The record-union., 1896-01-14
BOARD OF TRADE EXHIBIT.
William Il. Mills Clearly Points Out Its
Value.
He Answers in Very Pointed Man
ner the Contemplate Filings of
People Who Never Did Anything to
Promote It-Somethtng About the
Plan TO Break Up Land Monopoly.
(From the San Francisco CaIl.)

To the Editor of the San Francisco
"Call'-Sir: I beg through your cour-
tesy to rise to question of privilege
The city of Philadelphia maintains a
commercial museum, in which is ex-
hibited all the objects of culture, all ar
ticles of manufacture and all the ma
tive or raw material from which manu-
factured forms are made. Philadelphia
claims to be a commercial emporium.
It's people are evidently aware of the
fact that cities exist by reason of the
commerce generated by the industrial
activity in the territory tributary to
them
Recently the manager of the COM
mercial museum of Philadelphia ap-
piled to ]. A. Filcher, who is now in
charge of the State Board of Trades
exhibit at Atlanta, for contributions
to his commercial museum. The matter
was presented in communication from
Mr.. Filcher at the last meeting of the
board, and instructions were given to
furnish this Philadelphia museum with
everything in the way of duplicates and
to supply it to any extent that would
not impoverish the exhibit at Atlanta.
Philadelphia was not only willing to
promote the growth of California by
making an exhibit of it's products with
out cost to the State, but has estab-
lished and maintained museum for
the exhibition of all of the articles
which are subject of commercial trans
action. There is a grandeur of breadth
in this conception commensurate with
the claim of the city of Philadelphia to
be a great emporium of commerce.
The existence of this great museum
of commerce was the genesis of the
suggestion that such museum should
be maintained in San Francisco upon
the theory that San Francisco is the
commercial metropolis of all the ter
ritory lying west of the Rocky Mount
aims and sustains commercial relations
with Alaska and the Hawaiian Islands
and other Pacific islands.
AS already asserted, cities are the
effect of which the industrial activities
in the countries naturally tributary to
them are the cause. The territory with
in the United States naturally trib-
utary to San Francisco embraces about
100000 square miles. The group of
States and Territories comprises Idaho,
Montana, Washington. Oregon, Utah,
Nevada, Arizona and California. OF
THESE Odll1OI1lld Is luG CGHlTd1 STATE.
It is by far the richest, both in the
wealth it now possesses and it's natural
resources. 1t embraces within it's linn
it's fully GO per cent of all the really
| arabic land west of the Rocky Mount
aims.
1t constitutes the natural center of
this group of commemorative and
everything flows to it by force of COM
mercial and financial gravity. The
commercial centers of the country drain
the outlying territory tributary to them
of their money and their best brains.
San Francisco is constantly benefited
by this absorbing process. Nearly one
third of the wealth of this city to-day
was generated in the State of Nevada.
The tendency toward the commercial,
financial and social center of any coun-
try is in obedience to a law as inexora-
BILE as the law of gravity. Oregon has
contributed to the wealth and the popu-
lation of California, and especially San
Francisco. A recent illustrative case
may be cited, that of S. G. Reed one of
the pioneers of Oregon. one of its largest
capitalists, who within the past two
years left the city of Portland, where he
had accumulated his vast fortune, and
took up his residence in Pasadena. His
death in that city is one of the recent
misfortunes of the city where he re-
sided, the State of California, and, in
fact the entire coast.
The commerce of San Francisco is not
bounded by the political divisions called
States. 1t is not conscious of these di-
visions at ALL The growth of Cali
fornia is inseparably interviewer with
the growth of all the Pacific territory.
1 beg leave here and now to plead
guilty unequivocally to any charge that
I am in favor of promoting the growth
of Washington, of Oregon, of Nevada,
or Utah, and all other Pacific territory.
No growth or prosperity can come to the
people of these States and Territories
that will not eventually inure to the up
building of California and especially to
the augmentation of the commerce of
the city of San Francisco. I have
claimed, and maintain that claim to be
good, that San Francisco is the metro
politan center of the Pacific territory.
If this be true, we are just as much in
terested in the growth of one portion of