Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1895-03-08
Washln9tun s taudara
OINrIPlA. WASH.
ERlhAI EVENING Y!GfN \. ,Ne5
The Grip OF Corporations.

'''' al - ''H'ltS - N'''''l Hl'k'a!
hat Tacoma j. rlssiu. thr.aeh a
."tN ordeal. For term Il I.rr-pcruus
ears h'r I"l!r.- p:"Inuter- have d.
l-hjri (" cal Ter the Civ al bc~-
my, and now q destiny has over
AIKEN her l'iit- a. unbiased for ana
To- her rival nelrhhor- i. to
herself. In word. her entire watcr-
iront ha> become tn" hopcie>s prey 81
corporations.
Those Who are acquainted with the
and general contour Of Ia
coma harhor may CLEAN an adequate
Tea OF the condition OF affairs when it
j. stated that from cold Town" on
the north, Ia Twenty-second street
ON tho south, comprising distance
OF $4,000 feet, or nearly three and a
half miles, there is not IA ct OF shore
line that the city can c.ll its own.
The Northern Pacific Railroad and
Land Company claim tn whole Of it.
In all this distance there is not city
street nor the pittance Of an alley
through which citizen can reach the
green waters OF the bay without pay
ing tribute to the railway company.
In the City Council chamber there
hangs huge map OF Tacoma and
along its waterfront there is delneat-
ed a broad black belt, an appropriate
color, and the people call this belt the
"boa constructor" This is lugu-
brious epithet, and yet the expression
is a tame one and comes far short 0!
conveying an idea OF the misfortune
TO the people. Another name given
to the black belt is the" Chinese WALL
on occount of this ugly prescription
which confron,s the otherwise fair
city. Tacoma's sleamer-landing IA
cilities have for years been kept in
the background, and the late great
cave, which the railroad company for
reasons best known to itself is sus-
piciously slow in repairing, adds much
to the general squalor of the scene.
The landing and shipping facilities
OF many milling points and incon.
siderable Sound ports are a hundred
per cent. better than those of Tacoma
to-day, with her little pent up area
at the foot of Pacific Avenue, the only
thoroughfare leading to the business
front.
When the Northern Pacific railroad
company purchased for q song a mar
row strip OF shore-line and then squat
ted upon the mud flats of Commence
ment Bay, it squatted to stay, mol
will it be dislodged though millioni
of dollars be expended by the people
of Tacoma to reclaim what the State
constitution has made their heritage.
1t is only recently that the people
have discovered the true nature oil
their deplorable situation. Up to the
time that the scales began to fall from
their eyes they thought the corpora
tons we're their cherished benefactors
Why, the Northern Pacific hat
brought its terminus into their little
city; it had skirted their water from,
with extensive wharves; it had bull,
the great, the wonderful hotel Tacoma
it had reared on the brow of the hill
costly railroad buildings; it had re-
christened and brought into promi
nence staid old Mount Rainier; The
railway company's cousin germane hat
begun q million dollar hotel that wa,
destined to eclipse everything OF tn
kind north OF San Francisco, and wo
to the denizen Of any rival town win
while visitor TO the city of destin,
said aught against the corporations
But a change has come over tn
spirit of their dreams. They are be
ginning to get their eyes wide open
They have discovered the differenc
between free or nominal wharfage an
exorbitant rates; they are beginnin
to see that these exorbitant rates ar
driving business to the free cit
wharves OF Old Town" and Seattle
the gentle sea breeze is bringing
their ears the curses of steamboa
owners vented against q corporatio
that would strive to dictate wis
prices should be charged for passel
gers between its wharves and outlyin
Sound points.
Yes, the people of the boosted Cit
of Destiny see clearly now that the
are bound hand and foot by the Ia
end of a railway Gordon that reach'
from the Pacific to the Atlanti
Beleagered by sea and land, they Cal
not get out of town without payin
tribute to the Northern Pacific Raj
road company. Tacoma's wharf rat
range all the way from so cents
two dollars per ton, while in So
Francisco they can never exceed
cents. In Old Tacoma the wharv,
are absolutely free. In Seattle al
other Sound ports wharfage is free I
barely nominal. Some time ago I'll
Northern Pacific Company rendered
bill of 1915 wharfage against a T
coma fruit dealer. The dealer had r
ceived 1913 crates of bananas. ALLOW
ing two cubic feet per crate and 4
cubic feet to the ton, the commo
reckoning, the wharfage was assesse
at the rate OF over GO cents per to-
But this is only single instanc
Tacoma business men are bemoanir
the "dull times" while auctions ar
receivers sales are the order OF Il
day from one extremity of Pacif
Avenue to the other. And are thel
things to be wondered at by close o.
servers?
On the continent Of Europe Il
wharves Of seaports are owned by Il
cities just as absolutely as the stree
and they are free to the worl
Ch;oauo Rostop and MANY other