The morning call., 1892-05-27

The pioneer steamer Of the new Northern
Pacific line left Hong Kong for Yokohama
and Portland last Saturday. She IS to be fol-
lowed by two other steamers at intervals Of
a month, and Sir William Pearce. the chief
owner Of the line. proposes to put on other
steamers presently, so as TO furnish a semi
monthly service. The vessels are OF the
same class as the Empress line fleet, which
was also furnished by Sir William Pearce.
In comparison with the new Inman ships
they are neither very large nor very swift
but they will compare fairly with the
Pacific Mail and Occidental and Oriental
steamers.
When this line is running there will be
three lines Of steamships plying between
China and the Pacific coast of America-One
TO Victoria, one 10 Portland and one TO san
Francisco The two former cannot support
/ themse. YES by legitimate traffic, simply be-
/ cause there is nothing either at Portland or
Victoria that China wants, and no demand
at either place for Chinese products. They
can wake little money on through freight
carried ID opposition TO the SueZ canal
steamers, as they can cover the distance
from Asiatc ports to Liverpool in ten days
less than the Suez vessels take. But when
the cost OF railroad transportation across
continent and the cost Of two transship-
ments are deducted from the freight money
the share which Will fall to the Pacific
steamers will be small. The Canadian line
may c0ntrive to live on the vernment
subsidy which 1t receives from Great Britain
and Canada, but the Northern Pacific line
has DO such backlog. 1t cannot grow rich ont
of the postal subsidy Of 1921. The obvious
conclusion to which the owners Of these
vessels will come VIII be that their true
terminal on this side should be San Fran
cisco, and that Victoria and Portland should
be merely ports Of call.
But when this conclusion is reached the
peculiar condition to which the maritime
trade Of San Francisco is subject will loom
up as a factor In the case. The Southern
Pacific will not permit any steamship line
which it does not control to engage in the
business Of carrying freight or passeng gers
between San francisco and China or
Japan. 1t claims to own the Pacific Ocean,
as Spain once did. When the Canadian
Pacific, finding that there was DO traffic at
Eictoria-OT, for that matter. in all Canada
proposed to run IFS ships to San Fran
Cisco where it mightpiek up some business
the Southern Pacific complained that its ter
the invasion were continued, TO retaliate by
carrying tie war into Canada and driving
the Canadian Pacific Railroad out of the
business Of carrying freight from points
south Of the line The threat was sufi-
! Gent. The Canadians stood on too thin ice
| to fight The Canadian line Of steamers
| never came to San Francisco. They lost a
profitable source OF income and this city
f0- Ia D. oh lima If cta
ships would have brought
II is quite impossible for Sir William
Pearce's fleet to earn interest on their cost
il they have to rely on the traffic which
Portland can furnish. It Is fine port and
il is the outlet Of valley which is unsur-
| passed in productive capacity in the United
States. But both port and valley are in
/ their infancy; they neither produce enough
merchandise to load line Of steamers to
! China, NOT consume tea and silk enough to
! warrant their importation on a large
! scale. II the steamers are to pay
! expenses they must ply to tie CONNER
| cial metropolis Of the coast. where a
! ship can always get something to fill up
with, and there is always a market-at
some price-for everything. If these yes
sells touched at Portland and Victoria and
made this their home port, there is no rea-
son why they should not make money. The
| Pacific Mail earned AZ per cent on its CAPT
tai last year, and a share Of this was earned
By tie China line. That San Francisco
would benefit by the establishment Of a
new line goes without saying. How much
benefit a seaport derives from each new line
Of steamers may be inferred from the fact
that the sagacious merchants Of Antwerp
have just agreed TO remit all dock charges
and light dues to the vessels of the Nord-
| Deutcher LLOYD, on condition that they
would touch at Antwerp on their way tC
Australia.
But the great octopus stands in the way
Of this Improvement. just as it sends armed
men to prevent preliminary steps for the
| establishment of new ferry to Oak
land. 1t wants all - everything. Il
forbids the steamers of the Canadian
line from coming here. as 1t will forbid the
steamers Of the Portland line from coming
here, for fear either OF them should take
business from its chartered line, the Occi-
dental and Oriental. or the Pacific Mall line,
which it subsidies. Through its greed il
denies to San Francisco the right Of eXpan-
sion and the privilege Of maritime develop
ment. 1t claims to own the sea as well as
the land. And we are told that there is
nothing for the people but to grin and
! haar