The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1908-09-23
OUT OF THEIR HANDS.

The seawall measure, which passet
the Common Council on Monda,
night. is now out OF the hands OF th'
enraptured quintette, where it ha:
been since the day OF inspiration tha
provided that the council should fur.
nish not only the charter-commisslor
but all things appertaining to it, in
cluding its terms, conditions, hmItati
ons, and the votes necessary to thrusf
it in the very teeth of the people
whether they want it. or not, Now
they have voted it out Of their prov
ince and it is with the electorate al
last
For ourselves, knowing the humor
Of the people on this score, we are
glad il is in the hands that have the
direction and control of it; since il
is too good thing to be mis-handledi
and those who will now dispose OF
it know best what to do with it Tor
their advantage at their own time.
One of the conspicuous blunders
made in the management OF the bill
and the great interests it involves,
was in not conhning the vote upon il
to the owners of the land, the men
who have to bear the burden of its
cost, and by not barring every nom
taxpaying voter in the city; but, be
that as it may, there is nothing in
the way NOW to hinder the people
from setting the scheme aside, until
they shall have ascertained those
things that were due them at the hands
of the charter committe in the first
instance: the full engineering pros
pectus of the enterprise; its exact,
feasible and most serviceable route
and area; the rational range OF cost
both as to the wall or bulkhead and
the fills behind it; the essential raise in
the street grades, the establishment
of the sewage system to meet IT, and
the cost attaching thereto; beside 9th
er contingent and costly things insep-
arabic from the undertaking: All OF
which must be provided and known
with reasonable certainty, before the
people of Astoria may be honestly
asked to take over the enormous II
nancial responsibilities wrapt in the
proposition.
No superficial information on these
subjects will warrant the assumption
of SO extraordinary debt and the
people know it better than they are
supposed to, as will be found later.
In the meantime it would be well if
general mass meeting can be called
to openly and freely discuss the many
merits Of the bill at hand, as well as
its dement's, which are not few; a
gathering of the property owners OF
Astoria, every man self-commissioned
to utter his best and most interested
opinion of the plan, in the "open mar
ket place." without let or hindrancel
from men or groups of men, pre-dis-
posed in either direction, for, or
against, it; but simply as citizens near
est and next the scheme.
This mass-meeting should never
adjourn until it has put counter-bill
in the field that will provide the de-
tailed information not yet ascertained
in this huge premise. This is the only
honest way in which to cover the real
field of interest raised in this issue;
we have had enough Of star-chamber
work and can afford to indulge the
right of the free citizen to arrange
for the spending Of his own good
money on terms that will suit him
better, perhaps, than the charter
committee has so "determinedly" out
lined
There is somthing wrong in the al
fairs Of city where the recorded
voice Of 105 of its tax-paying citizens
cannot even get hearing; and this
again accentuates the tendency OF the
oyer-zealous to blunder; and it is not
unreasonable that these los people
will desire to file protest with the
friendlier body Of their own fellows IN
general mass-meeting, along with
Others, many others, in the same
frame Of mind. We have never heard