Buy the Mudflats, Give Them Away, and Pray for a Payroll

The Olympia Improvement Company, which was recently organized in this city, is preparing for a campaign of activity. Its one object is the advancement of the interests of Olympia and its business men. Under its articles of incorporation, the individual who subscribes for one share of stock is required to pay the same in installments of $10 per year, with interest on deferred payments at the rate of seven per cent, which is the same rate provided by law for deferred payments upon purchases of tide flats.

The company has prepared a circular letter in which it appeals to every fair-minded business man to put his shoulder to the wheel and push his pound.

"The city of Olympia," it says, "now possesses about 8,000 people, located at the head of navigation on the Mediterranean of America; is the permanent capital of a great state, with educational facilities equal to any other city of its size; churches of every creed and no creed; supplied with stocks of merchandise which would be a credit to a city twice its population; small manufacturing institutions calculated to supply all local demand for wood or iron material; the best system of water supply (pure and in great quantity) within the state; gas and electric plants with few superiors on the coast; a fine system of electric street railway nearing completion; and when we make these statements we simply repeat the truth, but it is equally true that all this business and all these institutions and the present condition of things are not calculated to turn the balance of trade in favor of Olympia. In other words, all this together brings in very little, if any, money from without for the benefit of our city. The building of railroads and all public improvements of whatever character furnish only temporary relief. It is true that while these improvements are in course of construction, we reap a great benefit, but when finished the income therefrom ceases largely. The merchant, for instance, in handling annually his hundred thousand dollars' worth of merchandise, keeps within the city only his profits; he does not create customers, he only supplies them, and when the town stops, he stops.

"If each individual property owner and business man in this city will take just one share of stock, and do it for the good of the whole town, he will be able to pay for it without missing the money, and with these proceeds a large quantity of the tide flats in and around this city will be purchased and held as a 'property fund,' to be given away to any individual or company wishing to locate and engage in manufacture or other pursuits. It will induce the location of different kinds of manufacturing and other institutions within this city. It will be the best possible advertisement for the city and the liberality of its citizens. The capital stock has been placed at $50,000, divided into 500 shares of $100 each. The individual who subscribes for one share will be required to pay in cash $10, and the balance will be divided into nine payments, covering a period of nine years, with interest as above stated. The legislature, in providing for the sale of tide lands, gives the purchasers ten years in which to pay for the same, ten per cent of the purchase price to be paid when purchased."