, 1881-10-15
Our Future.


Mr.. Willard, President Of the Oregon
and Transeontinental Railroad Company.
vas pleasantly welcomed by the repre-
sentatiyes Of the business men of Walia
Walla at the meeting yesterday in the
rooms of the o. r. & N. Co. yesterday
and gratitied them with short but clear,
concise and comprehensive view OF the
situation, the resources of the country
generally and the advantages OF our city
TO become one of the largest inland towns
Of the interior.
The words he uttered were but few,
but they were direct and to the point-
not the rash utterances of an enthusiast,
but the plain deductions Of a cool-headed,
sagacious business man, from compre-
hensiye survey Of the facts of the situa-
tion, and they should inspire the busi-
ness men cf this city with new energy
and wider reach of enterprise to grasp
the great future that lies before them.
We question if any Of our citizens can ell
tirely comprehend the possibilities in
store for this city, which is now mere
village compared with what enterprise
and energy can make it. There are
hundreds Of towns IN the United States
with quadruple our population and yet
have not one-tenth part Of our resources.
This is significant fact patent to all.
What this city needs to place 1t on the
high road to fame and fortune is more
home industries.
Fortunes are being sent out ot the
country annually for articles that rot
under our feet as we write. Fruit com
mands higher price the year around
than any other article, and 1t needs but
to enter any store in the city to find the
shelves loaded with an inferior canned
variety, while our own superior article Is
untouched for want Of enterprise to start
a canning nanufactory- Our hides are
nearly all shipped away and returned to
us in thousand shapes, and the only
woollen manufac.ory III a radius CT 900
miles is lying idle and the wool shipped
off to be returned to us again III various |
shapes.
Manufactures is what we want and 1t |
must be apparent to every resident pro-
perty-holder that our future prosperity |
must come from this source, and the /
sooner we set ourselves arieht III this |
matter the sooner We shall have given to |
Walla Walla character of permanency |
and stability that is not staked alone
even upon the never-failing wheat crop |
which is so certain i'll our valley and sur
rounding country
We have no doubt but that Mr.. Vii |
lard would have given us more encourage
ment than be really did if he were fully
persuaded that our citizens sgenerally were
enterprising The time has not On
been passed when to be 'cnterprising'
meant in plain language to be ruined and
there were many who, while they en-
couraged men OF means to embark their
capital in uncertain enterprises. yet were
the first 10 leer when the schemes turned
out to be failures The temptation among
our citizens to be enterprising We know
has been very great, but the great uncer
tainty which has prevailed even to now
about our future has withheld many from
going ahead as they wished. This state
Of affairs nov 10 longer prevails rail-
roads are an established fact and more are
promised Now is the accepted time,
and investments for the future are certain
of reaping rich harvest
Therefore let our own citizens reach
ont to grasp what is fast falling i4to the
hands of outside parties, strangers 10 all,
but who apparently understand the situa-
ton better than we do ourselves