Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-06-25
INTERESTING OREGON.
A LETTER ABOUT WILLARD. THE TRANS
P0KrATIoH MANAGER.
Wool clip-crop Prospects
Portland-PoIitics.
PORTLAND tOr.), June 20. 1881.

PORTLAND (0r.l, June 20, 1881.
On the North Pacific matters have pre-
crossed so fast during the two years pas
J that one who has been absent know
hardly where or how to commence t
look for the good old times when tn
o. S. n. Company was king OF Colum
bia river transportation, and Ben Hollada,
was tryiBg to be a railroad magnate
About two years ago the then little know
Henry Willard came out to look thing
up in his own interest. Before that hi
had been the representative of the Ger
man bondholders who had been relieved
of their spare cash by the California syn
dictate that engineered Holidays railroad
fortunes, and it is to be presumed that II
his management of the Oregon and Cali
fornia Railroad and the Kansas Pacific
road for the same parties, the ex-newspapel
reporter had won some distinction ano
made some money. He had conceived the
tremendous project to buy ont and control
all the transportation interests of the North
| Pacific region, and commenced by putting
up the game that resulted in getting hold
of the ocean steamship line and the river
routes of the Oregon Steam Navigation
Company, including the two portage rail,
roads, the WaIla Walla and Columbia
River Railroad, and the canal AND locks on
the willamette at Oregon City.
ACCOMPLISHMENT.
Two years have not yet expired, or have
only just expired, and to-day this man and
his friends control all the interests named,
and the still greater enterprise of the North
Pacific Railroad has succumbed to his STRAIT
egy. They also control the Oregon and
| California road, the narrow-gapge roads in
this valley, the steamboats, on Puget Sound,
and have additional heavy steamers coming
out from the East to serve as golfers ana
freighters between Puget Sound and any
where else. These same men own the best
coal mines on the Sound, the railroad from
Seattle to the mines, and through the Ore
gon Improvement Company are getting
hold of such outside matters as above
stated, building fumes in the upper coun-
try, buying everything that appears to
have any money in it /; aud while they are
| development of this region, Will drain of
| all the profits of it to swell their fortunes
elsewhere. It seems pity that men can
not own and control all these matters and
live among us and keep the profits of these
enterprises circulating and growing here
| but so it is. Oregon and Washington will
bear the relation to New York of captive
province of the old Roman Empire, gov
erned and robbed to fill the Golfers of its
| foreign rulers.
| WIZARDS CAREER
Has certainly been phenomenal. He had
the brains to plan, and his friends gave
him their cash. His motto has been au-
dacity-t toujOurs raudace." In Janu-
airy, 1850, the announcement was made
| that it would be indispensable for this
company to control all the transportation
on the North Pacific, and presto, change
the trick has been openly played before all
the world and the game made in eighteen
months or less. We haven't anything
worth while to say about transportation.
| There are few little steamers running on
| the lower rivers, probably because there is
! good sense In allowing some such to ply
on ort, unimportant routes but whether
we wish to travel by sea, by river. or by
land, we are at the mercy OF Henry Willard
unless we 90 afoot. II remains to be seen
| how he will use this immense power; and
if he preserves the moderation that has
characterized his management of the Ore
gon and California Railroad for years past,
he will deserve general respect, and there
is no reason to say he will not. Since the
transfer of the interests of the Oregon
Steam Navigation Company, freights on
the Columbia-prod seeking market
have been materially reduced. There was
| plenty of room for it, for the old corpora.
ton certainly had no soul, and had long
purse to TILL
CROP PROSPECTS,.
Some think the reduction was made to
encourage farmers in the upper country tc
put in crops, because there was great dis.
couragement in all the region east of the
Cascades, with wheat Auctuating from
80 to 40 cents a bushel, and the producers
had not faith to believe the prospects
could improve enough to encourage pro.
duction without some reduction on the
heavy charges for transportation. The
crop prospects form an important item in
the calculations of both railroads and peo-
pie. The present prospect through all
Washington and Oregon is only fair.
Southern Oregon will have nothing
extra, but that portion of the
State figures more in sheep, cattle
and horses than in wheat; this val.
ley will have fair yield, but the early, OF
fall.sown grain, was hurt by cold, frosty
weather, with strong and blighting north
wind, that lasted through the greater por-
ton of May which the free rainfall of the
last twenty five days has not altogether
compensated for. These rains have ex-
tended to the interior, and done a great
deal of good everywhere, and through
much of all this northern region the spring
wheat, if it ripens well, will considerably
outyield the fall wheat. But it cannot be
expected that Western Oregon will pro-
| duce more than In 1880. So FAR this year
(since August lasr) scarce more than
half a million bushels of wheat have
come from east OF the Cascades. But
with good crops and reasonable prices they
will have some old wheat and much new
to ship the year to come, SO that the Col
umbia river may be put down as needing
$50, coo tons of shipping for the coming
harvest year. The freight question has a
terrible significance, and our people con-
slider the matter with great apprehension,
hoping for some relief through the South.
| ern Pacific Railroad, via the Gulf OF Mex
leo, should it realize in season through con-
nection with the Gulf and carry out its
promise of opening an outlet in that direc-
ton. Whatever can relieve the freight
market in California will incidentally favor
us, as we have to look to San Francisco
4, for part of our tonnage, as not enough
comes direct to the Columbia river.
THE WOOL CLIP
OF the Columbian region may not much
exceed the yield of 1850. but prices are
well held up, better than we expected a
month since, ranging from 20 to 80 cents.
The woods east of the Cascades are well
bred, but are not clean. Willamette woods
are greatly grown on summer-fallow !;
UmpQua ranges are on an oak nIll region.