The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1876-07-27
Thursday, July 81, 1875
pREPOSTEROUS MISCoN-
STRUCTION,

The Port Townsend Argus in its
last issue published a long article en-
Weighing against Seattle enterprise
in terms Of needless and exaggerated
acrimony. The occasion was the
issue Of some orders from business
men Of that city for letter-heads to
j agent Of the ISrELLIGEscEE Of
ce, which makes speciality of that
ind Of work, as well as job printing
general. The Argus vcntilates
Its grievances in the following en-
0,hatic strains
- "FoE WHOM 1T MAY CONCERN
is it possible that Port Townsend
has becomea dependency Of Seattle !
Such was the exclamation Of citi-
zen Of our town one day last week,
upon learning the fact that many of
our merchants, business nen and
hotel keepers had honorcd a drum
mer from a job-printing Office in Sc
attic with an order for letter heads,
they having been inveigled into the
scheme by inducements of cheap
ness, advertising their business, n
description Of Port Townsend, etc,
precisely what is being done every
week by the Argus at the lowest liv-
ing rates. Bosh upon such nom
sense said another, the orders were
given with the idea that the work
could not be done here This last
feature Of the matter, though natu-
raj, struck Us as not little singular.
particularly in connection with the
fact that there is IA well-conditioned
Job-printing Office here, with as good
appliances for the execution of the
work as any Office in the Territory,
and it naturally gave rise to 'un-
pleasantness.'
Realizing most kcenly our strug-
giles in thisf regard, we were intui-
lively led IL inquire: What has Seat
athens, and more especially
III ossiTo vtt..i.u.s H. "~.L, l~..s
towards sustaining Port Townsend,
in any respect, that work, which could
he as cheaply and as well done here
as there, should be given to that
place? We will rehearse 1.-THE of
the evidences of their good @ will
concerning it. They have done all
i'm their power to injure it, not only
by some of their newspapers and
citizens generally but by their agents
hired to traducc il they obtained
the removal of the office of Inspector
Of Boilers from this port to that
they have used their utmost endeav-
ors to have the custom house re-
moved thither, and have tried every
artifice that genius could invent to
divert trade and business from us
yet in the face and eyes of all this
our business men are contributing to
their ACKNOWLEDGEMENT to the injury of
home industries
:" Reader, the foregoing, while it
would seem in some of its essentials
to partake of the farcical is. notwith-
standing the absurdity of the fact
complained of, a stern reality. We
have devoted our means and energies
to the best interests of the town !;
every dollar that we could spare has
been put into it. and we cannot but
feel that the work of sustaining in
terests inimical to those Of Port
Townsend is suicidal. There are
other things that might be said and
comparisons instituted in connection
with other business than printing,
but enough for this time
While We cannot take any excep-
tons to the Argus zeal in urging
the Townsenders to eoniine their
atronage at home, in all matters
)( ore their local institutions can
M ,modate them rs well as
it can be done abroad, still we
cannot let it pass. in JUS
ticc, without putting in our dis
claimer agains, the railing accusation
made, that We, as a newspaper, or
that Seattle as community, have
any malicious purpose or any dispo-
sition To undermine, or in anywise
blight the established prosperity of
Port Townsend. On the contrary,
We have always held as self-evident
truth, along with Josh Billings, that
the man who kasa raise hisself up
without yankin others down, is a
limmited kuss.
Realizing that We have Territory
as big as all out doors, with capabil-
tiles of supporting millions of peo-
pie, We most heartily disown any In
clination to indulge a dog in the
manger spirit of detraction or unfair
rivalry against our neighbor towns
on the Sound. Our Port Townsend
exchange has treated Of the matter
"rathcr in sorrow than in anger,
and We have taken it up in no spirit
Of rccrimination. but only "a Afford