The Lynden tribune. [volume] (Lynden, Wash.) 1908-current, 1920-07-15

DiCst then set about the drawing up
of a comprehensive plan Of harbor
! Improvement to be submitted TO the
voters for approval, and until such
approval is granted they can DO no.
thing.
Nothing could be more Absurd than
to imagine that any prehensive
plan of harbor improvement which
would propose to distribute expenses
and costs equally and benefits une-
qually would meet with support eth
er in city or county, and nothing of
the sort is now, or ever has been,
contemplated either by those who IA
yor harbor improvement or by the
! Legislature which provided the ne
eessary machinery therefor. Every
possible safeguard against unearned
| increment dividends has positively
been provided and every possible pro-
vision has been made to see to it
that he who derives a hundred dol
lars worth of benefit shall pay a hum
dred dollars worth of costs, while he
who gets but ten dollars worth Of
god shall bear but ten dollars worth
Of expense.
Thus, first, the people select their
own com missioners and it IS reason
able TO believe that only those whose
honesty and honor are above ques-
ton will be elected to Office.
Second. these commissioners, re-
gardless of what their ultimate plans
may be, cannot spend a cent until
a second election has been called and
the consent of majority of the yot
5rs obtained.
Third, the law requires that the
plan of development
TO be submitted to the people shall
be such as 10 distribute the costs in
exact proportion to the benefits con-
ferred.
The legislature which provided the
means whereby tort faciilt:eS might
be developed was far from blind to
this objection Of Lnearned increment,
and to the special benefits and priv
ileges which might be conferred up
on adjacent property by the construc-
tor of vast Improvement at public
EXPENSE. Thus. the law governing
this point (Chapter 90 of the Session
Laws of the State of Washington for
1911, Section a reads:
All Port Districts organized un
der the provision of this act shall be
and are hereby authorized to estab-
lish local improvement districts with
in such port districts. and to levy
special assessments under the mode
of annual installments extending ov-
er a period not exceeding ten years
ON ALL PROPERTY SPECIALLY
BENEFITTED BY ANY LOCAL I'M
.PROVEMENT, ON THE BASIS OF
SPECIAL BENEFITS TO PAY. IN
WHOLE OR IN PART. THE DAM
AGES OR COSTS OF ANY I'M
PROVEMENTS ORDERED IN SUCH
LOCAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT;
TO issue local improvement bonds in
such local improvement district to
be repaid, by the collection of local
Improvement assessments.
The law, which devotes more at
tention to this phase of the Port plan
than to any other. plainly intends
that all benefits shall pay proper
tionate share of the expense and. by
its insistence on the submission Of
the final plan to the people for their
approval before a shoyelful OF dirt
can be moved. provides safeguard
against the adoption of any other
course.
This, il is obvious. must be the
essential feature of the comprehen-
sive plan of development, ard the law
intends that il shall be. Those who
advocate the port development plan
in Bellingham have, of course, noih-
ing whatever to do with the formu-
lation of the comprehensive scheme.
That is matter that is purely IN
the hands of the commissioners TO he
elected in September. In Other cit
les, however, such plans have usual
" covered the work proposed over
a period of years and have resolved
themselves ultimately into the crea-
ton OF Port District containing
within itself something after the ma
ture of a zone system of equalization,
paralleling to large extent the sys-
tenn now utilized in the construction
of roads
This matter, however, is altogeth-
er one for the commissioners to Del
with and it must be dealt with II such
a way as to meet with the approval
of three-fifths of the voters resident
within the Port area, otherwise the
entire protest is dead.
The third difficulty that, possibly,
after the work has been completed,
it will not be possible to secure traf-
fic may also be dealt with. The fact
OF the matter is lndl long DtlOIt THIS
port project was actually brought 10
the attention of the people of What
com County, assurances had been re-
ceived from one source alone of bust
ness to the extent of 100000 to 400
600 tons a year, while during the past
week the largest steamship company
operating on the Pacific Coast has
agreed to make this port of call on
exactly the same basis as Tacoma.
The success, in short, of harbor de-
yelopment as commercial enter
prise was literally guaranteed long
before the plan was placed before
the people, and this does not take in
TO account such returns as may be
available from the construction and
operation of cold storage plants,
wareh houses, grain elevator and 9TH
er ventures appealing directly 10 To-
cal industry. This matter will be
more fully dealt with later on.
During the last few years, ii may
be said in conclusion, Bellingham
Bay has been visited by some of the
greatest experts and engineers in the
world-President Bush of the great
Bush Terminals of New York, Guy
Manners, foreign trade commissioner
+ for the British government, Col. Geo.
H. EN- rson, head of the lnter-Allied
/ Commission operating the Siberian