St. Johns review. (Saint Johns, Or.) 1904-current, 1915-04-02

lRndJlOnS, DuC just KNOW OUR
self and be known as plain citi-
zens of one great city with a
high resolve to aid all in our
power to make the name of the
Rose City better known through
out the world. Then there will
be no petty jealousies and bitter
rivalries as otherwise come for
their reaping by our children
some distant day. No sectional
ism, then, hut union and brother
hood, as well as business" in this
commercial age. It is the long
suppressed cry of the spirit of
fraternity. so natural to our bet
ter natures.
| Again, ! maintain that so sim.
pie a thing as swinging the
boundary line of the great city of
Portland around your munich
pality and including it forever
after within her corporate
mits is destined to be
of almost incalculable advantage
to you commercially. Today
you have broad minded men to
manage your cities affairs, but
capital, ever wary, knows that
tomorrow, as it were, q mercu-
rial populace may put in office
narrow men, men unframed to
business affairs, hostile to cap
ital and controlled by popular
prejudice. Capital demands
men and conditions more depend
able. Big capital will never
knowingly put itself at the mer-
cy of little men; and it general
ly knows. Bad as they are at
times. conditions are more stable
in a large city. Remember large
capital will in time control the
affairs of a small city or il will
not come to it. II is done at
first in selfdefense and later from
pardon the expression
pure cussedness." For the for
mer you cannot we'll blame IL;
from the latter you must prohib-
it il by debarring it altogether or
by merging with large city
and making common cause with
the oppressed masses in such
cases. Do not. therefore, deceive
yourselves by thinking large
capital will ever invest among
you without sinister motives;
il so. il will be in a state of un-
certainty and unrest so much Of
it's time that you will not receive
its full benefits and largest de-
velopment.
stated at the beginning. of
this letter that the advantages
as | conceived them to be which
will accrue to you by merging
with the great. and soon to be
greater. city of Portland, are
not only civic. social and COM
mercial, but sentimental. II
know il may seem ridiculous to
some to think there are those
who believe in sentiment TO the
extent Of its being an advantage
in this and similar instances.
Those same persons, however,
are not infrequently most SUBJ
ject TO its subtle influences.
Tell them a promoter has come
TO your town from some obscure
hamlet up in Maine and they
will not listen TO his proposition
nearly so readily as IL ne came
from the great city of Chicago.
Tell those non-sentimentalists
that a lecturer or teacher. or
preacher comes 10 them from
some obscure and hilly portion
of North Karline" and they
will go TO "scoff" even though
they might have TO remain TO
pray" Publish the same tai
ent from Cultured Boston" and
they will help TO swell the aud
fence ito standing room only"
Sentiment. then. biases many
people in their choice of location
and not little in their invest.
ments preferring. Of course.
some well advertised and favor
ably known locations. We are
simply forced 10 recognize this :
fact. a fact that is universal and {
because of this regard for the /
which appeals TO
)ur pride and emotion from al
most any angle of life. For the I
benefit of the more selfish | will
llso say. remember all these G
.hings in the sum total reflect
'alues upon real estate. z
Again. soon you will want the
Commission form of government.
md | trust il is a pardonable
suggestion that you avail your v
ielves of Portland's experience :
instead of experimenting fOrI
yourselves. You are destined
re long TO adopt that form of
government now SO popular or
all TO the rear in this forward
march of the modern city. AIo
ross in the proper square on
our ballot and your experiment 81
alton is a closed incident. and Fl
ver after you stand an equal s.
how with the rest of us in the q
fairs of a Great City where we
will labor together to keep the q
lose City such that will continue .;
n honor to be second" 1t ~ y
gas once the proud boast of a b