The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1900-01-12


II any one knew anything about the
llghlehip II ell. he came as near 70
/. az any one he knew Of and he
knew the story 10 be fabricated
rot from stern ~ stem. with this
rather conclusive statement all fur
ther inquiry was dropped and II Mr..
Mcln,osh's word goes FOR II. tbs ~.
fficd hghlshlp vail be safely an
chorcd on the buoy station at Tongue
Point within the next few days
Registration Of voters under the
provisions of the new law has Just
been begun at the county clerks
office. Up TO o'clock yesterday D. M.
50 voters had already filled out the
necesairy papers. Although the new
law IL based upon the Australian bal
Iot system. 1t differs materially from
the individual adaptations in force In
California. Nevada. and the other
states in the west whore reformed
system has ben adopted. In the first
place the Oregon registers are not
printed. as IL the case in all other
states and In this and a few minor
respects the system can but be re.
sarded a rather primitive. All regis
tra'ions are entered In a great official
register kept by the county cierk and
from this they are transferred or
copied Into prscinct registers. each
precinct having an individual copy
OF It's own. cGntalDng only the names
Of voters within the limits Of It's ,ur-
iSdlcuon. II is In the registration OF
voters In precincts outside Astoria
that the cumbersome features OF the
new law arc made more particularly
apparent. For instance. every voter
mus, fili out blank setting forth
his eligibility and personal descrlp-
tion. 20 which he Is required 90 sign
his name three tlmes. cath being
taken before any notary or justice
Of the peace. who forward the docu-
ments TO the county clerk. when
the anldavits and signatures succeed
In arriving at headquarters together
and intact. the clerk cuts out two u
the three signatures, one Is placed
opposite the entry on the great regis
ter and the other is pasted In the
preclnc, register The third IL left.
unacoompanled. 10 bear the burden
Of identification Of the original docu-
ment, which is kept on file among
other important archives at The court
house, This is the process that will
b. required OF every voter who wishes
TO cast his ballot at the forthcoming
general election. and the work must
be completed by May /. 1900.
1T Is falsel The statement that
overtures have been made by the O..
Il. & N. with view OF bringing about
an adjustment OF the rate war, and
that our company has declined TO
treat with them. is utterly without
TRUTH" declared one OF the managers
OF the Astoria & Columbia River
Railroad Company to an Astorlan re-
porter yesterday. How any credit
can be placed In such a report is
tncomprehenslble, in view OF the fact
that the history OF the whole affair
proves matters comclusvely TO hs
the reverse. II Is useless to attempt
TO improve the situation in anyway
through newspaper interviews" he
continued, for the matter is one that
can be remedled only by the manage
ment OF the two companies getting
together ON some reasonable ground.
AT present no such prospect is In
Aght for the O. r. & N. Is Just as
obdurate as It is unreasonable. II the
uNly way in which an adjustment
can be brought about lies in the AS
toria road throwing open It's safe to
the 0, II. & N. to the extent Of
one-third of its revenue in dlfferen-
tials, this llttle fight of ours will
continue till the crack Of doom. 1T
Is most preposteous proposition.
Figure II out for yourself Suppose,
for instance, that two persons were
merchandise stores, side
by side. one employed thirty clerks
and the other but ten. The ten
clerk merchant goes to the thirty
clerk merchant and arbitrarily de-
mauds from him one-third OF the in
come OF his establishment, and in the
event of a refusal threatens TO retail
late by selling his goods for less than
cos,-absolutely nothing. Do you
think for a moment that the thirty
clerk merchant would accede to such
a demand?-would he submit to q
bare faced hdld-up like that, II he
had any business stamina and back
lone at all? The proposition is too
ridiculous to be given a seconds
thought, yet this Is precisely the nt-
utude assumed by the o. r. & N,
and having some sense and regard for
fair business principles, the Astoria
q Columbia River road declines to be
held up. That's the proposition in a.
"a, ali