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Show ,'! 1 0 "TREAT THE MATTER FAIRLY." I!. Under tho caption: "Treat tho Mat- I' I : tor Fairly," tho Dcsorot Nows last I- l; J i Thursday mado a pica for tho granting H , , of tho franchise asked for tho Con- Is ( solldatcd Railway & Power company. it'8."!'' rno Nows ftcrs ns ono argument in H' t t - i favor of granting tho frnnchlso for tho H , 't longtli of tlmo asked, tho fact that H' ' . other cities havo granted franchises H .' j for a term of ono hundred years, whllo H ' some havo oven given away privileges I; ' that aro perpetual. It also lays much H1 'i ! ' , ' stress on tho valuation of tho alleged H't (' water rights at tho mouth of Big Cot- l;1' '; tonwood canyon, which tho company B'(U- ' . " .-1- claims to own. Hftu,' ' " , ' I "' Now tho fact that other cities havo Hi. ' , ;'. granted franchises for long terms has H-t!)'1' ' ' ', . notlilng to do with tho case, except in tho moral convoyed, which tho Nows Hv ;'. , is oxtromoly careful in its falluro to I''' V," "'., point out. For it is a condition that H' ' . cannot 1)0 denied that wherovor a city H . '' l has granted ono of thoso long-term J i franchises its pcoplo linvo regretted it H and will contlnuo to regret nndthoir H I posterity will contlnuo to regrot for H years to como. 4 A franchise such as Is asked for by H; , ' tho local corporation Is valuable and H; i oven If tho company owned tho nl- H '1','', . , , ' legod water rights it claims to own, H' tho oxchango would In no wise com- Hi, pensato tho city for what It would give H. j ' ' In oxchango. At tho oxplratlon ot H " ' tho term of tho present frnnchlso It Is H fair to prcsumo that tho municipal cor- H J '' ( poratlon will bo tho recipient of val-H val-H uablo offers from other parties. It Is H ; ' also fair to prcsumo that tho bond- H cd debt oi this city will not bo wiped H- out by that tlmo and tho snlo of such H'" valuahlo concessions as Is this will go I"!1 . a long way toward lifting tho burden H . ' of taxation from thoso who will then I bo living. H ,'. To grant tho franchise now would H.' ( bo tho height of folly. The corporn- H' ; tion has no certain ownership of tho H alleged water rlglits it wants to trado H.'f ' and tho best It could do would bo to H . ' ', ' ' t exchango an equity, If equity thoro bo,, H. ' ' in tho proporty. It would moan the I, ! purchaso of a lawsuit by tho, city, bo-H, bo-H, '. 4 cause tho farmers at tho mouth of the H J! canyon havo rights that aro entitled H ' ! to respect and which will no doubt bo H1 enforced In courts of law. Tho rights H" , of tho company asking this franchiso, I: " if rights It has, nro nothing moro than tho diverting of water from tho stream for power purposes only. Using Us-ing water for power docs not carry the right to dlsposo of It. It is taken from tho stream at ono point and delivered de-livered back at another. Tho Nows declares that tho great body of tho pcoplo arc not against tho granting of this franchise. The Nows doo3 not havo its finger on tho public pulse, If It Is sincere in this statement. state-ment. Nor will its assertion that the opposition comes from "agitators" stand Inspection. The press of tho city Is not entirely controlled by agitators, agi-tators, as tho News well knows, and tho press of the city, with the exception excep-tion of tho Nows, Is ngalnst the granting grant-ing of this concession. Tho city council coun-cil Is doing right In declining to grant this franchiso. It would bo iniquitous and unjust. It In suggested thnt in order to avoid scandal in tho management of tho affairs of tho Portland "World's Fair commission, all vouchers should bo drawn on tho stnte auditor and passed by him to tho state treasurer. This would do away with tho necessity of placing tho money In a bank out of tho state, as was dono In tho St. Louis exposition matter. It is a good idea and should bo carried into effect. n |
