Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1900-04-03
NEW PLAN PROPOSED.
One That May Involve Solution
of the Levee Warehouse
Question.
OFFERED MERELY ASA SUGGESTION.

| Sch sme by Which the City Would Re-
main Master OF the Situation, If the
Structure Is Be Allow ed, and Yet Give
Packets the Facilities They Desire and
Merchants Seek for Them.
No one ought to be against q propo-
sition for the mere satisfaction of
, being against it. And if it is a mat
| ter of principle that prompts an at
| titude he who assumes it should in
fairness be willing to submit to those
who may suffer through purs uance of
his policy, at least possible way out
of the difficulty. THE ARGUS is OPP
posed to any warehouse on the levee,
but it is more opposed to the city
vacating to private control any por-
ton of the improved river front. Its
opposition to the erection of any ware
house there is a matter of taste; it's
opposition to the city abandoning to
private control any of the new water
front is one of principle. The city
cannot retain possession of what has
been improved at public expense if it
gives it away by lease, ordinance or
otherwise. And if the city recognizes
the right of one steam boat company
| to special privileges there it will sooner
or later be obliged to concede the sam e
rights to other corporations. Then
the levee will cease not only to be the
thing of beauty that has occasioned
the admiration of river men up and
down the Mississippi since it was COM
pleted, but eventually it's utility for
general river commerce will disap-
pear.
But, as has been said before, the
levee was designed for practical COM
mercial uses as we'll as for its attractive
features. One season without wharf
facilities has demonstrated to the salts
faction of a large percentage ofthe bust
ness men of the city that-ome such
Accommodations as are lacking should
be provided for the benefit of the short
line packets that touch here daily and
run pretty much all of the river season.
To meet this emergency and still re-
tain to the city absolute control of the
levee, public warehouse owned and
governed by the municipality has been
suggested. The ma ority of the peo
pie who have made the subject one of
disintPrested consideration favor
heartily such a plan, but there are
those in the community-as always
happens tC be the case where public
project is concerned who are
not satisfied to entertain views
contrary to those of other people, but
who want to 90 out and fight every
body who disagrees with them, and
who seek to force the city to their
way of thinking if it becomes neces-
sary to 90 to law to accomplish it.
To say that the people who come with
in this category are-very few there
are of them in Rock Island, Fortunate
ly-short sighted, is a mild way of
expressing it.
However, the warehouse question is
one that should be settled on some basis
of understanding, one that above all
else will safeguard the city's inter-
ests. As stated before. he who OBJ
jects to one way should suggest an
other. The plan of municipal owner
ship has been proposed. so has that of
a floating dock. Either of these plans
would prove popular, THE ARGUS is
satisfied, and either would dispose of
the matter. But if neither of these
ideas should be adopted, how would
this program do: