The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1890-03-22
Open the River.

THE DALLEs, March l9, 1890.
Editor TINES -MoUNTAINEER:
l have watched with much interest tn,
progress of The Dalles board of trade in it.
honest efforts to advance the commercial
and financial interests of this city and
county, by projecting railroads and RAISING
subscriptions to advertise the resources oi
the country. have deep adherence ol
the chronic grumbIer, and no great respect
for the man who is only wise after the
event, but the time is ripe for saying few
plain words to the people o. The Dalles,
that, if mistake not, will find response
in the Judgment of more than a majority oi
its people.
At the board of trade meeting last even.
ing Messrs. Robt. Mays and o. D. Taylor
both affirmed that The Dalles was not gong
to build any railroads. She had no money
to do SO. The same was true of Goldendale.
Every dollar Of available capital in both of
these towns was already employed in some
way or other. 1t follows, therefore, that if
4hC OdllCo anu oOuSuCku VI OdklcS
Goldendale" railroads are ever built bv the
present lncorporators they will be built by
what a gentleman present facetiously
termed-gas. A monthly subscription,
amounting to over $500 a month, was re.
Gently taken up in The .Dalles. for the pur.
pose of advertising the city and county.
The committee having this subscription in
charge reported that they had made con.
tract with the Oregonian to have weekly
advertisement at the rate of Sl70 month
or $42 SO for each insertion. am not find
ing fault with this. 1t is only noticed to
give occasion for me to say that in my
judgment, this money could have been
spent to much better advantage. If instead
a subscription bad been taken up to build
an opposition line of boats and place them
on the river, line SO controlled that it
could not sell out to the railroad, there is
not a man who put his name to the adver-
tising subscription for dollar, who would
not have multiplied it by ten, would not
dreds all over the county who while hun
give anything to the former would have
subscribed literally to the latter. If COM
and the shares of stock placed at $50, Or
500 or even less, every farmer in the
county, who has grain to sell would see the
importance Iof being a share holder. Here
is something practical and within our reach.
These railroad projects aIe good enough,
and doubtless will be carried out in due
time; but they are beyond our individual
effort. They must be built with other peo.
pies money, but the merchants of The
Dailes and the farmers of the country could
put on line of cheap boats, intended for
freight only, and get back every dollar they
would spend, in the shape of reduced
freights in one single year. If instead of
listlessly folding our arms and whining be-
cause the government does not open the
locks quick enough to meet ourneed; If in.
stead Of spending money for advertising fer
the influx of an lmmigr alton that we would
not know what to do with if it came here,
we rose up with united front and acting on
the adage that ''God helps those that help
themselves" we put on the middle river
only line of barges to connect stsoq with
below the Cascades, that could, / doubt
not, be easily hired in Portland or Astoria,
we would wrest from the throats of the
producers of vastly extended and highly
productive region, that hand that, these
many years, has held them fast, while like
the vampire it sucked their life blood. A
movement In this direction will benefit The
Dalles Ind Wasco county more than if tens
of thousands of dollars were spent in ad-
vertising. 1t is the best and cheapest torn
of advertising We could adopt. 1t would
increase the trade of the city more than both
the talked-of railroads. Would that the
board of trade might take the balance of
the advertising subscription, and constitute
it nucleus of the capital needed for this
enterprise. There is not farmer nor sheep
man in this county, and lar beyond it, who
would not hail the movement with Joy. If
the advertising committee, in a matter of
questionable utility, were able to raise in
the limits of The Dalles only, sum that
aggregated nearly $4,000, what might not be
raised on behalf of a project that would
meet the approval of every man. women
and child in the Inland Empire, except
those owned by, or belonging to the rail-
road corporation.
At meeting of the board of trade, held
only a few weeks ago, Mr.. NJ. 7. Nolan an
that he would give $1,000 to estab-
lish line of boats ON the middle river. Mr..
s. B, Adams, at the same time, announced
he would "go one better. which I suppose
means $1,000. Here is nucleus of $1,000.
A prominent gentleman told me yesterday
he would give more than any one in The
Dalles. The matter seems only to require
some one to lead it. Who. will do this, for
the times are ripe? HUGH GoURLAY.