1889 Plan to Sell Washington’s Tide Lands

The tide land measure now stands before the constitutional convention. It is just such a scheme as the grabbers want, provided it is not possible to carry into effect their original plan to stave off the whole matter for by the legislature. It proposes, with the pretense rather than the reality of honesty, to sell the tide land property of the state but leaves the establishment of this line under certain loose juggle of the legislature. It provides for the appraisement of the lands not included in this reservation and for sale, giving to the shore owner, who may also be the owner of improvements in abutting tide land, the prior right to purchase. Right here lies the minity of the proposition. The appraisement will be a farce. It will be made in the interest of the shore owners and will be the easy means of their getting property worth millions of dollars for little or nothing. This discrimination in favor of the shore owners is a recognition of a so-called 'right' which has no basis either in law or equity; a right whose only basis lies in trespass. It practically gives to those who have already made a vast amount of money, taking in dollars where they have expended cents, through their occupation of a public thoroughfare, the privilege of buying it for a small fraction of its actual value. There is but one way of getting the value of these lands, and that is to sell them openly at public auction without any sort of limitation.