The Valley Wants Out: East Stevens County Pushes to Split From Colville

The matter of urging county division continues to receive quiet attention at the hands of many prominent citizens of the east side. It is realized that the objections urged four years ago are no longer in evidence, and that the growth of the proposed new county in population and assessable valuation is such as to make the step warranted and, in fact, almost imperative.

This side of the county is being developed rapidly; in fact, it is going forward by leaps and bounds. Large industrial projects are under way and others planned that in the next year will even more rapidly develop the country and push up its assessable valuation. The movement for county division has the support of practically all the well-posted men that have been approached on the subject.

The new town of Ione is taking a broad-minded view of the subject, and at a meeting of its Commercial Club, held Tuesday evening, the matter of the division of the county along a north and south line was brought up for discussion. A committee was appointed to act in conjunction with the Newport Commercial Club, with regard to petitioning the legislature for the setting off of the east side of the county. At this meeting it was also decided to favor Newport being named as the temporary county seat in the enabling act that the legislature will be requested to pass.

Ione is very enthusiastic over the proposition and eventually expects to be the county seat of the proposed new county. Conditions, however, are so intolerable that they prefer to have the temporary county seat at Newport, then later they expect to get into the game and stand on their own merit for the permanent location.

There can be no objection to this plan. In order to get the new county started in business some town must be named as the temporary county seat. Union of action is necessary to get favorable action from the legislature, and Ione is taking a creditable stand in the matter.

The last issue of the Ione Record contained the following: "The county division question is warming up in Ione, and is being generally discussed by the business men. A mass meeting is soon to be called to get the matter in shape for presentation at the coming session of the legislature. The general opinion is that the county should be divided on a north and south line. By this division the Pend Oreille valley would occupy practically the whole of the new county. There is some difference of opinion as to the temporary county seat, but on the whole the majority are content to let the temporary county seat go to Newport. The feeling is that conditions are intolerable and the majority would prefer to see even Newport the county seat than to have it remain at Colville longer."