Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1890-12-19
Sympathetic POrtlnud.

| "'F's'N VttuUus
ihe oregonian, IL. speaking of the
Colulnb'a river recently said:
THE rivers are free to local enter.
PRISE NJ right of way Is nece. sary
III order to use their channels In the
interests IF commerce. The meth.
OBS heretofore pursued has been to
g"wi ut and pile up complaints
against the transportation co,npau.
'es Tor lack of adequate facilities for
conducting the traifi. %. the INLAND
E'ni ire; for exhorbitant freight aud
passenger charges and for several
.''a't'h'ions l." the peoples INTERESTS
iears ~ these complaints have
'"il, u, Tor obvious rcaso,Is, to bring
relief If the people who have
'"iged Them can do better for them.
serves tlian the existing transporta
tioh companies cnn do for them tb,.
rivers IL theirs, let them show a de-.
termination to use 1t. IL they will
not Ito this, 1t is clear that to con.
'inue the old line of queruious fault.
fihding is tut waste of time and
energy. Prudence must suggest To
them the wisdom Of striving To DOS.
sess their souls in patience, while
they tell to the child on their knee.
tales OF the wonderful prosperity
that will be the inheritance of
those who live to see the canal and
io:ks ut the Cascades completed"
This Is fair statement of the care,
II frank admission as To Purtland's
Interests lieretore in the matter. Ii
is brulally frank, cruelty true. We
are told that the river is free, and
that We can take advantage "f 1t or
let 1t alone, as II suits our will.
Were the river open it would be
possible for us to make the best OF
the invitation, tut us it 10 the cos,
of transferring low.priced fr light u,
the Cascades preclu,ies our utilizing
I he far from cheerful advice. josh
Billings said that castor oil and ad
vice were better to give than to re-
ceive, aud the above sample IL no
1t may be, aud 10 doubt
Is true, that we of Eastern Oregon,
nave not shown proper energy and
determination im our eff ,rts 10 tax.
t1vuntape of the Columbia as u
ileans of transportation. 1t may bc,
,nd perhaps is ;rue, that with prop
r energy und determination, the
'eople of Eastern Oregon could
themselves, have constructed uu-
ided, the lncks ut the Cascades; and
I is further true, that had this been
lone years ago, the savings in freight
atcs Un grain alone, would have
mpleted The locks long since. We
dniit this, but we add that it L.
quully true that E E,stern Oregon
aid h proporliuii ut taxes To con
rtict the I,cks ut Oregon city, and
i've the Willamette valley an open
Yer and II cheap transportation 10
urt.und, 1t is equally true that
le members uf the last legislature
Oni the Willamette valley voted
suinst beggarly $5O,0OO appr"pri-
lion for constructing and equiping
half mile of railroad at the Cas- 4
i,ies. which would have afforded :
y relief until the locks were cum. l
leted, and would no doubt have II
celebrated the work the e. We q
ave no kick ut the Union Pacific =
Whatever their sins
omission may have been they
e doing their best now, hut that is
1t enough. Tie trade of the In
nd Empire has grown beyond thu
pacily la handle, no matter " hat
eir motive or road equipment may
!. Our products must find mar
t., and if that market is To be I
,rlland the river must be utilized.
)rtland is interested in the solution
this problem as much as the pro-
,crrs, umd it will find To its cost,
MT the Oregonian's advice may yet
followed, aud the Columbia from
lilo To Pasco he used by the pro-
lets to send their products to the
,uud. That portion "f the river
"freeto local enterprise. THE
allies Chronicle.