The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1896-06-04
FISH NOW RUNNING.
Good Reasons Why Canacrs cannot Pay
eivc Gents,

oregonan.
I A business man from llwac,A whose
I years OF experience On the Columbia gtNV
I weight to his pttcNnCeS, Was IN the citS.
/ yesterday, and when seen at the Portland
7 10y reporter OF the oresouap furnished
I some interesting Information about the
{ situation at Astoria as between the can
ncrs anu the sJriNins fishermen, He said:
The strike has been stnSeleSS one
( from tirst 10 ast, and. II the truth was
known, the majority Of the po0r Usher
men who we're delUdcd by DIES. .gning
coSsvs 70 80 into 1t. would gladly get 0Jt
Z of IL and so 10 work en- the tour-cont ba-
Z sis. nsortaHately. these are being int.m-
idatsl by the Few lawless ones. and they
+ dare not either act or cNpreSs their views.
/ thtnk however, now tha, the election
IS over, and that the bosses will have no
further Use for the nrn on SHORE. that
the men viii bo allowed to shit Tor them
selves ana will gradually so 10 WORK on
the A-centS-a-p pound h8sis. I think you
viii find matters shaping themselves that
way inside ot ten DAYS The warm
weather has started the fish running live
~, aad the stshs ot 50 much wealth pass
ing them in the water every Jay now,
and going up the river 10 be caught by
other fishermen more sensible and Nllllng
70 aScspI I cents II unable 20 gct ) Will te
too much for the halg-starycd. poor devils
who have wasted all these weeks for
nothing
Il was talking to one Of the largest can
ners at Astoria. just before / came up,
ami he satisfied me by showing how I'm
possible II was, under the prevailing low
prices OF canned salmon. for him or any
other Gamer. to pay cents for the raw
material He proved his statement by |
the following illustration. Alaska salm- l
on. which in quality is very nearly equal /
70 the Columbia river chinook salmon, /
is at present laid down free in san Fran /
cisco at SEQ per case. A case contains /
four dozen one-pound cans. or iS pounds 4
actual fish. Now. to make this 4S pounds 4
OF nsh. ii takes IS pounds OF live tsh, /
which at cents pound would cost S.s5 |
for the raw fish alone. 10 which would /
have to be added the cost OF cans. cases,
labor, freight. insurance, and wear and /
tear on machinery. You can readily see |
that. with such a strong opposition as |
the Alaska fisheries. the Columbia river |
Gamers. II they paid cents, would soon |
have TO go into the hands OF receiver.
This is nothing new. Everybody who
knows anything about the salmon indus
try and the competitions to which IL Is
subjected knows that Gamers cannot pay
cents unless they want TO run at
loss; why. even the more sensible OF the
striking fishermen know II. but dare not
express themselves or exert their man
hood for fear OF violence on the part OF
the few selfish leaders who have had
everything 10 gain by the continuance or
the strike. and everything TO lose II the
strike ended before election.
Another thing. the Gamers can hold
out till HI freezes over whereas the
fishermen, without cent to keep them.
with women and children TO keep. can't
remain on a strike very long In fact,
l think that the crisis Is near at hand,
and before long the poor devils will be
fighting one another in their anxiety TO |
accept the 4-cents-a-pound basis"
To the question how the pack would |
come out this season, the speaker said |
that II warm weather continued and the |
men went to work soon, the pack for !
1896 would not be much short OF 1895, /
although, OF course, it would be affected |
some extent
The pack OF 1895, Of all the canneries /
operating on the Columbia, was 492,2 800 |
cases.