, 1878-08-01
THE RA!LRGA0 QUESTION.

That ,he great need of both East.
crn and Western Washington is a
connecting railroad is so paIpabIe
that popular sentiment of the peo.
pIe is Being gradually concentrated
npon determination to secure one
at any cost. Its advantages are fore
shadowed in many ways, among
which are a few that may be referred
to with profit.
A gentleman Just from Walla
Walla informs us that settlers in that
section "think nothing of hauling
fencing twenty or thirty miles," and
that where saw.mils are at work
there are haf.a.dozen buyers for
every plank before it is turned out
Had we railway communication with
them undoubtedly large portion Of
the lumber which is so plentiful on
Puget Sound, and which is being
crowded into the gIutted market at
San Francisco, would 90 across the
Cascades to be converted into houses,
barns, fences, ETC., by the farmers Of
those large and fertile valleys. Many
settlers over there build their houses
of small willow poles, with straw and
mud thatching-and why? Simply
because lumber (Which is shipped
from here to San Francisco only to
bring 81 to Sl2 per M landed at
their doors costs from $35 to $40 per
m. The price, for them, is so ruin
ously high, that the possession of
even so greatly needed an article
must be postponed until opuIence
renders their condition such as to
warrant the purchase. Cord wood
which sells here for $3.50 to 50 per
cord, over there brings from $500 to
SO; while coal, which we buy and
sell for about $5 to Sc per ton, is
bought by them (for mechanical pur-
poses only) at even more enormous
prices proportionate to its value.
Tlke look at the other side of the
picture. Our Eastern farmers think
themselves especially fortunate when
forty cents per bushel can be realized
for their wheat, while the same arti-
ole, placed on one of our Puget
Sound docks, will bring from $1.20
to $3.50 per bushel. Other articles
Of produce can, Of course, be ex-
pected to be in proportion.
What difference now can the iron
horse" make in these prices, and
what will be the effect produced by
a railroad connecting the waters of
Puget Sound with the many broad
and fertile valleys thus hemmed in
and hampered in their growth? In
deed is any argument required toI
this great necessity II
While, at a casual glance, the ad-
vantages would seem to accrue
principally to Eastern Washington,
a careful survey of the matter can,
not fail to demonstrate that she will
get no more than her share, for Pu-
get Sound, the natural outlet for a
). whole kingdom" of inland terri
tory, cannot fail to reap a respecta.
BILE fee from every cargo of grain
shipped through her waters. The
necessity Of so many citizens be-
comes the necessity of the Territory;
and these necessities, considered in
the aggregate, give rise to the uni
versal cry, 1--WE MUST have rail
road"
The people of the Sound are gen.
orally pleased to know that the en-
terprise known as the Seattle and
Walla Walla r. r., is about to meet
with success, not from any desire to
benefit Seattle in particular but be.
cause that enterprise seems the most
feasible of any promising the desired
end. 1t matters little, for the public
good, what particular point is made
the terminus so that the road is built.
Let all take courage. and improve
the opportunity by concert Of &C.
ton without which we labor in vain.