Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1873-10-04
OLYMPIA, SATrgDiY N0Di'NG, OCT, |, lSis.
BRO, BIGELow ON A DOWN GRADE

Bro. BiTelow has his hobbies AMI
rides them whenever it suits him to do
so. Most Of these hobbies are very
small ones, bat this fact does not pre-
vent him from riding them on all sorts
of Quixotic brands or engaging in in
Vulnerable sancu;narv conflicts with
imaginary windmills. His present eff
forts are devoted to defeating the pro-
iect which now engages the attention of
our people, Of railroad connection with
the Northern Pacific az Tcnino.
Some of Mr.. Bisclow friends profess
to believe that he opposes the measure
because the SvANpAsp favors it, rs it is
well known that the sight of our paper
has abou. the same effect upon him us
scarlet garment on vicious bull, and
he consequently opposes everything with
might and main that we advocate; while
others claim that he is Influenced by
grave fears OF decline in the price zap
pies. and that his action is controlled Ivy
purely pecunaly consideration of the
subject as affecting the fruit crop. If
he had but acknowledged this in his
communication to the Couricr, it would
have been far more ingenious than the
attempt to group together few in
stances of failure of similar enterprises,
from causes he does not deem it proper
to even state. His logic, if applied
would presagc the ruin of any enter
prise, no matter how noble the object,
or promising the auspices under which
it is to be executed. He virtually says
that if an individual fails in business,
that vocation should forever be blotted
from existence; That rs few railroad
enterprises have proven unremunera-
tive during the past twenty years, all
must necessarily fall under the ban,
and be classcd as curses instead of ben
efts to the community; that if a mis-
sionary effort should fail, the heather
must be left unconverted and turned
over to the service of the devil.
We cannot agree with our friend that
the failure of an enterprise in New York,
the Mississippi valley, or in England,
under certain circumstances, indicates
failure here under what may be alto
gether different circumstances. If Mr.
Biselow cannot succeed as fruit-grow-
er near large city, does it follow that
others will share the same fate? Be-
cause he thinks he cannot compete with
others, should others hesitate about
being able to compete with him? Ex-
perience continually proves that the
demand for all staple commodities in
ereases in proportion to the increase of
population and the improvement of
facilities for reaching business centers
where they may exist.
Those who have read Mr.. Bigelow's
article must have observed that he rests
his case mainly upon the statements of
others, and depends but little upon his
own observation fof any of his facts
This remarkable characteristic of the
gentleman has been frequently noted
heretofore, as we'll as the unreliable
nature of many of his statements based
upon a partial remembrance of facts
and directed by an inordinate zeal to
make his arguments hold water.
For instance, he declares on the au-
thority of some nameless Somebody,
that the general feeling i'll Oregon justi-
lies the belief that subsidies paid to rail-
roads in that State have not resulted in
any adequate return. The simple fact
is that Oregon, like almost every other
State in the Union, feels the effects of a
prolonged stagnation of business, and
the railroad is the scape-goat which is
made to bear the blame. Portland,
being the commercial depot of the
northern coast must feel the depress-
ing effects of "hard times" to very
percepuble degree. 1t suits somebody
to tell Mr.. Bigelow that the railroads
are the cause, and without other thought
than that it will seve his purpose the
Deacon PUSHES into print to scatter it
it far and wide. Some of the interior
towns which paid moderate subsidies
to the railroad may not have reaped any
perceptible return, for they are nothing
more than way-stations, which the cars
pass through with the briefest of stop
pages. Here, however, the case is very
different. The termini are within the
the county, and the principal one is
located at the head of navigation on
the finest harbor on the coast. where no