Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1913-06-17
So5aAsE1sN
N1loGl II 4sEC
s1i,- -
The Record Facts

Under the caption, silly Suspicious
Not Facts the Aberdeen World pur
posely misoonstrues the attitude o
this paper in the c. D. Hanson roa(
controversy, when it says that the
opinion of the Herald is swayed be
cause certain large logging firm;
want the road. This error of the
World is the real, simon pure, blown
in-the-bottle silly suspicion" This
paper has at no time opposed this
road. 1t has urged the road develop
ment of that section of county fol
years, and still urges it. But, the
methods applied in the attempt to
force the construction. of this roac
at this time has been such a radical
departure from the previous attitude
of the timber owners in that section
as to create natural desire to know
the reason.
This paper agrees with all the nice
things the World says about Hon
Alex Poison. for whom the writer has
the greatest admiration and the high
est respect, based upon an acquaint
ance of 80 years, yet Mr.. Poison is
human not infaliable, and may be
mistaken as to the conditions sur
rounding the building of this road
But, no man knows better the record
of road building in the northwest part
of the county, who advocated and
who retarded that building than does
Mr.. Poison, and the Herald is pleased
to welcome him, convert, to the
ranks of road development in that
hitherto isolated region.
To one at all familiar with the his
present high-pressure advocacy must
appear strange, and the advocates
should not express surprise if curl
osity arises as to the reason. For
ten years, Geo. L. Davis, of HoGuiam,
was commissioner for the third dis
trict, and in that time had full con-
troll of road Building in that district.
Logging operations We're carried on
extensively in that region all of that
time, working large numbers of men.
yet the operators asked for few roads.
No press bureau was engaged to as
perse Commissioner Davis; no log
gers were encouraged to join the press
bureau and write pathetic letters to
"The Larger and More influential
papers they appeared satised TO trav-
ell by train and trail to and from the
camps, or at least the operators were
satisfied to have them so travel.
The Herald has not opposed this
road, but it has, will and does oppose
the attempted dragooning of public
officials into the expenditure of pub
lie money, willy nilly, whether right
or wrong. 1t opposes any public pro
position that requires the boosting of
subsidized papers TO scatter misin-
formation to further it.
This paper opposed the method u.s.
ed in awarding the contract for this
road, no matter what its urgency
That method was opposed to public
policy, and the public is still wonder
ing why such indecent haste was
made in letting it at the last meet
ing of the old board of commission
ers, in order to forestall a court or
der restraining such action. No pub
lie act can be sufficiently meritorous
to justify that rush-we had almost
said order.
There is no question in the mind
of the Herald that the opening of the
ed convenience for large number
of people, and this paper knows of
no serious opposition to it from any
quarter, and of no difficulty in the
way of it's construction other than a
nancial one. The record shows hat
Geo. l.. Davis, as commissioner, with
in the past four years caused to be
expended sufficient road money to
have completed this road in localities
where it was not so sorely needed,
yet the subsidized press bureau was
as silent as a graveyard. The snap
judgment style of contracting public
expenditures in this road incident re-
veals just why a change of system
was demanded and made last fall in
the methods of the disbursers of
county funds. That this change of
system was fought bitterly by those
now engaged in a war on those COM
missioners--and the utter unreason-
ableness of the attacks on those Off
Gals over this road-should engender
suspicious, not altogether silly, gives
slight occasion for wonder.