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VI i -If il LOCATION; In the Norrh-vestern part of Oreinn, oo the Columbia River. with about 70 miles of river frunt. A REA : A boa: TOO square mllea. 122.502 acres. TILLABLE LAND; 15,725 acres. This ia land that is actually in enitivacion anJ cleared, exclusive of town lota. NON-TILLABLE LAND: 4X.7i? acres, which rr.elu.les ail timber where there is more than 100,000 feet on a quarter section. al ail Jojr jred off (ami which is not suitable for and in no e&ruiitioa for cultivation. TIMBER Aboot seven and one half to eijht billion feet. ASSESSED VALUE OP TIMBER: in.tfT.Itt. ASSESSED VALUE OF TILLABLE LA.VI. miJIZL TOTAL ASSESSED VALUATION OF ALL PROPERTY: 1 13.000,000. MILES OF COUNTY ROADS: 500 miies, some of which w in first eiaaa condition, some In fair condition and some in very poor condition. MILES OF RAILROADS: Abort 125 miles which inciodes the main line of the S. P. S. and the various loa'srinjjr roads. POPULATION: Census of 1910 fives ljift but a earfal estima this year jp'vea it at least 15,000. CLIMATE: Temperate. Darir.gr the summer the thermometer nreiy reaches 100 in the shade and in the eol.ieat weaker of winter zero weather is almost nr.Jcnown. During the winter months there is considerable rain, but not too much. Just enough to insure crops. Crop fail ares are unknown. PRODUCTS: F ruita of a!! kir-da, especially apples, pears, plana an.i berries; Grain and frames; garden trueic of ail kinds and dairying. SHIPPING: Ships from all parts of the world carry Columbia Connty products down the Columbia River and to the markets of the world. A through line of Railroads traverse the county from the North to the South. River boat carry local products to local markets at low rates. LAND: Thousands of acres of first class land can be pureha&id at reasonable prices upon which are stamps left from the timber operations. This land especially suited for farminj?, fruit raising and dairyir.?. THE "INSIDE" OF THE RECALL ELECTION Ulterior Motives Actuated by Outside Influences Controlled by Misrepresen tation and Deceit Held Responsible for the Attitude Assumed by the Public, as Seen by an Outsider. (The Tax Liberator.) Incompetencr, want, extravag ance, hlackmall and a reeall election directed aa:nrt as good a County Conrt a ever he;l office have re salted from the attempted road isa- proveroenu in Columbia County. And a to what is back of it all, the public appears to be In eomplet Iftnoraiice, bat this much tfcev it be lieve, or are- coming to believe, tht some powerful and f.'oandatljf well equipped machine or enterprigo is doing everything posdlbl to ealn a profit at the expense of the taxpay er. CA lU-An Meeting. And this they know late In J 1 2 there was a series of good road r viral meetings all over Colombia County. Speakers In great number were sent to Colombia County, Im ported from various parts of Oregon and even Washington to tell the tax payer what a crying need there wa for a fine road from Portland to the sea. What a grand and glorious thing It would be for the citizens and what tren endous financial advant age would accrue to tha property owners If only such an accomplish ment could be realized. Engineer Appear. Then appeared State Highway En gineer Bowlby on the scene. He fully , explained the working of the 1913 legislative law which created the Highway Conimlsnlon and provided that the utate Improve and maintain the trunk lines a state highway. The pfsoplo by Oil time were anx ious to have their main lilgh'way Im proved and to secure all state aid benefit ponnlblo, so a bond Iwtue elec tion was authorized and they voted 1360,000 for load purpoe, $260, 000 of which wa to be used to con struct a permanent level road from the Multnomah to the Clatsop county line. KxceMNlve Coxt of 8urvy. The surveys were to colt approxi mately $10,000 according to Mr. Ilowlby and were promised by him by February 1st, 1914, of bofore the bond election. Well, the surveys, ST were not made by the time specified he appointed to art as engineer on a a matter of fact they are not Washington highways and to whom yet all completed, at Ieaat they have , He is entrusting much of the Import not been tamed Into the county, but ant highway work of this state One the bill for $2,5.2 hare been 1 crew of the boys which has been turned In for those that have been ! wo king with a cement mixer in completed more than two and a Clatsop county took 34 day it L half times the original estimate made : said, experimenting with the mixing before the bond election. If the eot ! of their cement and watVr before of the surveys was the only thing ! they were able to obtain a proper that showed either malicious deeep- consistency for use. And thlr tion or gross incompetency. It would matter but little to Columbia County for the state agrees to refund the cost of the survey, but the state does not pay for the cost of constructing the road of highway and here are a few examples of Mr. Bowlb7's Ineffi ciency. He estimated that S00 yard of soft rock would have to be remov ed, t'p to September 1. 22.810 virdi had actually been taken out. Hard rock show up away beyond his em- mate, no shell rock appears In esti mate, but to BepUmW firm. 7076 yard had been removed. There were . .... i... ... no 18-inch pipes estimated, but 358 feet have been used. No reinforcing steel can be found In his estimate, but bills have come in for 21,810 pound. You would think that any timber Jack could estimate approxi mately the amount of clearing that would have ta be done on a certain piece of land and come within 10 per cent to 20 per cent of being correct. Mr. liowlby estimated that 32.4 acre of heavy cle. ring would have to be done, but the figure for actual clearing to September 1st are 131.3 acre, or over 400. per cent more than hi official estimate. So it goe on right through every phase of the work. An Unknown Quantity, And who I the Honorable Major L. Bowlby. State Highway Engineer for Oregon. He I the tame college professor who wa appointed through the Influence of one Samuel Hill of Seattle by the then governor of the state, M. E. Hay." He Is the same In dividual who wa removed by the aforementioned governor who ap pointed him. He Is the same tried and true friend of college boys whom ' ' ; i ii i i 1 1 i . ii i i hi - ' .... - " i&T ' ... - : - - ri.. i f ' f mm,i t ' ' , t' . . - . "' J .. . ' - ', . .-. Mm 1 " ' " i HELENS A cry .-.n the GJomhia River. W mito fnm Purdaad. sriih population of 2.)0 people. F'.e C.junc7 Jiac of Columhia County. A Four year "caniiari Eifch School. MVjcW.ist. Conifrejaliocal. Episcopal and Caioiie Chursha. All the eaiLrnir fraternal onier. Gravity atr syitem owneti by the city suiSciens sacpiv a city of 10.000 people. Electric litrhcj. tribal and mairatiami2ed streetj. sewers. Principal iruiiitries are kiracwrx.ir, shiabmiiiin. ereiJtir.jr. stone quarrying, nshinar and shippisx- T !ary mills wiA a capacity of 250,000 f-iet per day; mors than 5 million feel of lumber shipped each month; several !ar ocean z'-ia-t vessel built each year; timber treated with creosote and ihipped ail aioc-jr the coaat. Two big stone quarries and rock enahinii' pianu in contin jous operation. An average of 300 tons of Cotambia River Salmon caazht aid marketed. A farming country back of it that cannot be eicelie.1 in the world. Several new business blocks now ur-der construction. Five miles of sewer being built. A PAY ROLL OF NEARLY 1100.000 PER MONTH. Many beautiful and attractive homes. aries went on Just as though thy were doing the work that they were being paid for. Why the Appointment? We would like to auk why Major liowlby was appointed to take charre of the Important office he holds? Who investigated his former record a to efficiency and fitness, and what was the result of their Investiga tions? 1 this man to be allowed to continue In his work after the shame ful record that has been made In Co lumbia County? Are other counties , T " of the state to be encouraged to spend their taxpayers money and get practically nothing worse than nothing, a Is the case along many places In the road now being con structed In Columbia County? It Is reported that In nearly a dozen places the dry rock walls that have been built as retaining walls for ! the highway have already broken away. In many places soft earth has been put on the already rock bottom road. When Mr. Uowlby first approached the County Court, It was agreed that the new highway was to follow the line of the old road upon which more than $100,000 of the taxpayers' money had been spent. That was practical. It meant that but little expense would be incurred. If that plan had been followed, the amount of money raised would undoubtedly have been sufficient to Improve the entire road. But it was not long until the Influence of "the oower be-. j hind the throne," whoever that may bo, reran u mak It ( miluenc f, ' Agreed to Use Old Jtoad. ' The old road was abnndonod nl moHt ontlroly. New road.i wc:o sur -J! vejred. Where curves In the road were found. It was deemed sbsolutely necessary that they be eliminated Even if farmers' property hsd to be cut In two, it was so arranged. Ex pensive rights of way cut no figure. Tho demand (after bond election) was. "Make the road straight and make It level." This Is not practical In a hilly country, and although the appropriation was limited In Colum bia County, that was not a condition to deter the road building plan there. Xo ItcKnrtl for Improvement. Where the old road crossed the railroad, Instead of inking under ground crossing at small expense and using the old road, right of way wore surveyed through corn fields, orchards, buildings, etc., so that the new road would not cross the rail road. And now, after the work has been going merrily n for months and the entire appropriation ha been exhausted by the work In hand, what have they? They have several miles of cuts, fills, clearing, etc., from Tide Creek north to Clatsop County, which is In an unusual con dition and cannot be used without the additional expenditures of thous ands of do'lars. Court Refuses to Put Up. The pre&ent County Court has re fused to allow any more money to be spent by the highway commission, and as a result, have already been subjected to the humiliation of a re call election, over which many of the taxpayers of the county are Indig nant. The pressure of the "power behind the throne" was again felt In the re call proceedings, and this article would not be complete without an explanaif n In regard to It.' Tax for Itoads and Bridge. At the time of the last levy In Jan uary of thin year, ty, mills was leviod for roads and bridge purposes on the general tax. That levy raised $170,000, $60,000 of which, accord ing to the budget, wan to be used for bridges and repairs, leaving $110, 000 for the general road fund. Under the law 60 por cent of that $110,000 had to be spent In the various dis tricts In which it had been collected to be used for genoral road pur poses off the main highway that left $55,000 which could be used on the main highway. So the court en tered Into an agreemert with Mr. Bowlby that the $65,000 would be used from Tide Creek south to Mult nomah County, as ALL of the bond INDUSTRIES: Lumbering and timber ta the principal indu.trv ,u ing about twenty-fiv. Columbia River U and fruit raising; Stone quarrying; Ship buidin T kinds of lumber manufacturing nlam. " 'U Ol'POirrUNITIES: ... man. fruit grower eK..lc THE LLLTA GARDENS: 12,000 acre of low have recenUy been cultivation esneciall small fruiU. SCHOOLS: Four standard High locality. CHURCHES: Nearly all denominations represented. THE COUNTY OFFICERS. Circuit Judges. J. U. Campbell and J, a. Eakia District Attorney, W. B. Dillard County Judge, W. A, Harris County Clerk, H. E. LaBare Sheriff. C II. John Assessor. C, W. Blakesley School Superintendent. J. W. Allen Treasurer. R. S. Hattan Coroner, F. H Sherwood Surveyor, L. J. VanOrshoven Commissioners, John Farr, Louis Ftuhrer. OTIES. TOWN. AND VOSt OFRCES; St, Helena Rainier Clatskanie Scappoose Warren Dr Island Yankton Vernonia Mist Mayger Maishland Columbia City Apiary Hudson i'rescott Inglis CI1Y OFFICER J OF ST. HELENS Mayor A. W. Mueller . Cuuncilmes N. O. Larabee. Chas. C.rahan, M. Saxor, H. Morgus City Attorney-J. W. Day Recorder .E. E. Quick Marshai-J. L. Chittem, L L. Decker Treasurer H. P. Watkins Water Commission-L. E. Allen, J. W. Aik-n, Robert Dixon, E. A, Crouse.John Pringle Water Superintendent-Chas. Lope . Fire CuiEt L. E. Allen monoy had been appropriated for the highway from Tide Creek north to Clatsop County. Mr. Ilowlby's sur vey for tho State Highway more than a bait mile west of the present high way bad been made so aa to con struct the road on the west side of the railroad, and to prevent It from ' crossing the railroad. He said, how ever, no work need be done on the new survey, and that the $55,000 might be used as was originally agreed, on the present road which runs through St. Helens. Then after getting the court to accept the sur vey, the "power behind the throne" was evidently displeased. They could mi. i.i. . . riui7 m mat me money was not going to be sufficient to complete that part of the road upon which it had beeu spent, and so In a very few days County Judge Harris was hon ored with a call from a "commitiM- from the north portion of the county wno demanded that the $65,000 be turned over to Mr. Bowlby, If you please; to be spent on the"hew high way north of Tide Croek. And here Is the lentle threat made to Judge W. A. Harris and Commissioners John Farr and Louts Kluhrer: "Gentlemen: You are prob ably aware that the re'a.l petf. tlons aro being circulated. Now, we do not Intind to use that as a theat In any manner, but if this $55,000 Is turned over Into the hands of the State Highway Engineer, we believe those re- . call petitions can be stopped." CouM Not Coerce. Well, the County Court was not to be threatened by rocaH or anything else of a bulldozing nature, and It politely told the "committee" that It Intended to do no such thing as was demanded; that It Intended to spend that $55,000 whero It would accom plish some real results and not ac cording to the dictates or desires of the Stato Highway Commission. The recall was Instituted. Some body had up a wad of money to get the petitions circulated, and to finance a deception and underhand campaign. And the election was carriod. Good Record Made. The present County Court has made an enviable record for honesty and efficiency. Jud ir.i. i. practical, efficient business man. He has lived In the countv fnr years, and Is known o be a man of high motives and unfailing In his duty as a publ'o servnnt Commissioner Parr Is a prosperous farmer, a reliable citizen and a con w mill. ilmtm ftnhinir i also an imnortant n "x - ,u- vne Urme and truck gardener. Aln . " , 80 ' nunjher of lands along the Clu. n.. dyked and are now in hiKh ,uu , attri.4 . 01 - Schools; Crale sch.ml, n Huultoa Coble Qulncy' Rruben Trenholm scientious worker fur the good of the community. Commissioner Pluhrer Is a respon sible merchant at Mayger, man who has done much for the commnnltf. All three are heavy taxpayers. Recall Candldstes. The recall candidates trt (or Judgo A. L. Clark, the local phone exchange man at Rlulc Robert Yount I president of the Columbia County Coed Itosdi Association. Little Is known of blm. A. E. Haivey, farmer of CIUkfll, admits that he ran for commlulonw on a misrepresentation of the tuu concerning the recall, and was dumb founded when he learned if" reasons for It. B J. Kellun, farmer, was another candlda'e for eommu sloner. Would Not IMagorg. The reason for the recall 11 you have already loarned, bean" the court, would not disgorge that $66,000. ' The recall "chariei" against the present Countv Court were that the court had bought auto truck without advertising for bids. The facts were that they not required to advertise for W (the price paid was entire' reli able). Another charge was that l court had not eonfoimed to sonn lion of the code mere excuses, M all have been proven either false of malicious. u What the Tax Liberator wouw like to know is, who has put P the money to conduct the recall palgn? Behind the VelL Has there been electric T terests behind this Columuis .i..t tns wayr is mat me roi" . road must be so straight ana so and net cross the railroad 'rMll? is It some hard surface parlnl I cern who wants all the K'de1" ated that thoy may apply their P duct? Surely the farmers do not any such elaborate Improvement it seems Is trying to be forced people of Columbia County. and again the State Orange hM on record as opposing the boi" scenle hla-hwar when laHeral k.n tnttflrai rw- are so badly needed. . Mr. Sum Hill's great taw lngton has always been, "Ileduoe cost ner ton mile of getting tl r ers' product to market." TM n ers of Columbia County n & Columbia River and the 8. J- Railroad to got their product" (Continued on page 7, column )