East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1913-01-30

In attempting to do this Mayor Mat
lock soon discovered that some OF the
farmers through whose land the ditch
must pass had evidently been "seen,'
as the work of purchasing the neces-
sarv rights was met at every turn by
failure.
The mayor, by this time in fighting
trim, was determined to win against
any odds, and in many instances ne
went to extremes in handling the stu
alton that many an executive woulu
hesitate long to tackle.
One instance of this was in nego-
tiating with farmer for the right OF
way. Mr.. Matlock was confronted
with the ultimatum that the city must
purchase the entire 40 acres through
which the survey ran to get the canal
Through. The mayor, nothing daunt-
ed. did so by paying the farmer what
h asked for the land and immediately
resold it to the farmers neighbor tor
what it cost. reserving free right OF
way for the citys canal.
Carry Fight to Court.
So we'll and so thoroughly had been
the work of disaffecting certain land
owners from whom the necessary
right of way must be bought that
ultimately the matter had to be
threshed out in court on condemna-
ton suit This action was bitterly
fought but the court sustained the
city's proceedings and the right OF
way for the ditch became the prop
erty of the city.
During the time the mayor and
the councilmen were beset, aDuseo'
ridiculed and villified on every side
: by the opposition forces, one OF the
: newspapers Of the city and by those
citizens who honestly and sincerely
opposed the city's owning its public
utilities.
: During this period Mayor MatlocR
: ran for reelection and after one OF
the bitterest campaigns in the history
of any city in oregon he was again
chosen mayor by a handsome ma
; jority.
: When the work of building the
plant began competent engineer
was hired and it progressed steadily
but in the meantime the opposition
was still busy in many ways and did
its best to retard the completion OF
the plant
Matlock Fires Contractor.
The contractor who had charge oi
the work of digging the canal for
some reason or another, could not or
would not make much headway. Los
/ ing all patience with his dilatory tao
| ties. the mayor went to him one day
and said:
You are through here; stop and
| get out"
But I've got contract with the
city, Mr.. Mayor said the contractor
Contract for what?" asked the
mayor.
For digging this ditch!'
} Well" replied the mayor. you've
! been at it long enough to dig IL
bitches. Your contract with the city
is cancelled by me and if anyone asks
YOU why, you can tell them for me
that it is for incompetency. You'll
2 get paid for the work you've done
J and not cent more. Now, get YOU
men, tools and teams out of here a
, once. / have a live firm coming t'
10 do the work"
. The contractor threatened and ca
Iioled and finally sued the city for tn
face of his contract claiming SOM
: $4,000 or $4,000. The supreme
court of the state of Oregon uphel'
r the action of the mayor and the con
tractor got only pay for the worl
which he had completed.
= Cuts Rates Two-Fifths.
There were other suits against tn
plant. one an injunction by the citi
!. zens, claiming that the charter OF tn
II city did not authorize the building o
J. a power plant and another by lum
ber company seeking to enjoin the us
= of the water of the Mckenzie river
claiming that it would interfere wit
= the company's logging operations bu
:, the courts have in each instance de
cided in favor of the city and tn
- plant was finally completed.
re On March IL, 1911, after two year
= Continued on Page s.