The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-11-14
BUILDINGS OR NOT?
One Of the Principal Questions
Now Before Congress.
BILLS sTRANoLED BY REED.
The Speakers Rulings Contributed to De-
feat Claims Of Seattle, Tacoma.
Spokane aud walla Walla.

WAsHrs6roH CRY. Nov. 13.-lSpecial.l-
One oil she principal issues OF the ession Of
congress now near will to public build
ings or no public buildings. ALI remember
how Speaker Reed throttied such measures
last summer, and MANY here believe that
this course cost the election OF more than
one Republican. But. politics aside, there
Is rest Tor the weary and wicked. too, for
two years to come. The public building
question will be prominent again, and of
fers many difficulties TO those who direct
legislation. II the bars are once down
there will be astampede. Leading on the
calendar OF the House there are thirty-6ve
bills. each making provision for public
building somewhere, the most of which
have passed the Senate and only need
square vote in the House to
step out laws. In addition, there
are many over . hundred of such
measures which have passed safely through
the committee on pubic buildings in each
body, ami only need the opportunity to
pass safely into the statute books. Mill
these public building bills. The situation
is. then, that none must pass, or else quite
all, for if the committee on public buildings
shines. There is suggestion, however.
that the House pass an apportionment bill,
OF course the third house mean, giving to
each state its just proportion of the public
buildings to be authorized. Tais perhaps.
would be tougher job than the apportion-
ment bill which the new census compels.
But it may be said that some arrangement
of this kind must be made or else the COM
mittee on public buildings will never
catch the speakers eye" before the gaveI
raps out the dead congress on March
next.
This is pretty long introduction to say
that Washington is particularly interested
in pubic buildings, as-~she has next to
none. There are, though, four Washing
ton cities that will lay siege to congress in
Observation-Disclosures Walla, Tacoma, Spokane
Falls and Seattle. Where so many are
good it may make difficult Q choice, but,
ike the fellow who was visiting seven girls
in one family. congress can't marry them
all. The advocates of each place, then, must
put their best loot forward and to aid each
and every one OF them propose to tell
the best and strongest argument offered for
these cities so that each tub can be said to
stand on its own bottom.
Walia Walla comes forward as the money
center of the region east of the Cascades
and south OF Snake river. to be precise;
backed up by q number of railroads, of
which it il also the center, besides it has
the United States courts. This last is q
strong card, be it known, for congress
always considers pubic building more
necessary when the courts are to be pro-
vided with q home. This may be short.
but it condenses all the essential arguments
for Walla Walla which are not common to
other places. unless it might be said that
not quite so much money is asked here as
at some other points.
+ To jump across the state, and yet follow
the alphabet inversely. Tacoma is next
Tacoma also has United States court,
and, it is to be feared, q litigious people. as
nearly 900 suits were entered therein last
year. The more people. though, the more
necessity for a courtroom. It is difficult to
write OF its Claims however. without con-
tie. Perhaps the better way would be 10
wait until your own city is reached and
then say that Tacoma goes you one better
every time.
First, to keep on regardless of conse-
quences, Tacoma lis the great commercial
entrepot of the Orient" at lea It so says q
friend of the city, know nothing what
ever about it, not even what the quotation
means-and lis the chief city in the state
in commercial importance. I have here
done Tacoma favor by leaving out
statement which is somewhat contradicted
by the census, for the quotation originally
read sin population and commercial i'm
portance" But Tacoma has its strong
points, and believes in claiming everything,
like the politician before election.
The friends OF Spokane Falls lay down
the startling doctrine that Eastern and
Western Washington are two distinct re-
gions, at least geographically speaking and
when an appropriation is involved. Then,
having settled upon q legitimate division of
territory, they proceed to annihilate Walla
Walla's claims by claiming themselves to
be the business metropolis and commercial
center east of the Cascade, and that, too,
without any restriction about the Snake
river.
Seattle! Why, it would take all the fer
vid eloquence of Southern oratory to tell
why Seattle should have public building.
First, though, and in common language.
because it is the first city in the state of
Washington, has the most people, does
the most work, and as q government CEN
ter it Is superior TO all the others put to-
gether; and it must not be forgotten that
Uncle Sam is looking out for himself in
this instance. Locally it is the political as
well as the business center, and it, too, has
q United States court, in which, by the
LORDS blessing. it should do the smallest
business in the state and be proud of The
achievement. There are now over sixty
officials OF the government in Seattle to be
housed, while ten years ago one man and
and a girl found ample accommodations for
month. Seattle ought to have
q pubic building as a monument to its en-
terprise, even though the other cities do
all the business and have monopolzed the
trade in commercial ceuters. Seattle does
the largest land Office business of any dis
trict in the United States, which, perhaps,
might lead the envious to suggest that this
is because everybody is moving out into
the country. This is not so. as you well
know. but if congress does not hurry up
the government will have to go out into the
country to get site upon which to put
public building. 1t is only site that the
people are nov after, but the supervising
architect says that building is wanted as
much as the size. and he will guarantee to
get them both Tor about three-quarters OF a
million dollars.
Supreme Court Of Washington.
OLYMPIA. Nov l3-fSpeciaI. lin the SUI