Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-03-13

That shsy are getting alarmed In sar
Francisco at the threatened loss Of til,
northern coast trade is evident from th,
Oft repeated allrsions to II of the prest
OF that city. II is much the finest trad,
they have, and if compelled to part Will
1t 1t will be only after hard STRUGGLE
This trade has swelled enormously dur.
ing the pas. two years. It is thus edi
torially referred to in late issue Of .h,
Post:
San Francisco is becoming somevha,
exercised by reason of the perfsotina OF
direct railroad transportation between
fhe great commercial cities east Of ths
iseekY mountains and the Puget Sound
territory. Portland will be in direc;
communication with the East by rs1.
road before the close Of the present year,
and great preparations are being made
by tue Northern Pacific and its associ-
ate transportation agencies to control
the entile northern trade. This il only
what might be expected from an enter
prising and and Intelligent manage
ment. Ihs country as whole will be
gamer by this developments Of rapid
transit and intercourse, but what con-
Germs our local merchants ia how il will
affect their business. Until recently
san Francisco controlled the entire
coast trade; now it does not control It
In any comprehensive sense. Los An
geles and other southern points are in q
degree independent of this city, and are
becoming more so almost every month;
and when the Atlantic d Pacific road
has been completed southern California
will for all purposes OF import trade, be
wholly independent of this city.
The same remark applies with equal
force to Oregon and Washington, and to
points eastward in the Territories,
while there is some danger Of northern
California itself switching its trade off
tho direct supply market at San Fran
cisco. Under these circumstances what
had best be done to retain our trade, at
least, if not to extend it? A great many
suggestions have been made from time
to time, but none of them seem to meet
the casc, or else they may not have been
tried. Anyhow. this city ia being en-
circled by railroads over which the local
railroad corporation has no control, and
special trading facilities are being given
to rival points, all of which initiate
against the commercial interests of San
Francisco. While, therefore, the most
strenuous efforts are being made to em-
barrass the ono railroad corporation
which has direct pecuniary interest in
sustaining San Francisco, no effort is
made to adapt the trade of the city to
the changed conditions. The Journal
Of Commerce, in a sensible article re-
viewing the northern trade, places the
tota: imports of the Columbia river
towns and Puget Sound district last
year at ga, go $50, of which 81, ,197, 1865
represents domestic products and manu-
factures, principally supplied by San
Francisco houses. Eastern merchants
will be able TO supply this demand on
better terms next year, unless our local
capitalists establish manufactures and
our iobbing houses adopt Eastern bust
ness methods. Selling goods ON open
account was tolerated while this coast
was isolated; it is wholly unsuited to
modern business methods, and the
sooner it is abandoned the better.
There are other antiquated business
rules in vogue here which had also bet
ter be dispensed with, ono being che
steamer day" collec tions, and the other
payment in coin. The Pacific coast is
now Incorporated into the business sys-
tenn of the entire country, and it must
adopt Eastern business methods.