THE MORNING AJTOMAN, ASTOIUA. OREGON.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 18
if
Established 1873.
Published Daily Except Monday by THE J. S. DELLINGER CO.
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WEEKLY ASTORIAN.
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i
Entered as second-class matter July 30, 1906, a the postoffice at As
toria, Oregon, under the act of Congress of March 8, 1879.
. . Orders for the delivering of The Morning Astorian to either residence
or place of business may be made bypostal .card or through telephone.
Any irregularity in delivery should be immediately reported to the office
of publication. t v
TELEPHONE MAIN 661.
THE WEATHER
Oregon and Idaho Fair.
Washington Fair and cooler m
northeast and warmer in southwest
THE PORT FIRST
Without the necessity for spend
tng a million or more of money for
its formal establishment, the setting
op of the Port of Astoria, by its own
people, will be a long step toward
the accomplishment of many another
good and expedient thing for the city
and section. It is a mere matter of
popular authority that is -wanted to
make this a fixed and useful adjunct
to our commercial development; a
matter of progressive voting and sub
sequent careful oversight.
As a port, in the legal sense of the
".. term, Astoria will be in a position to
do much more for herself than at
present, and, as The Oregonian says,
we can "advertise" the harbor' with
direct and definite purpose and to
ends amply provided for. As it is,
our waters are but a highway, an
unregulated haven, a marine station
safe, commodious, accessible, but ut
terly ttnadapted to the huge scope of
usefulness that might be wrought,
not for ourselves entirely, but for
the whole Columbia Basin, including
PVr1nf 4tl1 a A7.11imAf.A Villa..
The port commission may be
. made the clearing agency for the
sea-wall and all other great and small
accessories in the way of permanent
improvement and commercial expan
sion; and, as a basis for such devel
opment, we know of nothing to com
pare with this busines-like and ap
propriate action on the part of As
torians, who of all people on the
earth are entitled to what benefits
appertaain to an organic port. We
rgc it in the best of faith, for the
common good, by way of its essen
tiality,, anifor 5 security it witf
add to our future demands, actions
and interests, as they unfold with the
immense future of the Northwest
We do not have to invest a single
dollar to put ourselves in the initial
attitude; we may take our time at
working out the details of establish
ment and equipment, if we but take
over the lawful and composite rights
that belong to us.
of local jealousies and prejudices.
There is no necessity for another
fish war on the Columbia, and as the
ean.iers and packers are the biggest J
beneficiaries at last it becomes their
duty to lead, with every strong in
nuence at their command, for a
concerted and final adjustment that
fhall include every lesser interest at
stake. It is an expedient moment
for the revision of the codes so that
the relative interest of every set of
men engaged snail De determined
with exactitude and honest propor
tion all along the line, and for the
elimination of those things at pres
ent known and complained of as in
congruous, the salmon hshenes of.
the Columbia are worth infinitely
more than the mere advantages
baldly claimed or held by any man
or group of men.
GRAFT-WEARINESS
There is not a metropolis, city
town, hntulet or organic district in
all this magnificent land of ours that
it not graft-weary. Go where one
may, read what one will, listen to
what talc is told from the outside, the
same story of shame and public dc
basement is forced upon the con
'.ciousness 'of the American who is
in any degree given to thinking out
civic problems.
We have got to the pass where we
Actually laugh at graft. Hut the laugh
does not ring right; there is & note
in it that will be heard, minus the
laugh, some day; a note of weariness,
communal sickness, sheer disgust and
of the sense Of blind weakness that
has permitted the modern scale am
scope of public and private theft to
pass from the exceptional and ex
traordinary to a common and ac
cepted rufe tif the business hour.
From the St. Croix mouth to As
toria, from the lakes to the gulf, with
no oasis of freedom, the curse runs
rampant and triumphant, dead against
the course of a nation's better judg
ment and undisputed knowledge; in
politics, finance, commerce, business,
in society, in trade and craft and pro
fession, in every association to which
man is amenable, in schools, frater
nities, , trades, and in the very
churches, the intolerable yet toler
ated scourge prevails almost un
checked, except when it becomes so
shameless that even a hardened pub
lic may not stand for it. Then the
whitewash and protection and fear
inspired rules are invoked, and the
courts themselves are employed, to
purge the immediate earth of the
evil and of the men committed to it
so deeply that human wit may not
save them.
We are a great and masterful peo
ple, so we are! j
SIDELIGHTS ON
SEAWALL PROJECT
A Card of Thanks
g Q Xll desire to return our sincere thauks to the music-loving public of Astoria for
Jy its heirty and kindly co-cperation with us in our successful endeavors to mar
ket high class pianos at lowest possible prices.
' During the extraordinary demonstration sale we have conducted at 421 Commer
cial Street, there have been sold three carloads of high grade instruments in just fifteen
working days. These include the supcrfc and justly celebrated Chickering, magnificent
Grands, the genuine Pianola Pianos, rls the glorious Weber, the piano of the ' opera
Pade'rewski's choice; the famous Kin 111, also the wonderful Eile.'s Orchestral Grand,
besides other well known old establ.'sisi makes. In fact, nothing that was not strictly
choice and in .every way desirable has been offered at this great sale.
We have never been identified with tne sale of cheap or medium grade pianos,
AND NEVER WILL. The name of
and always will be synonymous with
QUALITY FOR LOWEST PRICES."
That the Eiler's Piano House
ues are attractive is attested by the fact
has always been
"HIGHEST
prices and val
that we arc now
the largest retail piano concern in America. We have built up this great business from
Alaska to the Gulf of Mexico by never misrepresenting and sparing no pains to see that
every patron of our house is absolutely satisfied.
We are the originators of selling high class pianos and organs under price. Pur
chasing for FORTY well organized central Eilers stores enables us to secure advantages
in buying and handling that cannot be obtained in any other way. These advantages
we are always glad to share with our patrons.
AGAIN we desire to express our high appreciation of the co-operation of our
many hundreds of Astoria patrons who have bought their pianos from us in past years
and to those who so quickly responded to our splendid offers in this 'Igrcat sale" which
ends tomorrow night. A sale that unquestionably has been one of the fairest and bie-
gest reduced price ever held on the Coast. ,
We have just a few splendid bargains for today and Saturday in slightly used
pianos and organs taken au part payment on new goods during this sale. Come in and
pick them up. $38.50 will buy a fine organ worth $125; $100 will buy a splendid Up
right Piano and two or three other snaps of a like character; pay as best suits you. Don't
miss this for Saturday night ends this wonderful opportunity.
Interesting Facts and Figures Adduced at Meeting
Last Night Mr. Harris Resigns
At the joint meeting of the charter j ment that he drew, this protest would
LAW FIRST, LAW LAST
The Columbia salmon fisheries are
badly hedged in a triangle of law,
with two State codes and the federal
statutes looming large and at present
at wide variance. But we believe in
the law, and that it may be made to
unravel the snarl for which it is re
sponsible. The fact that the Constitutions of
Oregon and Washington give each'
State concurrent jurisdiction, for
criminal procedure, over the two
banks of the Columbia River should
have operated to preserve a better
and safer condition than now prevails,
especially in the matter of the fisher
ies. But since the legislation of each
State has departed widely from that
organic footing and conduced to an
inextricable mess it is the duty of our
people and those of Washington to
see to it that these great preserves
and the valuable industry they stand
for are not sacrificed to false pride
and an insensate greed.
There is plenty of law, business ac
umen and common honesty to save
the situation from the extremes of
criminal confusion if those at interest
will put good citizenship and a great
two-State trade above the promptings
COFFEE
You can buy something
called "coffee" at 10c lb
with 3000 miles of R R
freight from the roaster;
don't
Tw rwetr returns few Bene U m
Be SchUUas't Beit; V W
amendment committee with the bulk
head commission in the council cbam
ber last night the resignation of S. .
Harris from the commission of nine
was formally announced. Mr. Kab-
oth, of the charter amendment com
mittee, stated that Mr. Harris found
it necessary to positively decline his
services, not because he did not favor
the project, but because of reasons
of business and health. There were
no other resignations. Dr. Logan, as
chairman, later in the session called
for suggestions of names to fill Mr.
Harris' place. Mr. Kankinen sug
gested the name of Tom Nelson, but
no action was taken on the matter.
The meeting last night was an in
teresting one, and though very little
actual business arose for settlement
there were many Interesting and per
haps valuable sidelights thrown upon
the entire project. ,
The only change made in the bulk
head amendment was one suggested
by Captain Flavel, of the commission.
The bill provided that property own
ers whose properties would be filled
in as an incident to the project would
have 20 years in which to pay there
for. This was changed to 30 years.
Of the charter amendment commit
tee, Councilmen Logan, Kaboth and
Leinenweber were present, and of the
commission Messrs. Flavel, Mauke,
Kankinen, Birch, Goddard and Dr.
Kinney. A. M. Smith, as attorney for
the committee, was also present, as
was the city attorney, Mr. Abercrom
bie. There were no citizens present,
though Councilman Stangeland came
in late and remained an interested
auditor.
Mr. Smith, at the request of Dr.
Logan, explained in concise manner
the purposes and scope of the whole
project, and as he covered the mat
ter briefly for their edification it be
came evident that at least the bill is
drawn with much care and in its mi
nor points is evidently a compara
tively perfect instrument. It shows
the months of work put on it by the
committee. and the attorneys. Mr.
Smith explained that it would not be
necessary for the commission to sell
all of the $300,000 bonds atr once;
small portions of this sum may be
expended as the work proceeds, if the
matter should become a law. The
commission may reject any or all
bids. There may be remonstrances.
He explained the effect of remon
strances also. If owners of three-
be availing, and would prevent action;
provided, however, that any such re
monstrance made by owners of at
least three-fifths of the property in
volved may be rendered of no effect
by a two-thirds vote of the commis
sion of nine. That is, by a twothirds
vote of the commission any remon
strance may be ovfircome. According
to Mr. Smith's statement, this two-
thirds vote must be of the entire com
mission and not of the members pres
ent and voting. It was also explained
that the commissioners " now ap
pointed will hold office until 1915,
when their elective successors are to
succeed them.
Mr. Kankinen asked in relation to
the manner of taxation for the bulk-,
head proper. It was explained that
for this the entire city must pay. It
is to be by general taxation, just as
the entire city paid for the city hall.
All of the filling in of lots, however,
and the cost of new sewerage sys
tems, etc., must be paid for by the'
property owners benefited. Mr.
Smith also endeavored to emphasize
the fact that while the entire city is
to pay for the bulkhead ( always pro
viding that the matter becomes a
law), that bonds will be sold which
will run for many years for 40 or 50
years and thus the real payment is
"postponed." He showed clearly that
it ts contemplated that the city's pos
terity must really foot the bills, and
this course he justified by the assump
tion that the city will have been so
greatly benefited by the project that
posterity should naturally be called
upon to pay for the benefits received.
We are to pay merely the interest.
(This familiar argument of course im
plies that the present citizens arc not
to be benefited so greatly as the fu
ture ones are to be, and it further
presumes that the benefits are cer
tain, and not assumed. The argu
ment naturally fails the moment that
the project becomes a losing venture
instead of a paying venture. In some
of the States of the Union the Consti
tutions, seeing great evils from this
course, forbid the present from 'sad
dling" debts on the future beyond a
certain point.) ; '
Mr. Smith made his address inter
esting. Mr. Kaboth arose to aver that
the additional tax from the sale of
the bonds would be "merely nomi
nal;" that is, that all this generation
would have to "pay would be the in
terest, never amounting to more than
351-3-5 Washington St.
PORTLAND, ORE.
a jl Nl. r v a
LOCAL BRANCH
424 Commercial St.
ASTORIA
WHOLESALE WAREHOUSE
Cor. 13th and Northrup Sts.
PORTLAND
fifths of the property involved remon- "$15,000 a year." This, he said, might
strate, it would appear from Mr. mean as much as $2.50 for a lot up on
Smith's interpretation of the instru the hillside. All seemed to agree that
the additional taxation from the bonds
would be comparatively light.
It was then suggested that the peo
ple would have twenty years in which
to pay for the filling in of their Indi
vidual lots, etc. The fact that the
great cost of the whole project will
not be from the bonds, but will be
upon the ' property owners whose
lands are affected, was not empha
sized, but apparently not purposely
kept in the background. Captain
Flavel suggested that the twenty years
might be lengthened to thirty years,
so as to lighten the burden upon the
property owners, and this amendment
was made. '
Dr. Logan, who has made a .wide
study of the matter, then stated that
estimates had been made of the cost
of filling in the lots. It was stated
that to fill in the adjacent streets and
the lots would cost approximately
from $400 to $600 per lot. ;
No e'stimate was made of the extra
cost involved in raising grades, cre
ating new sewerage systems, new
drainage, etc., and in handling build
ings now on the properties.
At this point Dr. Logan made an
address covering the entire matter,
and in it the speaker made many tell
ing points against Astoria's lethargy
in business matters and in favor of
active, progressive, up-to-date plans.
"We figure that it will cost about $15
a foot to drive the piles for the bulk
head," he said. "We saw no need for
hiring expensive engineers to tell us
how to drive piles.
"We figured that to.drive the piles
for a bulkhead from Smith's Point
to a point near Tongue Point the to
tal cost would be about $300,000,
"An addition of one-half mill upon
last year's valuations would more than
pay the interest for the first year
upon the proposed bond issue."
' Dr. Logan had mentioned the bulk
head along the Uniontown water
front. "But we don't want a sea wall
there," said Mr. KaKnkincn, "as we
want it open so thqt the' boats can
get in and out."
It was explained that Uniontown
need not have a bulkhead if it doesn't
want one, that it is "up to" the com
mission to decide just wher the wall
would be built.
At this point an interesting dis
Mr. Smith explained that, generally
speaking, the city had no such right;
that the only cases wherein it has
such a right arc where the property
is condemned under the privilege of
eminent domain for public purposes,
and under the very wide powers
granted municipalities under the des
ignation of "police powers." Under
its police powers Astoria may have
the right to enter, in upon these pri
vate properties for sanitary purposes;
and if not for purely sanitary pur
poses, the speaker intimated, perhaps
it has no right at all.
"While Mr. Abcrcrombic and I
would not want to stake our full rep
utations as lawyers upon this mat
ter," he sjjid, "we are disposed to
think the bill will be legal that it
will hold water." Mr, Smith's atti
tude and words seemed to denote that
while there may be some room for
doubt upon this, subject, nevertheless
he is satisfied the courts would surely
uphold the validity of the bill.
At the conclusion of the discussion
of the bulkhead matter Dr. Logan
stated that, the committee had other
amendments to propose, and he asked
for opinions on the advisability of
doing away with the street superin-
tendency and city surveyorship as
elective offices and making them ap
pointive. It is expected that such an
amendment will be offered, though
nothing has been publicly said in these
meetings lately, at least about
making the police commission ap
pointive, instead of elective as now.
In some quarters there is a strong de
mand for this latter change, and if
the amendment committee doesn't
propose the change it is known that
others will.
"What do you think of having an
amendment limiting the number of
saloons?" asked Dr. Logan. "That is,
having only a certain number of sa
loons in proportion to the popula
tion?" There are said to be two sides to
this question. While, generally speak
ing,' many would favor the limitation
on general grounds, nevertheless it
might work in an unexpected way. It
might be worded or "worked" so as
to prevent agitation for doing away
with saloons in certain districts that
have a tendency to go "dry."
. At present there are 50 saloons.
to think, if it at the same time can be
operated, so as not to prevent the ac
tivities of those who arc endeavoring
to extend the dry districts. It it said
that some of 'the leading saloonkeep
ers would also favor the plan, as hav
ing a tendency to uplift and better
their business. -
OPEN-SHOP PDINCIPLE.
Latest "Phase Of Policy Announced
By The United Typothetae.
NEW YORK, Sept. 17.-The Uni
ted Typothetae of America, has adop
ted a declaration of policy confirming
the open shop plan. Among other
planks it contains the following:
"The United Typothetae of Amer
ica are opposed to any agreement be
tween the local typothetae or individ
ual members thereof and employes
unions for the control of trade or
membership."
A number of the New York mem
bers are in favor of permitting indi
vidual members who believe their
business - requires it, to make con
tracts with local unions, provided
such contracts conform to the spirit
of the open shop policy, subject to
the approval of the National Exec
utive Committee.
The Typothetae has also re-elected
the principal officers' to serve for an
other year. They are: E. Lawrence
Fell, Philadelphia, president; Wilson
H, Lee, New Haven, vice-president;
John Maclntyre, New York, secre
tary. A. M. Glasbrcnner, of Indianapo
lis, was re-elected treasurer, and an
executive committee of nineteen
members, most of them being re
elected, was elected. '
Boys wanted to carry papers, Ap-.
ply Circulation Department, Astorian
Office. 9-17-tf
Y. P, 3. C E. Meeting. . .
The members of the Y. P. S. C. E.
of the First Presbyterian Church will
entertain their friends on Thursday
evening, September 17, 1908, at the
home of Mr, and Mrs. Van Tuyl, 268
Tenth street, 9-16-2t
Millinery Opening.
You are invited to the opening dis
cussion arose upon the right of the , That means that there is a saloon for play of fall and winter millinery at
city to enter upon private property about every 250 or 275 residents A the La Mode, 682 Commercial street,
to fill it in and otherwise improve it. limitation seems required, many seem Saturday, September 19th. 9-16-4t
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