The islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1891-1899, 1897-04-22
The Official Paper of San Juan County.
THE TIDE LAND CONTEST.

The ISLANDER lccio lhots
the county commissioners have made
a mistake which may cost the county
dearly in instituting legal proceedings
to defeat the application of Mr.. E. G.
Earle for the purchase of the Friday
Harbor tide lands, without making
the least effort to compromise the mat
ter, or even enquire upon what terms
the applicant would relinquish the
rights which he appears to have &C
quired clearly within the provisions of
the law. Two weeks ago we took the
liberty to suggest that 'before taking
any steps to institute contest in the
courts the commissioners should i'll
struct the county attorney to commu-
nicate with Mr.. Earle and ascertain
upon what terms he will relinQuish
whatever rights he may have acquired
to the tide lands abutting the county
property" And at the same time we
expressed the opinion that "it is not
improbable that settlement can be
made with him at very slight ad-
vance, if any, over the cost of the lands
if purchased directly from the state,
and if that can be done it is certainly
preferable to a legal contest which
would necessarily involve considerable
expense, and in which the chances
would apparently be against the coun-
ty."
This suggestion was made in the ut
most good faith and was prompted
solely by desire to save unnecessary
expense to the taxpayers. But the COM
missioners have seen fit to pursue a
different course and we will cordially
rejoice with them if it proves to be the
wiser. We repeat, however, that in
our opinion they have made mistake,
and if it so transpires the readers of
THE ISLANDER will be able to bear
witness to the fact that the mistake is
one which we earnestly endeavored to
prevent. That we were not mistaken
inlour judgment of Mr.. Earle's DISPOSE
ton TO fairness in the matter is pretty
conclusively shown by a letter received
from him since the publication of the
first editorial upon the subject in which
he says, referring to the action of the
commissioners: "Make a note of the
fact that they could have settled with
me at cost not exceeding S75, and see
how much they save the taxpayers of
the county in the end. This figure is
no secret, you may use it any time you
see fit.n
The amount mentioned, legal price
of fifteen chains of tide land, is mere
bagatelle compared with the expense
which will necessarily be incurred If
the case is carried to the highest court,
and we are advised that Mr.. Earle is
prepared to carry it there if the county
persists in its contest. We regret the
necessity of taking issue with the COM
missioners in this matter, for they are
all gentlemen for whom we entertain
the highest respect, but we conceive it
to be not merely our privilege but our
duty to inform the taxpayers of the
facts as we understand them, and they
can Judge for themselves, now or later,
as to the wisdom of the course which
the Board has entered upon. In his
notice of protest the county attorney
says: "That said application, if grant
ed, would off cut entirely the COM
merce of said town (meaning Friday
Harbor) and a large portion of San
Juan county, and would cause great
and irreparable loss, inconvenience
and ruin to the property of said San
Juan county,"
Candidly, does it look like sound
business judgment to take the chances
of such ''lrreparable loss, inconvenience
and ruin," rather than settle the whole
matter amicably and economically by
the payment of So to Mr.. Earle for
the REIMBURSEMENT of his rights, and
leave him to settle as he may see fit
with the other parties concerned?
1.-THE editor has been informed by Mr.,
ILdIl0 llldb at Cut tlIll6 1C iIldUC his aDnll-
cation for the purchase of the Friday Har-
Dor tide land he was not aware of the
cOunty's ownership of any of the upland,
and that as soon as he ascertained such to
be the case he wrote to the then chairman
of the board of commissioners and asked
to be informed as to the amount of up
land owned by the county abutting on
the tide land applied for, and stated that
upon receipt of such information he
would make the county proposition for q
settlement. In reply he received 8
courteous letter from the chairman stat
ing that he could take no action in the
matter until the April meeting of the
board. Under date of April Bird, how
ever, only two days before the meeting
of the meeting of the board, a protes
signed by the chairman for and on behal
ofthe county, and dated March so. was
filed in the Office of the land commission.
er at Olympia, and this action on the part
of the then chairman was ratified by tn,
board at it's session April 6. The tim,
fixed by law within which to file a pro-
tes0 in this case did not expire unit
April 15.]
A STRONG ENDORSEMENT.