The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1903-11-26
A B00MLET FOR
SHAW ISLAND
A DIABOtICAL CONSPIRACY RE
VEALED FROM OLGA
Newspaper Correspondent Says That a
Plan to Remove County Seat is Being
Quietly Promoted at East Sound, West
Sound and Roche Harbor.

lie SOuS ana llttle IlSueS! What !"
Deep dark and diabolical conspiracy
has come to light through the vigilant
Olga correspondent of the Fairhaven
Herald! This astute journalist in a
"specian to the Herald under date OF
Nov. II land which, by reason of the
Herald's wireless grapevine service,
was published on the same date-al-
though. mail from the islands does not
reach Fairhaven until several hours
after the paper goes to press) says:
"a movement, which has for its object
the removal of the county seat from Fri
day Harbor to Shaw's island, is being
quietly promoted at East Sound, West
Sound and Roche Harbor. These districts.
voted against an appropriation of $4,000
for new court house at Friday Harbor,
at the last election. Many of the voters
then had in mind the prospective re-
moval of the county seat, and an effort to
that end will undoubtedly be made.
Shaw's island is much nearer the center
of San Juan county. and much more con-
venient to a majority of the residents of.
the county. With the county seat at
Shaw's island, it will be possible for
about all Of the residents of the county to
go there and return to their homes on the
same day."
How strange that the pioneers Of the
county were 80 short sighted when
they selected the site for the county
seat thirty years ago as to fail to dis
cover the exceptional advantages Of
Shaw island! They might have ac-
quired from the government, for coun-
ty purposes, 160 acres of Shaw island
land as easily as they acquired 80 at
Friday Harbor-and there would still
have been several acres left available
for settlement. And then ii might
perhaps, have been possible to obtain
congressional Appropriation sufficient
to make harbor Of Blind bay that a
mail boat could safely enter, IN which
case it is reasonable to presume that
settlement might have grown up there
in the course of 9 score of years that
would have rivaled Olga itself in size
and importance and justified the MAIN
tenance of postoffice and general
store. And it is not Improbable that
the mission fund of some religious or
ganizat.on might have been drawn up
on to establish church there to min
lister to the spiritual welfare of such of
the county officials as should hunger
and thirst after righteOusness-even as
they do here-and to contribute to the
gaiety of the county seat and satisfy
the spurious cravings of the populace
there would, of course, have been a
saloon. The island is rather dry any
way. The advantages of Shaw islands
geographical location and the DISPOSE
ton of people to gravitate toward
natural centers-surroun by deep
water channels-is well illustrated by
the census returns, which show that
within period of only about thirty
years the population of the island had
reached eighty-one in 1900. Had the
county seat been there it Is not improb-
able there might have been over 100
people resident there now. AS it is,
San Juan island numbers about one
half of all the people in the county and
has much more than half of all the
taxable property. Friday Harbor is
both the county's center of population
and of wealth.
These matters have doubtless all
been given due weight by the public
spirited promoters of this more or less
glorious project to boom Shaw island.
Oh pshaw! We suggest that they get
together in some quiet and secluded
place and recite i'm unison these lines of
Burns:
90 wad some power the giftie sic US
To see oursel's as ithers see us;
1t wad frae mon'y biunder free us
And foolish notion"