Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1914-05-28
Ashland Editor
Answers Circular

(Chas. B. Wolf in Ashland Record.)
During the past week a committee
of citizens who are out of harmony
with the majority belief that Ashland
can be made a great resort city-by
developing her mineral springs along
lines that are now being followed
put out a large poster advising the
public to stop and read and think
and reason carefully" on the ques-
ton. The advice is splendid.
The word stop" is specially appli-
cable to people who are talking about
the project on the streets without
having taken the trouble to read"
or think" or reason" They should
read" the large amount OF matter
which the papers of Ashland have al
ready published on the subject Some
of their questions would thereby be
answered. After that they should
think" and reason"
The poster put out during the past
week gives the public eight PROPOSE
tions on which to reason" They
are numbered first, second, third, etc.
First is on "The amount of water"
This was answered weeks ago in the
papers by the expert statement that
the springs bonded will supply over
10000 gallons of water every twen-
ty-four hours-thus supplying 65, 900
people with one gallon apiece per day
and leaving an equal amount for the
springs owners to bottle from the
night flow. If the promulgators of
the poster are prepared to disprove
this report it is their privilege to do
so. If not-the public is justified in
accepting the experts reports as au-
thentic.
Second refers to the commercial
| value of the project to the taxpayer.
! If the taxpayer will read" the his
! tory of any mineral spring resort in
the world he will be convinced that
the commercial value to him will be
dollars where he now has pennies
/ through increased opportunity for
marketing anything he has to sell and
ten opportunities for employment
where he now has none.
Third and fourth and sixth refer to
the cost of pumping the waters. This
has already been answered in the
Ashland papers by experts who de-
clare that the pumping can be done
automatically with the city's own
electricity under supervision of the
present employees of the water and
electric departments. Presuming
that the demand for Ashland mineral
waters will become so great that ex-
! ira employees are needed to superin-
tend the physical equipment, it may
also be presumed that the city would
be at some expense also to take care
| of the crowds, that the merchants
might have to hire extra clerks, the
churches secure extra ushers, the ho-
tells extra chambermaids and wait
resses, the truck gardeners extra
| hired help, etc. Let's hope that it
may come to pass.
| Fifth argues that waters pumped
and piped from a spring cease to be
spring waters and cannot be adver-
| tised as such-which is equivalent to
saying that water taken from well
in a bucket ceases to be well water
and becomes bucket water and can
no longer be advertised as we'll water
etc. This argument should apply
! equally we'll to gold and coal and
everything else in the earth below
anu lnt WOllu dDONt--plONl luSy
cease to be what they are as soon as
you begin to do anything with them.
On the same theory wildcat in a
circus cage would cease to be wild
cat and become a domestic animal
and anyone who claimed it was the
same old wildcat would be wrong.
To dignity this frivolous argument it
may be stated that the Smith-Emery
company agrees to deliver the min
eral waters in Canyon Park in the
condition that they bubble from the
springs or forfeit a good and suffi-
cient bond.
Seventh refers to the present rate
Of taxes and asks If same is not high
enough. Yes, indeed. Taxes are
plenty high for the amount of our
income as a community. The thing
to do, therefore, is to increase the
income. This can best be done by
promoting the things in which we are
least in competition with the rest of
the world. These things are climate
and scenery and water. We have in
creased taxes to make our city at
tractive to the world. The next step
should be along lines that have
brought the world to the doors of
other cities. The farmer taxes him
self to make fine fields. He must tax
himself trifle more to SOW them or
he reaps no crop. BY taxing herself
Ashland has prepared field for a
health and pleasure resort. But
there won't be any crop unless she
taxes herself trifle more to produce
It, Taxes are nothing IL one has the
Income to meet them-they are
everything If one hasn't the income.
1t Is our business to get an income
from our resources and the taxes will
take care of themselves. 1t would be
poor policy to let horse die to save
a few cents worth OF medicine, You