The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1897-03-31


odge ~ facts or evidence thereof jus
ufying such a chaTge. h. should imme-
dlately acqualnt the public with the
SANE. and having a.. II he falls 20 do
~. he II IN my judgment wholly 'un-
worthy Of such Office. and the same
can be truthfully said n, IN making
such grave charge. he ls not pos
scNr.d n such facts or evidence.
Fortunately. IN this controversy
there r. no occasion whatever "a make
charges u iobbery or mysterious dir
appearance " payers The Astoria
Iron Works one u the most ener-
getic and enterpriSing Of our citizens.
has, by LIS eBergy and busines ability,
procured contract to make certain
repairs upon the government steamer
Mmnzanita In order 10 complete this
contract Il will neossssitate the expen-
diture ~ many thousands Of dollars
in this city. and the giving ~ a large
amount u employment 10 q large num-
bcr of our iaborfnR men. Il II n fact
that, although the natural point for
the construction OF the ways whereon
to place vessels and repair the same
II at Ast0rih. none have been built
,bcas.: and IN order 10 complete this
contract Il II necessary to construct
ways. which also involves the selection
u some advantageous point This has
been determined 10 be Smiths Point.
Now. permit me TO say right here that
had some person not residing or doing
business here secured this important
contract. and had such contractor even
suggested the possibility Of doing the
work here and building ways that
could be used In the future for like.
work. there would have been held a
meeting Of the business men. subsidy
would have been raised and grounds
dedicated or purchased. and In my
humble Judgment no breath or suspi-
cion would have been raised that there
Poin, But the iron works being a
local concern. residing In the city. en-
ploying local labor and contributing
generally 20 the well-being Of the city.
has undoubtedly Incurred the jealousles
and cnmltiss of persons (and | do not
refer 10 the eminent councilman who
have sought 10 hinuSer and annoy II
In its business; hence the charge OF
jobbery' and mysterious disappear
ance" But why jobbery? Why mys-
,erious disappearance In all candor
could a not have been stated that the
papers relating to this road had been
mislald and could not az that time
be found? Indeed. | took the trouble
o. call at the county clerks office and
inquire II our worthy councilman had
made any inquiry for these papers, and
was Informed that he had not No
man and committee OF streets and pub
lie ways and the Astoria Iron Works
with 'jobbery," and even the county
clerk, who has absolutely no interest
IN the matter whatever. with causing
the mysterious disappearance" OF the
papers relating 10 this road. Again.
why all this?
The whole truth about this matter
can be stated In very few words,
At the request OF the iron works
made an examination Of the records
- Fv, 4,,N.
the Smiths Point road had been va
Gated. This being the first time that
| had my attention called to II. I'm
mediately examined the record. but
could not then find the original petit
tion. or proof OF posting notice OF the
hearing thereon. The county clerk was
then very busily engaged with the
county commissioners. l finally aban-
doned the search. with the promise
from the officials 10 continue the search
at some convenient time and confined
my examination to the records. The
result OF my investigation is found In
my opinion. which has been published
which. by the way, was not intended
TO be and was not written for that
purpose. Now mark what follows. The
clerk has found the original papers
found them where they were placed by
and found them all together No per-
son excepting he who wrongfully de-
sired that the proceedings relating to
the vacation of this road should be
suppressed, to the end that the same
would be held not county road, could
possibly desire them to "mysteriously"
or otherwise disappear, for the original
papers show beyond controversy that
there still does exist the Smiths Point
road. as originally laid out. 1t appears
from the original papers
1. That the petition to vacate the
road does not decribe the beginning.
intermediate points or terminus OF the
road to be vacated, but simply de-
scribes II as the Smiths Point road"
The statutes provide that this petition
must describe the beginning. interme-
diate points and termination of the
road to be vacated.
.. The notice posted was signed only
by L. LebeclS and Martin johnson.
The statutes provide that the notices
must be signed by twelve household
ers.
3. There is absolutely no proof of
the posting Of any notice thirty days
previous to the hearing The law pro-
vldes that proof must accompany the
petition, that notice has been posted
thirty days previous to the hearing.