, 1866-03-30
THE FREIGHF QUESTION.

the inconvenienees/ attending the payment
of freight money at Wallula. Hereto-
fore the o. S. n Company has charged
s., so per ton storage on all goods landed at
Wallula, it mattered not how short the time
goods remained in the warehouse. 1t is
now proposed to appoint an Agent who will
receive the goods from the boats at Wallula,
and thus effect saving of $3.50 on each
and every ton. The amOuat thus saved will
fully compensate the Agent, and at the>same
time the interests of shippers will be better
attended to than under the former arrangeH
ment. Something of the kind was necessary
iu order to the safety Of shippers, and we
can only hope that the arrangement may
prove satisfactory to al the parties conN
cerned. The resident sgent at Wallula will
be furnished with funds to pay all freight
bills, and thus all the requirements OF the
o. S. N. Company will be literally CONS
piled with. In this connection we may add,
that throughout our merchants have acted
entirely under the spur of necessity. 10
have arranged for the payment of freight
bills at Portland, would have involved the
employment of a banker, whose charges
would have beeu exorbitant. Any arrange
ment of this kind was out of the question.
To forward freight money from time to
time through the hands of teamsters, and
trust to the honesty of anybody and every
body, was risk that no prudent man would
care to take. Under all the circumstances,
the only alternative that remained was to
appoint a responsible agent, to reside at
| Wallula, whose business it will be to repre-.
sent the merchants and shippers at Walla
Walla. This has already been done,
and as we are informed, Mr.. Lewis Day, a
gentleman every way worthy and competent,
has been selected to ell the position. Here
we might properly close, but we have word
to say to the Directors of the .. S. n. Com
pany, which we trust will be taken in good
part 1t is this, that in making their arr
rangements they should be governed by the
spirit of accommodation. To require a
whole community to comply with Empossi-
bic requirements, is bad policy, and sooner
or later must react upon those who thus
abuse their power 1t is not safe even for a
monopoly thus to outrage public sentiment,
and we can only infer that the action was
had without having first duly weighed the
consequences. Just at the moment it may be
possible for those who control the naviga
ton of the Columbia River to carry out
any rule, it matters not how arbitrary; bu
let short sighted policy like this be con-
: tinued for any length of time, and nothing
can be more certain than that the busines!
men Of the country will find means to ric
themselves Of the incubus The President
and Directors Of the o. S. N. Company vii
believe that all that here is said is urged il
the kindest spirit. We have at all time.
e cheerfully given the Company credit for th,
: enterprise displayed in overcoming the OBJ
e Stacles in the way of navigating the COlum
e bia River. To the development of tn
; country the o. s. N. Company has contrib
/, uted more than any olhcr,-we had almos
e said all other agencies, and with this record
y we are certainly surprised to fnd exhibited
It disposition to disregard the convenienc
: and interests of the mercantile classes. |
n any word of ours can reach the Directors @
the Company, it is to reconsider their hast
action, and at once take measures that wi
= again place them in accord with the merch
e ants of the upper country.
- | Trr TO1-cupT Ran w.. .-I 4 =