Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-05-21
MONOPOLY ON PrGEr seUSp
lCorr. s. T. Chronicle

lCorr. s. T. Ch,onicIeI
SEATTLE, w. r., Arril 30. 1884.
Seattle has gained its Importance
among the towns Of Puget Sound chiefly
oy the many hnes .. sallin and sseans
vessels tnat run between this city and
every village and town from Olympia to
wha'eorn. II Is the headquartsrs rs OF all
we trade on the Souod- Is - frequently
Tue case that travellers wishing 10 90
from one town on the Sound to another
must nfst come 10 Seattle 20 take boa,
70 their destination. The possession of
H5 many lines OF vessels sas brought to
Seattle almost all the wholesale trade of
western Washington Territory, and at
the present time candid persons admit
that this city is the coaenerej 4 e..r,t..r
OF Puget Sound. Much of the ranifi
growth OF Seattle is dae 10 tbs. incrsss a
10 commerce IN this country. and the
solid improvements which h.v. t..nn
n .de here have been rendered possi BILE
by the profits of the Sound trade which
the merchants hers have earned.
Ihers has been an effort made by the
great monopoly that has this county by
the throat to destroy the many como-t-
ing lines of vessels that make Seattle
thelr headquarters. The object of this
project may not have been TO des, row
ths commercial Importance of Seattle.
wnicn 1t certainly would do, for the pur
pOse of aiding Tacoma, which is fostered
by tie railroad. The object was, With
o7t doubt, to get control of the whole
trade OF The Souua and enjoy a nsonop-
oily OF the carrying business. The first
naove In this direction was made some
time ago. when the fares aud freiohts
on the y 'egon Railway and Navigation
Companys steamer Idaho were cut down
one half between Seattle and Whatcom
and all intermediate points. The fare
." Wh2tcom on the independent mes
was VI from this city, and freight was
carried for u ton. The rates on the
Idaho We're pot at Just half this, and
nalf rates have been maintained since
the policy OF killing of the independent
vessels was begun.
Up to the present tine this project of
the Oregon Railroad and Navigation
Company has not succeeded. The peo-
PIE here and all along the Sound have
greet fear of surreudering all their COM
merce To Que corporation. They have
refused to withdraw their patronage
from the independent lines, although
the fares and freights on these have
been maintained at their original fig-
ures and are twice as high as on the
would he mnnopolyss steamer, the Ida
no. The business of these independ-
ent vessels has not suffered in conse-
quence OF the competition; Oh the other
hand, their trade has gradually grown
As the business on the Sound has in
creass d. The effort 10 freeze out all
competition has So far been an expensive
failure.
The Pacific Coast Steamship Company
has made A similar effort to suppress tue
independents lines between this city and
San Francisco. There is line of
freight schooners between Seattle and
San Francisco, aud also several steam
ships which run between the two points.
The Paciric Coast Steamship Company
has made every effort to drive of both
these lines, and last summer the agent
of that company here visited a number
of the most infiueLtial merchants and
solicited them to sign contracts to ship
all their freight by the Pacific Coast
Steamship Company's vessels and re-
ceIve a rebate of from 10 To % per cent
on the schedule prices. After number
OF the most important houses had en-
tered into this agreement, the agent
grew bold in his canvass and attempt
cd to force all the smaller dealers into
the arrangement by threats, openly
avowing that the object of the contract
system was to destroy all competition
in the carrying trade between this city
and San Francisco. Merchants VINO
refused to enter into the agreement
have been denied all rebate on the
schedule rates, and the threat has been
made that they will not be allowed to
enter into a contract with the railroad
10 receive freighi at reduced rates.
When the railroad is flashed. this re-
fusal may tie a serious matter 10 the
independent business men. But at
present all the independent ship lines
allow rebate on all goods shipped,
40 that their frsights are no higher
than those charged by the Pacific Coast
Steamship Compan ny under the contract
system.
Although the anti-monopoiy feeling is
not vet very pronounced here aud else
where along the Sound, the people act
very cautiously in their dealings with
the great companies that control the
TRANSFORMATION trade of this section OF
the country.
The greatest wish of every tom here
is to have railroad connection with the
East aud Oregon, yet taey are very par
ticuIar about the concessions they make
to the companies. The trouble that
California has had with the monopoly
tAat controls the trade there has taught
the people of Washington Territory
lesson. In both the efforts that have
been made to destroy all composition III
the carrying trade ON the Sound, aud
between here and San Francisco, the
would. be monopoly has failed; and un-
less they can Infiict serious damage on
the independent merchants after the
railroad is completed. We may hope 10
escape the commercial desposism OF a
p.nnoDaiy