The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1878-12-26
Puget Sound as it is.

Through some strange freak OF
mind the editor of the Tacoma Heyuld
has been led to tell the truth about
Puget Sound as it is to-day, and we
give the article in full, as follows:
Nature has lavished upon the Puget
Sound Basin, with an unsparing hand,
beauties and advantages almost in
comparable. The breath of summer
is tempered by refreshing zephyrs
from snowclad mountains; and mid
winter here is proverblal for its mild
temperature. High winds are robbed
of their fury, as they sweep DER hill
and dale; hurricanes are tempered
down to gentle breezes; drouths
are uncommon; and failure of crops
is unknown to our cline. Nature
protects the elements against extremes
except an extremely lovely climate.
The hills are covered with their never
fading, ever brilliant hues of green;
the prairics are traversed with herds
of sheep, cattle and horses; the sur
face of numerous lakes is disturbed
by incursions of ilocks of ducks, geese
and brandt: and river and ocean
steamers, and winged vessels of the
sea, float majestically upon the quiet
waters of Puget Sound.
The above paragraph is a pleasant
pen picture to contemplate; but it
takes money to buy the luxuries and
necessaries of life, which nature
though magnanimous in the bestowal
of its munificcnt gifts-cannot shed
upon needy humanity
Population upon Puget Sound
steadily increases; and opportunities
for acquiring anything more than
mere livelihood decrease in like man
ncr. Most persons who come to this
country and settle among us are poor.
An inventory of their worldly pos
sessions, after they have been with
us twelve month, finds them pos
sessed of still smaller cash balance.
They have invested in houses, farm
improvements, numbering or coal in
tcrests; vet their ventures seldom re-
turn them fair interest on capital laid
out. We say nothing about time and
labor expended. That is rcquised to
earn livelihood, at best.
In years gone by, men came to this
country and amassed fortunes in
brief seasons. Not one out of Il hun
dred on the shores of Puget Sound,
in our present day, clear annually
900, over and above expenses.
There are probably not two persons
out of every ten who clear 800 per
year. In the apparently prosperous
county of Pierce, to-day half the peo-
pie are poorer than they were one
wear ago. This state of affairs is alike
noticeable in and out of town. In
addition we may add that thirty
seven of our residents have liabilities
exceeding their assets. Over one
hundred persons in our county are
paying taxes on possessions that ase
making them poorer every day.
The solution to this problem is:
Our people consume more wealth
than they produce. They buy more
than they sell. In too many instances
they buy at high figures what
they might produce at a small outlay
of labor and attention. The value of
our imports is greater than that of
our exports. We live in hopes of
possible receipts, and realize our de
icits in positive expenditures. We
indulge too freely and too largely in
speculative enterprises, and are not
content to earn and en- joy an ordinary
livelihood. That this state of affairs
is uninviting and unpropitous, no
one will hesitate to admit. Let us
make every reasonable effort to better
our condition by exercising better
Judgment in the future.
rs,. Dcoulc Souuder than thetr