The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-08-23
THE SALE PUT OFF.
Politics Mixed in Port Angeles
Townsite Affair.
PAPERS FIGHT FOR ADVERTISING
sale fassponed TIN January I and Pub
IieasSon OF Notices Tnf Dems-
erats Ran Land once.

Yesterday the United States land osSce
IN this city received .he foiowing telegram
from Commissioner s. w. Lamoreux, Of
the general land Office:
sale Of PORT Angeles tnwrsite lots post
ponea until January |. fsel Discontinue
proof notice."
Register 7. u. Reed. il. not thinking
TIE order was intended 10 embrace those
notices for taking final proof which had
already been ordered Published. sent dis
patch TO the commissioner asking If an
addsnda could not be put on those notices
stating that the sale had been postponed,
and then ALLOW those notices 10 be pub
hshed and the final proof in those cases be
taken by the land office. In reply he re-
eesved the following dispatch:
Discontinue notice OF publication Of
sale OF teEnsite as q whole IN the Port
Angeles and Seattle papers rs ordered in
instructions Of jail. II, and also anal proof
notices"
This action of the department is incom-
preaensibie unless IL is the result of po-
htical meneuvering. Certain it is that il
viii work q hardship on many settlers
who have gone to considerable trouble and
expense In order to get their proof ready
for presentation. Over 100 applications
have already been received at the land
office Tor notices Of final proof in
support Of settlement aud improve
ment Of the lots on the town
site reserve, and the dates Of taking the
proof on great many of them have been
set and the notices sent to the newspapers
for publication. but fortunately the publ
cation of them has not yet begun. Regis
ter Reed said yesterday:
The postponement of the sale was all
right, but do not understand the reasons
for disseminating the Publication OF the
notices. What the people Of Port Angeles
wanted and what We wanted here IN this
office was Q longer time between the begin
ming Of taking proof of settlement and the
time of sale. The people wanted the time
because many OF them have their money
tied up in the defunct First National bank
there and cannot get 10 out. What they
wanted was TO prove up on their claims
and then have time to leave the town and
earn enough money 20 paw the assessed
valuation for their lots before the sale
would occur. We In the Office here
wanted longer time 10 examine the
proofs submitted. The instructions sent
stated that the lots must be sold in Octo-
Der. 30 We put the date off az long as pos.
sibie and set il for the 3lsi, and this only
gives rs thirty days TO examine these
proofs.
There are some 1000 claims to be ex.
amined and it will take at least ten or
fifteen minutes to examine each claim, so
that to have all that work crowded into
thirty days will swamp the Office. Now
that notice has been given of the sale,
many people have gone to the expense Of
buying blanks, paid the printers fee for
publishing them and are now daily expect
srwr 49, L. ~.xA IL ~,
to see when they must appear here and
submit their proof. MANY people would
like to make their proof and get away from
Port Angeles, bat now they must stay
there and the work will have 20 be done
all over again"
There is suspicion that political schem-
ing of q mercenary nature 10 at the bottom
of the discrimination of the publication
of the notices. The register has the giving
out of the publication Of the notices, and
as there are some 1900 OF them, at IS
apiece, the total amount would be q neat
little sum for a country newspaper. Each
of the three political parties has an organ
At Port Angeles, and when the date set fol
receiving applications for notices of fnal
proof arrived the Populist organ cut
the price OF publication down to $3.50
and as result secured the great majority
of the contracts for publication. This
alarmed the Democratic organ, which
thought that it should have the lion d
share of the patronage under a Democratic
administration, and also the Republican
organ. which thought that Republican
register of the land Office IN the few days OF
patronage left ut his disposal ought TO see
that his party organ was looked after. and
their proprietors made haste 10 come down
here and see Register Reed, who pacified
them by saying that he would
divide the entire patronage between
the two and leave the PopuIist paper out
in the cold entirely, because /, had no cir
culation TO amount to anything anyway.
But ID Is suspected that State Committee
man Maioney was not satisfied with half
loaf for his paper and has pulled the
strings. which has resulted in declaring
the whole deal Off until Democratic reg
lister shall have been appointed, when ne
hopes TO get the publication OF the entire
batch of notices.