The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1897-09-23
THAT WHEAT QUESTION.


OF grain Tor foreign shipment at As
toria
Further ivestigatlon OF the question onl,
establishes the facts recttcd more clearly
Every business man and banker her
has had tho dgures In his desk fo
mouths ] talked with many OF them an,
/ hnd that while the majority of mon her,
are for Portland first and ,hc state sec.
ond, and that there are proportiouatelS
MS many mossh2cks in this community
as in Astoria and Clatsop county. there
are such witV-awake and progrosSiv,
business mon as II. l.. Durham. cashier OF
! the Commercial National Bank. r. w
Baxter. general agcnt ot thc Union Pacific
railway: Georeo n. Durham. tho lawyer.
1 /. h. Scelcy. mauacer OF the White Collar
line: Wm. Harder general agent oi the
president % the q. Il, 4 y, Co. and
many Others OF the same class who are
broad enough 10 believe IN the greatest
good Tor the greatest number. and ore
gon for orpson. Such men as these know
that the time will come when grain veS-
sells viii lake their cargocs az the raouth
Of the Columbia. that m orNier for Oregon
merchants to successfully compete With
the sound in the matter Of shipping, the
cost to ships must he 50 reduced that
the Columbia river will be known among
sh.powners the world over as a harbor
where cargoes can he obtained al less eN-
pense 20 them than any other. They al
ready know that the harbor at the mouth
Of the Columbia Is the largest londlocked
and safest harhor on the north Pacific
coast. Every school boy knows that Il
grain l. loaded on ships AZ Astoria IN
stead or Portland. the ships viii save
the time. pilotage and towage charges
and one-fourth Of one per cent insurance
now incident 10 the trip of lo miles in
land TO say nothing Of extras saved and
the gain they would make II the railroad
should run its own tugs and do its own
bar towing, It is no; necessary to go into
details on this subject. as the proposition
IS self-evident The question is WI the
wheat be loaded at Astoria, and whcn7
The handling Of grain and trarscortl-
mental transit Pacific freight IS not the
only business upon which the \. S c.
railway will have 70 depend. There Is no
better sits in The United States for the
establishment Of manufactures th'n rs
toria. You have there the conjunction OF
magnificent bodies OF fresh water, cheap
wood and coal fuel, a great harb-r where
the ships Of the world can anchor and
will have transportation facilities inland
in few months. Raw materials can be
produced or laid down there as cheaply
as anywhere, ard confidently expect
10 see the day when -four mills, cotton
mills. fax spinning mills, beet sugar fac
tories. export saw mills, woolen mills, dry
docks. shipyaris, tinplate mills and iron
mills will be established. But all these
enterprises take time and money. Cap
ital is slow TO invest in these things until
II is sure that IL is wanted and that trans
portation facilities. taxes and mill sites
are placed on an equal basis with other
places. In the meantime, besides the
railroad. to establish grain skipping at
Astoria Is imperatively required large
dry dock. As your paper stated the other
day. now is the time to get the govern
ment to locate one at Astoria. You have !
the place for it, and, after the recent ex-
perience with the Indiana in foreign dry I
dock the government will listen to ar /
gument If presented in the right way and /
on a business basis.
From a traffic standpoint the question |
of carrying grain TO Astoria for ship /
men. abroad Is susceptible Of solution
The difficulties already named are to be
overcome. and they can only be over
come by vigorous work all together on
the par; Of the Astoria road, Astoria mer-
chants. Portland merchants and the
Portland railroads. The progressive
men say that they will be the
first to support the proposition wheh
Astoria shows that it means business and
IL willing TO give anu TAKE anu !O'li ii'
with them in convincing all Of the people
NJ both places that Portland and the
whole state will surely more than double
our business and enable US to successfully
compcte with the sound. The o. X. & n
under such conditions would probably not
he hard to convince that its interests lay
in doing business with the Astoria road
The great point at issue is the proper
division Of the burden Of expense Of ham
llinc the grain at Astoria in such man
rer as to treble or quadruple the num-
Der Of vessels loading in the Columbia.
The Astoria road cannot work for n0th-
ing. and the Portland roads cannot be
expected to stand al the expense. They
have their warehouses and expensive ter
minaIs in Portland, and the White Collar
line and o. r. & y. have fleets Of we'll
river boats which they are MT
likely 10 consign to the boueyar1 When
cars are once loaded in the wneatfelds 0:
wasco, Walla Walla or Palouse, It costs