The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1905-05-10
IMpRnyING sTREETs.

II is TO be regretted thet sAiS
Of Astoria are In such a condition tna'
necessary street Improvements WIN
he retarded and many needed i'm
movements not made at all. An ei-
FOR, has been made to impress upon
the common council the necessity Oh
.conomixinr in the expenditures in
every department in order that SUI
acient funds would be available Tor
the improvement of streets
An excellent idea was advanced oy
CITY Attorney Smith, that in makins
street improvements the estimates oe
ma5a and the assessment. levied ana
collected before the contract is award
ed When 1t is considered that there
are 4 number of people that take ad-
vantage of every technicality in street
or sewer improvement, VINO want
the Improvement made and when
is made try and avoid payment, or al
low their assessments TO run four or
Eve wears ana then come in and ask
the council to permit them to pay the
original assessment without penalty
ard interest IL is becoming apparent
that a iifferent mode OF making street
improvements will have to be inaug-
urated and that the assessments VIII
have to be made and collected before
the Improvement is undertaken. This
method will place those who pay their
assessments promptly and those who
try ana avoid paying, on the same level
and no injustice will be done either
party.
Astoria is enjoying an unprecedent-
ed growth. Hundreds Of new houses
are being erected to supply the de-
mand and more will be as soon as
some of the streets are opened ana
imnroyed. Grand avenue, between
Eleventh and Eighth streets connect
ing with the street going over the
hill is a necessary improvement, as
no less than 40 teams day pass over
this thoroughfare. Irving avenue I'M
movement will open out large
amount Of choice residence property
and ii a proper drain can be construct
Cd at the same time may avoid the
sliding ground between Twentieth and
Twenty-third streets. Franklin ave-
nue. between Third and Fourth needs
improving and the property VIII poy
for the improvement. They asked for
this improvement over year ago, but
Il has evidently been overlooked. ET-
change street, between Seventeenth
and the Clatsop mill must be improved
verv soon. as It is only matter OF
very short time when it will fall down,
carrying all the water mains with IT,
cutting off the supply from the east
end, and in the event of fire thou
sands of dollars Of property would be
destroyed.
There is about $4,000 outstanding
street assessments that are due the
city, Some Of them are for Install
ments the first having been paid and
no other payments made. The COM
mon council does not enforce the char
ter provisions providing for a penalty
on all delinquents. II they had don'
SO ard Immediately sold the property
whan the assessment became delin
uuent the city would have been In
better condition financially than 1t Il
today
It will be noticed that the sheriff sell
the property of all delinquents who fai
10 pay their taxes. and there is neve
any rebate either on penalty and inter
est. II the Jaw had not been strict
followed in the collection Of taxei
there would be thousands Of dollar
on the assessment books due the coun
ty. If merchants never presented an
bills on the first Of the month an
only collected what money peop
brought to the store, It would be 'bl
a matter of short time before the
would be bankrupt. This is the cond
tion of affairs that exist in Astoria t.
day and It has been brought about /
the lax methods Of conducting u
business of the city. There is no re'
son why the city should not have Il
money due It than there is that Il
merchants should have money dl