The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1895-09-13
The Seattle Canal Scheme a
Very Poor Enterprise.
MEN LuRED TO STARVATION
A Salvation Army Officer Graphic.
ally Describes the Pitiful Con-
ditiOn of Affairs in the
Boom City.

Mr. James Weston, who has for sew
eral years been prominently identified
with the progress Of the Salvation Army
on the Pacific coast, reached Astoria yes
terday after an absence of several
months. He has spent most Of the past
year on Puget sound, and a conversation
with him opens up many interesting top
les. Mr.. Weston's close connection with
the food and shelter" department OF
the army work has given him a keen
insight into men and things, and makes
his observations very valuable, no matter
to what subject they refer. He says that
Tacma and Port Townsend are undoubt-
edly the most lively cities in the state
of Washington, and he firmly believes
in the future of both localities The
former city has been helped wonderfully
Of late by her China tea trade and he
has been very favorably impressed in
deed with the bright and enthusiastic
manner in which the business men OF
Tacoma seize on and make the most of
any advantage that comes in their way
Astoria" remarked Mr. Weston,
wants a good dead more of the Tacoma
spirit and a big epidemic of liberal and
public spirited action before she can
hope to become a thriving metropolis"
This Salvation Army officer, however,
has seen some sad and pitiful things in
other parts of the Sound and tells in
an interesting way of the poverty and
desttution existing in the city Of Seattle.
He says:
81 have been in charge Of the Armys
food and shelter work in that town for
some months and am in a position to
know and gauge the extent of this desti-
tuition and to arrive at the cause for 1t
as we'll. The Seattle canal project is at
the bottom of the whole mischief. This
scheme originated in an earnest and
honorable manner by the citizens of Sc
attic, who after great personal efforts
raised a handsome subsidy for its incep-
ton, has fallen into the hands of un-
scrupulous men who are making all they
can out of it with no regard for the out
come. The work. which involves an
expenditure of $7OOO,OOO, is being carried
on at the present time by certainly no
more than thirty laborers and one dred-
ger-about as big "a force as would be
needed to repair sewer in a moderate
sized town. Out Of this molehill the rail-
roads and newspapers of Seattle are
making a remarkably big mountain
They are booming the immenslty of the
project in every possible way, and every
day the trains are landing in the city
dozens of men with large families who
come from Kansas and a half dozen other
states, lured by railroad advertisements,
which hold out hopes of work on this
canal with good pay for an indefinite
period.
Nine-tenth Of these people arrive in Sc
attic absolutely destitute. They find that
they have been basely deceived, and as
last resort apply to the Salvation Army
for shelter and food The town is over
run with hungry men who cannot find
work . In my mission trips through
the poorer localities | have during the
last few months come across some of the
most pitful cases of destitution that |
have ever known, and the worst of it
is that beyond what little relief the Army
can afford to give from time to time
these people are without hope or pros
pect of employment. 1t is all crying
shame.
'The $6,50O,0OO that was to have come
from St. Louis capitalists has not been
produced and according to all that the
Army can find out there Is a very shad
owy prospect of its ever being forthcom-
ing Meantime the thirty laborers are
working away at a rate that will bring
about the completion of the canal in
about fifty years, and the railroads are
reaping a harvest by selling tickets to
in the East and middle |
west whom they land by the score daily |
in Seattle streets without the means OF
obtaining a crust of bread. l don't wish |
to be understood as in any way blaming |
the citizens of Seattle for this condition |
of affairs, They are individually doing |
all they can to relieve the misery, ana |
many bankers and merchants are aiding |
the Army nobly in the work Of almsgiv-
Ing. But all they can do is very little |
and the great danger is that the Seattle |
city council in it's efforts to get RID |
Of it's surplus and destitute population |
will drive these people into Tacoma, AS
torla, Portland and surrounding towns, |
thus spreading this sad condition of
affairs into near by localities and sad
Hing onto other places a burden for
which the short sighted policy of Seattle
and Seattle railroad men
S solely responsible"
"The canal scheme is a fake, pure and
simple, devised by the railroads and
'olsted onto an unsuspecting city. l don't
1e;ieve the project will ever be carried
@ completion. We expect that this win
er in Seattle the Army work will be
thousand per cent over what
t was last year, and in the winter OF
S9i we fed and housed 175 homeless men
md women in that town every night"