh.
What Is the use of having a big palace
or several of them and millions of acres
of land? You can only occupy one room
at a time, and six feet of dirt is all you
will toe. allowed after you are mustered
out of the service of mammon. What Is
the use of having so many clothes? You
can only wear one suit at once. What is
the use of having so much to eat? You
have only one stomach, and that won't
hold as much as a nail keg, and when
It la full It won't hold any more. The
GOOD STREETS ARE
(BY RALPH R. DUNIWAY.)
En route to Tillamook to attend the
Pprlng term of court, I read In this
morning's Oregonlan the article headed
"Easier to Improve Streets," and which
Is a very persuasive argument for the
property-owners of Portland to vote
for certain charter amendments as to
street Improvements. The article con
tained extensive quotations from City
Attorney McNary. Also a day or two
before the Oregonlan had an editorial
urging charter changes In Portland as
to street Improvements that was a very
persuasive argument to Induce voters
to vote the change.
But, Mr. Editor, you have not accu
rately published what the power to Im
prove streets is now under the charter
of the City of Portland. Mr. Kdltor.
you ought to accurately publish the
present charter powers as to street
Improvements; then accurately publish
the proposed changes.
Mr. Kdltor. you ought not to publish
general statements which are full of
inaccurate statements of facts, and ad
jectives, as mild, accurate statements
of the facts, and above all, they should
not be labeled as wise statements from
impartial persons, and then give to the
firmly convinced that its percentage of im
provement during the past twenty years
is greater than has been achieved by
any other branch of human endeavor.
Fifteen years ago the most commonplace
and indifferent editor would have been
offended had it been suggested to him that
his advertising pages were more generally
read than his editorial page. Today only
a superlatively vam old bachelor editor,
and a clubman at that, dreams that his
audience compares with the S. R. O.
multitude that pays tribute to the well
written, carefully-edited, fact-containing
announcements made by' the department
stores.
By comparison the newspaper stands
first among advertising mediums and
the local newspaper should be, and generally-
is, the pulse of the community
tt represents. You can judge a city by
Its representative papers more accur
ately than in any other way, and this is
especially .true, of the advertising
columns.
But enough of generalissimo my
subject is "Community Advertising,"
easily the highest type of publicity be
cause it embodies the soul and spirit
of the people for which it speaks. Com
munity advertising is prima facie evi
dence of community unity and or
ganization, for one Is the natural se
quence of the other.
Our greatest efTort in the Pacific
Northwest was the Lewis and Clark
Exposition, and it was a success be
cause It was given with an honest pur
pose, and that purpose was the up
building of a great section of our
country. Communit advertising was
the breakfast, lunch and dinner of
that show, and It makes me proud of
my home city every time I think of
the devotion of itB citizenship to the
real purposes of the exposition, rathet
than to the sale of town lots or the
localizing of - the benefits. The ex
position opened our eyes to our oppor
tunities and possibilities: it sharpened
our wits in modern Ideas, and the
friendly rivalry between the several
communities in displaying to the best
STATE AID
without seeking excuses? Now, when
it comes the 'turn of the rural com
munity, the cold shoulder is turned.
The Icy stare takes the place of the
warm personal appeal to fraternal pa
triotism. Gentlemen, if' you - cannot
give us a reciprocal friendship, let us
at least have the square deal. We ap
peal to your honor and your business
sense.
In 1896 I located and took my family
on a homestead near the mouth of the
Siletz, In Lincoln County. There was
a group of some 20 families in the
neighborhood, absolutely without a
road. A tugboat came Into the mouth
of the river about twice a year. The
nearest town was Newport, at the
mouth of the Taquina, 25 miles away.
Toledo, the county seat, was 30 miles
away, while Sheridan, In POlk County,
was 45 miles away, with a road part
of the distance passable only In Sum
mer. For two years I hewed away at
my ranch awaiting developments as to
roads. An application had been made
to the county for the organization of
a road district, a survey and county
aid. but nothing was done.- I then
took up the matter with the County
Court, and found a condition like this:
The court claimed that, as homestead
ers, we paid no tax and were not en
titled to an expenditure of county
funds. Ignoring the fact that Lincoln
County's share of the sale of the pub
lic lands (and these homesteads were
bought at so much per acre), 5 per
cent of which is set apart by the Fed
eral Government for internal Improve
UNATTAINABLE; ATTEMPT THE
tramp can see as much as the millionaire
If his eyes are good. The pure in heart
can-see the things that are Invisible and
hear heavenly airs that are inaudible to
those whose ears' are filled with the din
of strife.
What is the use of attempting the pos
sible? Anyone can do the thing that is
possible. The greatest glory and the finest
entertainment is to accomplish the im
possible. The whole life of Moses was a
series of impossibilities. It was illegal
that his life should be spared in the first
place and impossible that he should be
adopted by the Daughter of the King. It
was Impossible for a single person with
only a rod for a weapon, to rescue a
whole tribe of unarmed slaves from the
hostile territory of a great kingdom.
When Moses went down to Egypt, he
did not proceed to organise a labor union
ana elect officers and collect dues and
pass resolutions. He did not demand
an Increase of 10 per cent in wages, nor
petition the government not to allow any
other foreigners except Israelites to work.
He walked into the palace of the King
and said: "See, here, old man, you have
got to let these people go.. We are going
to quit for good. We are not going to
work any more at all. You will have to
get along without us. You understand?
We're going to go."
And they did go, in spite of the King
and without the assistance of the govern
public partisan and unfair arguments
from City Attorney McNary.
The simple facts are that the City
of Portland in the present charter has
very easy procedure and drastic pow
ers over the Improvement of streets
and collection of street assessments and
the patient and much-abused property
owners have very little opportunity to
effectually remonstrate against street
Improvements, or resist them. In the
courts, or resist payment of street
assessments.
Let me state the powers under the
present charter: The Council, of Its
own motion, can order any street or
any part of a street. Improved, or re
Improved. The power of the Council
is supreme In ordering the Improve
ment and the kind of the Improvement
by means of a simple resolution. With
in 20 days from the first publication
of the resolution the property-owners
owning two-thirds of the property pro
posed to be assessed for the Improve
ment (and what property is to be
assessed the Council can determine In
any way that It deems wise and make
It much property or little property, so
long as the property is within the lim
its of the city), must file a remon
strance or be forever barred from re
monstrating and objecting about the
lack of wisdom of the Council's action-
advantage our products - helped us all.
The Tacoma audience is naturally
pleased at mention of the Lewis and
Clark Fair, for "Watch Tacoma Grow"
has become a classic and Is easily' the
best remembered and most frequently
used expression growing out of 7ie
fair I can make it stronger it's in a
class by itself and no one can estimate
Its value to this city never let It sleep,
for It is community advertising in the
highest sense.
Abuse is sometimes the very best
possible community advertising. I
know of an Interesting case applying
to Tacoma. which occurred on a train
entering this city. A showman had
been here on Saturday night, no other
date was open, and as "he expressed It.
"Being- a tin-bucket brigade town, and
everybody out shopping, we got a
frost." Well, when the conductor came
in, three Easterners asked for stop
over privileges, and they may be here
tonight for all I know.
Tou know all about the work of your
incomparable secretary, L. W. Pratt,
and in him you have a greater power
for the good of Tacoma and Washing
ton than a 20-story building. The Ta
coma Chamber of Commerce lias ac
complished a great work and its wheels
are stlU grinding, but I do wish you
had the combination of the social and
business club, similar to the Portland
Commercial Club.
Now to illustrate, out of our 1010
members we have a daily meeting at
luncheon of from 190 to 250 representa
tive business men now stop and think
what that means. Let me give you
some of the benefits a prominent visi
tor arrives, get him In the parlors,
run him up against 75 to 150 of the
members they have lost no time and
he is honored. The, Portland business
men will run in May an excursion
through' Oregon and Idaho a joint
committee from the three commercial
bodies handle the details they all be
long to the Commercial Club and meet
at lunch, and they are not hurried.
The club gives a monthly dinner at
IN ESTABLISHING GOOD ROADS
ments, had been used by the county to
build a courthouse. Under pressure a
road had been surveyed from Toledo
to the head of tidewater, on the Si
letz. This was, an impossible route,
dictated by the 'political' influence of
the agency Indians.
When this had been catered to and
the hunger of the County Surveyor and
his gang for a job, the matter rested.
The road has never been opened, and
the $275 spent on the survey wasted.
Sucty a fault the Johnson -bill would
have remedied, first, because the or
ganization of state and county for
road improvements with funds would
be so strong that subterfuge objections-
to opening roads would disap
pear, and when it came to a survey a
competent engineer employed by the
state would be qualified to select, and,
being remote from the petty rivalries
of county politics, would make such
report as would minimize this diffi
culty. The matter would gather suffi
cient intelligent support and impor
tance to prevent its becoming the prey
of narrow, self-absorbed officials or
factional opposition. 1
The territory between Siletz and Taquina
Bays is very hilly and covered with a
dense growth of heavy timber. In the
course of the Summer of 1888, I cruised it
very thoroughly. The hills slope lower to
the ocean, giving way to a sandy fiat, for
the whole distance except four or five
miles at Cape Foulweather and northward
arid are much lower there than further
back. For a distance of a few hundred
yards from the beach there Is no timber
ment. Then he divided the sea. He
made water gush from the solid rock.
He brought down manna from heaven.
He revealed the laws of God. He separ
ated the evil from the good and dis
tinguished between the curse and the
blessing. All these things were impos
sible, impracticable and unattainable.
The history of Joshua and Samuel,
of David, Elijah, Ellsha and Daniel, of
Jesus and Paul and all the other apostles
is a record of accomplishment of the im
possible and the attainment of the un
attainable. The modern church pretends to believe
solemnly, seriously and devoutly in all
these ancient impossibilities. But, at the
same time, it is firmly anchored and
safely settled down In the conservative
belief that nothing impossible can ever
be accomplished any more. Man's en
ergy must hereafter be strictly confined
within the .barren limits of the prosaic
and the practicable.
There can be no pillar of fire nor
cloud. No more water can pour from
the rock nor manna descend from heaven.
So they open gaping mouths for gifts
from Rockefeller. The lightning that
strikes them is not the Are from heaven
but slag from the bottom of the smelter.
The age of miracles is at an end. Here
after we may behold only the mean and
the matter-of-fact. We are limited to the
purely materialistic. To work In a mill.
OBTAINABLE UNDER
It is very difficult to get two-thirds of
the property In the assessment district
to remonstrate within 20 days. Much
property is owned outside of the state.
Property-owners are very slow to cir
culate remonstrances and are very loth
to sign remonstrances. The Oregonlan
should publish a list of the improve
ments that have been remonstrated, but
under the two-thirds rule and the kind
of Improvements, that have been re
monstrated out, and then It would be
demonstrated how few are the im
provements that are defeated by re
monstrance and how foolish were the
said proposed Improvements.
The simple truth about the proposed dis
trict assessment and making many Im
provements In one proceeding, is the city,
officials want this gTeat grant of power
so they can combine a number of Im
provements in one proceeding and the
property-owners will not so easily learn
of and understand what sort of a job is
being worked dn them, and when they
do learn that they are being jobbed In
street assessments, cannot get the very
large remonstrance required In the very
short time allowed, of only 30 days- from
the first publication.
The only thing that Is necessary to be
done under -the present charter in order
to Improve many streets in one part of
the city or all over the city, at the same
91 per plate and It always . commands
the capacity of the dining-room. We
have a home for the interior merchant
and editor, the representatives of other
commercial bodies, and a home for the
visitor. Remember that all the time,
business extension and community adver
tising must be of first Importance, and
the social side of the organization is
heightened rather than otherwise when
the chief purpose' of the club is under
stood your visitor has a right to accept
hospitality -without incurring obligation
it's a business club.
'Now to details...
I am sure that you desire the beYieflt of
our experience in Portland, and for that
reason will make no apology for talking
shop.
The 1010 members pay an initiation fee
of $25 and dues of $2.50 per month; non
resident members pay the same Initiation
fee and $30 a year. dues. This fund is
controlled by a Board of Governors of
15. who are responsible 'for the social
part of the club and Its entertainments,
and from this fund the club pays $100
per month and furnishes offices for the
publicity and correspondence department,
which is under the adimntstration of an
executive committee of nine.
The social end of the club has been
in existence for many years. The execu
tive committee began Its work in May,
1304, and until everything was in abso
lute running order and their ideas and
plans had been matured, this committee
met every: week, and during all this time
each and every - one was present unless
absent from the city or detained by sick
ness. The board of governors meet every
Monday at luncheon, and they have never
missed a quorum. In fact, all our meet
ings are at luncheon.
The executive committee handles, the
community advertising, and community
advertising with Portland means the Pa
cific VNorthwest. and especially the State
of Oregon, and it may surprise you some
what to learn that in beginning their
duties and making their subscriptions,
five different interests paid $100 per month
and have paid that sum since the work
except a short space at Cape Foulweather,
and another at Depot Bay. At the mouths
of numerous small streams coming out of
the hills, the little marshy bottoms are
terminated by a sea wall of pebbles
brought down by the streams, making a
natural ford. Shortly all doubt as to the
most available route for a road being
close to the beach was removed- The only
serious obstacles were Cape Foulweather
promontory, about 1000 feet ' high, and
Rocky Creek about two miles north of the
cape. The creek had to be crossed at the
mouth. The two miles between the creek
and Foulweather Hill is a ridge about 1000
feet high, parallel with the ocean line,
sloping rather steeply down to It and ter
minating in a rock bluff. The ocean side
is grass land and being exposed to the
sun and well drained, is dry and solid,
while the top of the ridge andthe eastern
slope is covered with timber and to soft
and damp.
Considering these circumstances. I uti
lized tho whole two miles between Foul
water Hill and the mouth of Rocky Creek
in making the descent, thereby securing
an easy, even grade. I established the
grade and staked and blazed the line as
well' as I could without instruments, which
was fairly well, and expect the County
Surveyor to correct and even up the grade
with his Instrument. I obtained and pre
sented to the court a petition containing
practically every resident Interested, and
the court very reluctantly granted a sur
vey. They did not, however, cease their
opposition, but refused any aid in building
the road, and left the few settlers on
Siletz Bay to do all the work alone.
They proclaimed that the road could not
to wait on a master, "to chronicle small
beer and suckle fools," to raise .more
corn to feed more hogs, to increase the
volume of exports, to live in sodden sa
tiety, to die in stolid contentment and
be buried in a hundred-dollar coffin
these -are the purposes of life. To seek
for more is sin. To attempt the impos
sible 48 agitation or anarchy.
Some time ago I published and circulat
ed the new dispensation programme, de
manding the demonetization of gold and
silver, the abolition of all laws for the
creation and collection of debt; that all
titles to land be conditioned on actual
residence and personal use. and that all
lots and lands not so held should be
thrown open unconditionally to free oc
cupancy and use by actual settlers.
I knew quite well' that this was Im
possible and impracticable. I knew the
people would say I was crazy. And they
said so, but they neglected to appoint a
lunacy commission to sit on nie, so I
am still at large, circulating the same
literature, proclaiming the same gospel of
universal emancipation from all the er
rors of .the mortal mind, from the cus
toms, beliefs, traditions and habits of
thought inherited from barbarous ances
tors, deliverance from debts, bonds and
bondage, from sin, sickness and death,
from sedition, privy conspiracy and re
bellion and from the assaults of the
world, the flesh and the devil.
time, is for the Council to pass the reso
lutions, publish them and take the simple
steps provided by the charter.
City Attorney McNary states in said in
terview: "Each act of the Council, Executive
Board, Engineer and Auditor. In the per
formance of their respective duties In the
matter of an improvement prescribed by
the charter from the resolution calling
upon the engineer to submit plans and
specifications for such Improvement down
to the final docketing of the assessment
is jurisdictional, and must be performed
as provided by charter, or if not, then the
way is open for contest and litigation."
That is simply not true, and it Is so
clearly wrong that the learned City At
torney with his five years of experience
as city Attorney must know It is not
true. The only basts for litigation under
the present city charter in street assess
ments Is found In the city officials neglect
ing to comply with the simple provisions
of the charter and placing heavy and un
just assessments against property for poor
street Improvements at very high prices.
The chance of the property-owners to pro
tect themselves In the courts has been so
far taken away by the present charter
that the courts of Oregon have decided
that the property-owners have no remedy
when the City Engineer, the City Inspect
ors and the contractor fraudulently fail
to improve a street In compliance with
was begun, while others pay $50 per
month, and others $25. $15 down to $10 and
$5 per month. The money has ail been
used in advertising the resources of this
section, paying special attention to farm
possibilities of the State of Oregon, and
little or no notice has been taken of
Porthland as a city because from the be
ginning we have felt that the develop
ment of the interior meant the better
ment of Portland, and I feel that without
detracting from the efficacy of any other
state organization in the union, the Ore
gon Development league, with its 67
different bodies is the best and most suc
cessful state development organization
ever perfected in the United States, and
that it is doing more and better work
than any of them.
The gratest accomplishment of the Port
land Commercial Club has been the or
ganization of this state body, and it has
been a success because Portland, in tak
ing the initiative, has told the plain, un
varnished truth to each and every sec
tion of the State of Oregon. People In
other cities and towns wanted to know
why we were helping them to organize,
and to this we replied: "We want you to
get a dollar so we can take 75 cents away
from you." That was the truth, and the
average citizen in any interior town in
Oregon, is Just as smart as the average
citizen' in Portland, and upon this under
standing they joined hands' and went to
work. - .
The several meetings of the league held
in Portland and In other cities have been
splendidly attended, and to give you some
idea of their efficacy, we know that they
have circulated between the first day of
November of last year and the first day
of April over 1,000,000 pieces of advertising
matter.
With a portion of this Commercial Club
advertising fund an advertisement was
Inserted In many of the best established
agricultural papers throughout the United
States: some dailies and their weekly edi
tions were also used; the total circulation
of the papers amounted to something like
20.000,000; 11.365 inquiries were received
from November 20 to February 23. and
be built. They extended the Newport dis
trict eight miles further up the beach than I
It had before existed, as far as Otter
Rock, and appointed an overseer, who re
fused to open up the road. For the new
district, containing the rest of the road,
they appointed John Afolter overseer, a
man living four miles north of Siletz Bay
and on the Sheridan road, instead of the
man petitioned for. I have always thought
they did this under the presumption that
he. as he himself stated, not being in a
position to use the new road, would neg
lect either partly or wholly the opening
up of the road. If so, they missed. Mr.
Afolter. as I was perfectly aware when
the appointment was made, is one of those
noble men who in a matter of duty does
his level best, whether It's for himself or
his neighbor. So we all got together and
built a good horse trail as far as Otter
Rock, the limit of our district.
One who has never lived in such a situa
tion cannot know how valuable even so
poor a road as a horse trail is. At this
juncture I moved out of the Siletz country.
Since doing so the county officials of Lin
coln County have experienced a change of
heart, and let a contract for completing
this road so as to make It practicable for
wagons, paying half the cost, the settlers
the other half. As soon as the timber
exploiters began to get busy putting
homesteaders on that fine timber, the public-spirited
officials of Lincoln County be
came convinced that this road should be
completed. But they could not confess
that they were wrong altogether in their
opposition, and ordered a resurvey of the
road, changing It from the top of
Foulweather Hill to Rocky Creek, ' so
IMPOSSIBLE
I make these demands In perfect con
fidence that they must be allowed. I pro
claim this gospel In the fullest assurance
that it is absolutely true. What did
Christ die for? Was it to establish the
kingdom of Carnegie and Rockefeller, or
to establish the kingdom of righteous
ness? Why de we keep saying the prayer
with endless repetitions, "Thy kingdom
come. Thy will be done, on earth as it
is in heaven?" Has this kingdom come?
If it has, why continue to pray for it?
Is It' the kingdom of God we have on
earth now, or la It the kingdom of
grafters and parasites? Where is the
seat of God's kingdom? Is it at Lon
don or St. Petersburg or Washington?
Suppose an embassy should arrive at
Washington from the interior of dark
est Africa. Inquiring for the kingdom
of God. What could the officials In
form them? Where would they direct
them?
When the Coxey army marched to
Washington to plead for better condi
tions of life, it was attacked and lgno
mlnlously routed by the forces of Gro
ver Cleveland. When the wise men
from the East came to Jerusalem In
quiring for the new born King, they
had to sneak out by the back alley. The
new born King had to take a sneak,
too, but he appeared again to the great
CHARTER
the contract and make a poor Job of It,
and Induce the Executive Board to ac
cept it; that the property-owners must
prove that the Executive Board has also
been corrupted and guilty of fraud in or
der to get relief from poor work and ma
terials at high prices. The Executive
Board relies upon the City Engineer and
City Inspectors, who are paid a salary to
look after the interests of the city and
the property-owners, and the fraud of the
City Engineer and City Inspectors Is not
a defense to street assessments. Property
owners have great difficulty In convinc
ing the Executive Board that their trusted
City Engineer and City Inspectors are not
doing their duty in rejecting poor work
and material, when the City Engineer,
City Inspectors and contractor are all
making vigorous claims that the work and
material are good. There ought to be an
appeal from the decisions of the Executive
Board, but there Is none, nor is there any
other remedy.
- The present charter allows a reas
sessment to be made when an assess
ment has been defeated upon any
ground other than that a valid re
monstrance has been Ignored by the
city officials. Thus any technical de
fense to a street assessment is useless.
The only street assessments that are
litigated are those high and unjust
street assessments which will not be
approved by an lmnartlal jury. One
all of these were answered from the
office of the Portland Commercial Club
with from three to Ave different pieces
of advertising matter, and the names and
addresses were furnished to all of the
different bodies throughout the state be
longing to the Oregon - Development
League, and I personally know that more
than 30 of them have supplied advertis
ing matter to each inquirer, and we feel
that this had something to do with the
great colonist travel to our state and to
the Northwest.
Quite recently we used 16,000 copies of
local newspapers in answering inquiries,
and 2000 German papers were necessary
to reply to the inquiries in that language
alone during a period of three months.
,We have also used about 30.000 copies of
various Portland publications which is
sue special editions devoted to the de
velopment of the city and the state.
In order to test the enthusiasm at home
we Issued a leaflet on light paper so that
It would add little or nothing to the
postage of a letter and distributed 327,000
of these within three "weeks, with no cost
except that of printing and for carriers
to see that everybody's orders were satis
fied. Many of the larger stores put them
in each and every bundle going out of
the store, and on this leaflet we had at
the top, 'Put me in your letter." so that
thousands of them were used by the
ladies of the city in their personal letters
to friends at a distance, and all of the
leading commercial houses, manufactur
ers, bankers, etc., had them put in each
and every letter that went out. Of
course we had to have an especially in
teresting subject for the central feature
of this leaflet, and attention was directed
to the rapid building progress in Port
land. We have advertised the colonist rates
to all Oregon points and recently used
a large advertisement reaching 7,000,
000 of readers, .and' with not a line
relating to the city, we gave briefly
the facts as to agriculture, dairying,
logged-off lands, fruits, wheat, irri
gation, reclamation service. timber.
An Object Lesson Showing What the Johnson Bill,
If It Had Not Been Vetoed Would Have Done.
that It runs along the top of the ridge
through the timber to a point immediate
ly above Rocky Creek, and then zigzags
down the precipitous side of the canyon
some 800 feet to .the bottom; instead of
utilizing the whole two miles to get down
on a good grade with the further ad
vantage of being in open ground with a
drier soil, as the original survey had
done.
Now under the plan contemplated by
the Johnson bill all these errors of
establishment - and construction would
have been avoided because under the
management of an experienced road
engineer whose tenure of office would
depend on his ability to exhibit good
work, and not on his affiliations with
the little coterie of politicians around
a county courthouse. In the case of
this road, wherein these poor settlers
must, to secure their outlet, make the
most of every available ounce of ef
fort, the money expended by the coun
ty on these three surveys, probably
$500 In all. would have gone far in
actual construction towards their aim.
The surveying of a county highway
as it is done, at least in this case, is
only a legal necessity,- not of any
actual benefit. The surveyor had no
level on his instrument and ran no
grade. He merely marked the road as
we had already blazed It out, platted
and recorded it. All of which is neces
sary legal technique, but should be
minimized, and no expense wasted on
errors.
It is hard to find a county the offi
cials of which are competent to have
full charge, of so important a matter
With Illustrations by Well Known Historical Persons
Who Put Into Practice These Teachings.
embarrassment of the ruling classes.
Then they killed him. but he promised
to appear again to their final discom
fiture. .
Will he do this? Why do the churches
pray for it? Will the prayers of all
these good, pious people be of no
avail? Will they never be answered
or hardly ever? Suppose they should
be answered unexpectedly. What If he
has come already in disguise like the
priest in the play, "Measure for Meas
ure." and that he is secretly spying out
the country and finding out the games
of the grafters so as to convict them
out of their own mouths?
What is the use of making the prayer,
"Forgive us our debts as we forgive our
debtors," if we won't forgive our debt
ors, if we uphold a system of law that
exists for the purpose of keeping the
people continually in bondage? Will
Christ come to confirm the bondage or
to cancel the bonds and set the cap
tives free? It Is well to consider these
questions. .They are not above the capa
bility of human reason. When the human
reason becomes emancipated from Ig
norance and superstition, then look out
for miracles. Knowledge is really power.
I would like to Impress on Christian
people the thought that the prayers they
repeat either mean something or they
mean nothing. If they mean nothing
Ralph R. Dunniway Says Proposed Amendments as
to Street Improvements Are Unnecessary.
of the strong reasons for this news
paper agitation over contested street
assessments and charter changes to
make street Improvements easier Is to
prejudice future Juries to be called in
reassessment cases to stand in with
the city officials, and tho street con
tractors, and decide against the con
testing property-owners as a matter
of course. In order to build up the
city. This Is shown by this paragraph
from the interview with City Attorney
McNary:
"It may be s'ald, however, that the
manner in which street Improvements
are inaugurated Is only Incidental, and
the principal question Is the engender
ing of public sentiment favorable to
street improvements and the payment
thereof as opposed to the sentiment of
the past on the part of many property
owners antagonistic to and causing
contesting payments therefor."
The partisan argument . of City At
torney McNary Is well shown where
he argues that if the proposed charter
changes are adopted ."bidding upon im
provement contracts should be lower on
account of the contractor not being
subjected to delay In realizing upon
their warrants or having to discount
them." Our local history is full of con
tractor pools to raise bids without
regard to manner of their pay. To any
one with a memory and a knowledge
mines, hops, nurseries, livestock and
poultry, and this and other advertise
ing has caused many of our sub-organizations
to receive exceeding 1000 in
quiries. The best ' and most effective work
we have done in community advertis
ing has been to interest the County
School Superintendents, teachers and
pupils In attendance upon the schools,
and the school children are ail busy
writing to their old home papers, and
to friends at a distance, and in many
of the Oregon cities and towns to per
cent of the high school children have
come into the state within the past
five years. What is true of the pub
lic schools is also true of the State
University, the State Agricultural Col
lege and other educational Institutions.
The business men go out and talk to
,the pupils, and this habit is becoming
general throughout the entire state.
Many of the commercial bodies in Ore
gon are offering prizes for the best
article that appears in a paper printed
outside Oregon and Washington; in
fact, we have reached a high point In
community advertising, and the results
have been beyond our expectations.
The best, evidence that the business
men. capitalists and good citizens of
Portland appreciate the Joint work- of
the Commercial Club and Oregon- De
velopment League is the fact that they
subscribed $350,000 for stock bearing
S per cent, and we are now building
an eight-story steel home, with roof
garden. The club will occupy the top
four floors and roof garden, each 100
by 100. making it the largest popular
commercial club west of the Missouri
River It not In the United States. The
rental from the basement and other four
floors will pay a large percentage of oul
interest, taxes and other expenses, and
within a few years the club can own ill
building free from debt of any kind, and
It will certainly be a monument to th
success of community advertising ol
which the entire Pacitic Northwest can
be proud.
as roadbulldlng. Often they are the
cheapest men of the community mere
place-hunters, owing their election to
the .meaner, rather than the better side
of their constituency. To combine with
the state increases the chances of get
ting good men, gives them more to do
and a greater reliance on the charac
ter of their work, as well as experi
ence. A building is rendered safer by
being braced in more than one direc
tion. The ..matter of the Siletz road be
came a contention between me, whom
chance had made its only aggressive
advocate, and the four men of the
County Court. I was amazed by the
filibustering retorted to to defeat the
project after It had been on the rec
ords, granted, and often felt that had
there been an appeal to the state or
any influential, intelligent, impartial
authority, a needless lot of trouble
would have been avoided.
In breadth there Is strength; diverse
interests and factions correct each
other. Oregon never was able to clear
herself of certain corrupt practices,
but the Federal Government, backed
by influences outside the state and the
right men In charge, found abundant
means to set things In order.
From any reflections this letter
makes upon the then County Court of
Lincoln, I wish to except Mr. Robert
Wakefield, of Alsea. then, perhaps now,
a Commissioner, and whom I always
found to be an Intelligent, broad-minded
man, ready to weigh a proposition
on its merits in the light of the largest
interest of the county.
there is no use to make them. If they
mean what they say then it Is better to
beware lest the answer come unexpected
ly like a thief in the night. It would be
a terrible disappointment to the Chris
tians if their prayers should be granted
before they were ready.
Once on a time a small boy was fish
ing on the bank of a stream. He was .
dreaming and dawdling and not paying
attention to his business. Suddenly a
fish snatched his hook. He was so sur
prised and excited that he fell in the
river. Let the thoughtless prayer-makers
beware. To t "make prayers" that you
do not mean is taking the name of the
IjOrd in vain, and the Lord will not hold
him guiltless who taketh his name in
vain.
On all sides 1 hear the sound of ob
jection. Oh, you can't, can't can't. Tou
can't. Indeed you can't. It Is not use
you can't It can't be done,, it is impos
sible. In reply to this chorus I say
there is no can't in my creed. I don't
believe a thing unless I know it is true.
Can la only another form of the old
Scotch or Saxon ken. I ken means I
know. The kenning one is the cunning
one the King the one who knows. This
is the King who rules by divine Tight.
His will is law. Inexorable "Thy will
be done on earth as It Is In heaven."
Corvallis, Or., April 12.
of. the arts of contractors, the above
argument of City Attorney McNary is
very humorous. Let the city offlctala
obey the law; let the contractors do
honest work and their pay will not bo
delayed under the present charter. It
wilt be hard to frame a charter that
can compel property-owners ' to pay
when city officials violate the charter
and contractors do not lay streets ac
cording to contract and that will wear.
In conclusion, let me suggest that
the property-owners of Portland have
paid out money enough for poor pav-
ing materials and workmanship to have
provided Portland with good streets.
So long as city officials allow poor
streets to be made and collect pay
enough for good streets from the property-owners,
so long will the problem
remain with us unsolved. Let us re
member our experience with and the
price paid for and the promises made
for these pavements in Portland: vitri
fied brick, bituminous asphalt, - asphalt,
wooden planks In all sorts of shapes
and sizes, wood blocks, treated and un
treated; rotten rock for macadam, boul
ders for gravel, etc.. etc.
Let us have the present charter en
forced, and then we won't need so many
amendments. If the charter is not en
forced the amendments will only bene
fit the man who Is selling the city poor
material and workmanship.