The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1901-11-27
Mr.. A. B. HAMMOND'S
ANSWER TO THE SUBSIDY
COMMITTEES
Showing the Position Taken BY
Him i'm the Matter OF Securing
sash and Door Factory,

We publish the following letter from
Hon c. w. Fusion and a copy q The
ie,yer from Ms, A, Il, Hammond tc
Mr. Bowlby Of this city in regard L
the sash and door fas,ory. desiring tc
give both sides OF the question wnAh
is Of such great importance to ;his
city. to our readers ani feeling sure
the popular verdict will be in Accord
ance with the true facts 1, s Ques-
tion OF vital import 10 every property
holder in Astoria AMI as suoh We MAKE
it public,
Astoria Oregon, Nov sS, 1901.
Morning As,or,sn.
Astoria. oregon;
on the 5th inst, Judge Bowlby AZ the
request Of the committee having IN
charge the matter of securing a sub
shiy for the sash ami CNSor factory, ad-
dressed a ietter to Mr. A. b. HammoIld
relative thereto, Mr.. HammOni an
sNered and Judge Bowiby delivered his
letter to the commit,ea TIE answer
was no; designed t,r publication. but
on sha l7th inst, the ASt1sian contained
an article purporting to state the taCss
relative 10 the subsidy situation and
also assuming 10 state the substance
of Mr.. HauEn1nd's letter. That por-
ton of the arcicle rs6errng TO Mr..
Hammond was in spirit SO nanitestly
unfair and the statements credited 10
MS letger were such mixture II half
truth and untr1Ish. thai Mr.. Hammond
requested the commi;tee TO publish his
letter in fun. So TO do. The committee
declined, and thereupon Mr.. Ham
mond forwarded TO ME a copy Of the
lester and reQues,ed me 10 deliver 4
to the Astorian for publication, and l
therefore submit the same herewith.
In doing this do not wish 70 be under
stood as IN anyw-ise criticising the
committee. Nor do I rise u offend Mr..
Hammond; ne is amply able to take
care Of himselt. In the interest of this
community, howeyUr. l do express my
sincere regret thai thsne should exist.
as Il seems 10 me there does disposi-
ton on the par1 Of some citizens OF As
tora 10 systemically and purposely mis-
nh ~ a },
and IS sin enieavor.ng TO DO 50 much
for this seetiJn, and 70 WON We must
50 largely look for help In the future.
In view u thess attacks It is not sur
prising that Mr. Hammond's Letter
should indicate something Of irritation.
I, is constantly being inslnua-ed. II
not Directly charged. tha- n has not
kept faith with US IN waat pArii ular
has NJ so failed? He agreed TO build a
certain line Of railroad for a certain
subsidy wiz anyone as er; thst tce
character ami quality Of TIE subs dy
were as greatly in excess OF REQUIRE
ments a. the raslroad when construct
cd proved to be?
He gave Us thu best road that money
could build. DID We select our land
dona.i)ns from among he most desira-
bic of our holdings? It 4s charged by
some tina: he Is endeavorsng 20 get con-
trol OF AL our harb1r fs-Jntaga Wen.
II ne should, he would have - emplsy
il in order 70 render the holi.ng 4 Z
probably But what has Se ine q
Justly MS charge? He owns PERSONAL
Is nons Will he and associates own
comparatively 'ittl=. AMI tha, whien
they have purchased (snl It Is only
one tract). they offer 70 -he cmm' ttea
for just what 81 cost with six per cent
interest and taxes adiei. To o-her
from age owned by the Ast5ra CJm-
pany s the railroad subsidy frontage
and that, or such portion Thereof as the
committee shall require. h 0ffers %
ssll at the same rate h pr5p1sed 10
pay the Tayl0rs f0r thu tract h en- 5eay-
ored 10 secure from them ses a Touring
mill site; not. mind YOU. al the rae
demanded Of him, but al he rate per
froHt foot offered by him. l. there
anything in all ths That evidences a
splltt of selfshness or a desire to secure
control u cur barber frontage? Now I
want tc see the subsidy for the sash
and door factory raised. and d not
agree with Mr. HammJnd tha. it is
wholly inoppJrtune, thougl | ayr r.
tDat in the natural order Of things We
should have saw mills first. Still there
are mills in this viAnsy At SEASIDE,
WarrentOn. KnapptOn. Westport. etc,
are saw mills, and there is riI= McGreg-
or mill az Upper Astoria, doubtless
overlooked by Mr. Hammond. 50
think we are ready for the sash and
dor factory and ! want to see II
brought mere. Still as compared with
the subsidy proposed to BE- givn it and
which l sincerely hope will Be secured
for Fl. the subsidy asked by Mr.. Ham
mOnd and his associates Tor the four
ing mill, and the combined saw mil,
SASH dAih uDOf La VI , pump iA'Ait FtS''
was very small indeed. Mr.. HammZnd
and associates proposed to invest not
less than six hundred thousand dollars
and probably over One million dollars.
He asked simply site and stock sub
scnption to the Touring nal Of $4,000.
At the price demanded by owners Of
desired sites, to have raised the subsidy
would have required us to nalse about
$4,000. I believe.
The sash and door factory owns ma
chinery, l understand, valued at about
nine thousand 100000 dollars, and we
are required to furnish a site and erect
thereon a building costing $4,000, and
build a railrJad, switch thereto bhe