Condon globe. (Condon, Gilliam Co., Or.) 189?-1919, 1897-04-16
Of IMPORTANCE TOTHECOAST
President Of Great Northern
Writes Of Asiatic Trade.
NEW MARKET FOR OUR WHEAT
Hill Says That He Is Building Up
Trade in the Orient and Suggests
That TariT Duties BE Reasonable.

III Nnt OTItuE ana buRKtbbb
That TariR Duties BE Reasonable.
Washington, April 12.-James J.
Hill, president OF the Great Northern
railroad, and also interested largely in
transportation to the Orient, has writ
ten letter TO Western senator in
which he points out the possibilities OF
trade in China and Japan, and suggests
that tariff duties be 80 adjusted as not
to prevent trade with the countries
across the Pacific.
President Hill says:
THE Asiatic trade OF the greatest
Importance to this country, and partic-
ularly to such portions Of it az are in
terested in raising wheat. A year ago
last fall wheat sold for from Is to 90
cents per bushel in the Palouse country,
south Of Spokane, and this year it has
sold for from 65 to 20 cents. About
three years ago sent an agent to China
and Japan to investigate thoroughly
what steps could be taken to introduce
the general use of wheat and -four in
those countries, as against their own
rice, and found it simply matter Of
price. / then took up the consideration
Of building steamers for that trade, de-
signed to carry cargoes of -four and
grain at low rates. found that we
could build the ships, but, owing to
the sailors union fixing the wages of
sailors at $50 month, and engineers
and other ship employees at about twice
the wages paid by European steamers,
it was impossible for us to compete with
( the English, German, Italian and Scan
dinavian ships on the Pacific. After
the war with China, the japanese used
a large amount of their war indemnity
for subsidy to their merchant marine,
and we opened negotiations with the
General Steamship Company, OF Japan,
which is owned by leading men OF the
empire We found their subsidy was
about equal to the cost of their coal
and the wages Of their sailors. They
pay their sailors So month Mexican,
or 81. 80 in gold. enabling them to hire
twelve good sailors for the wages of one
American sailor. After some protract-
ed and difficult negotiations we con-
cluded contract with them for line
OF steamers between Chinese and Jap
anese ports and Seattle, on condition
that they would carry -four from Puget
sound to Asiatic ports at So a ton,
against from 81 to $8 ton formerly
charged from West coast ports in the
United States. The low rates fixed the
rate for all lines between the Pacific
coast and Asia, and has resulted in
carrying out about 2S, 900, 900 bushels,
or its equivalent in -four. from the last
crop. There is left about 5000, 900
bushels between now and their harvest.
Thus you will see we have been
able to find new mouths which have
never before used wheaton bread, to
take the entire California, Oregon and
Washington wheat crop ont of the Eu-
ropean markets. This will reduce the
amount going to Europe about 20 per
cent, and is three times the quantity
shipped to Europe from Argentina dur
ing the past year. The price of wheat
this year, as compared with last is 30
to % cents higher. and / think it may
be said that from 10 to Is cents of this
rise is clearly due to the withdrawal of
the Pacific wheat from the European
markets. see in this mornings re-
ports telegram that European ships
are loading with barley, rye and mer-
chandise from San Francisco for Eu-
rope, after waiting months for cargoes
of wheat, and that no more wheat will
60 to Europe from the Pacific coast.
"The only way we could bring about
this reduction in the transportation of
-four to Asia was by diverting the tea
and mating business, which has here
tofore gone mainly on English ships,
from Asia direct to New York, and car
rying these commodities to the Pacific
coast, by low rate, and transporta-
tion inland by rail, to distribute the
commodities to points between Minne-
sofa and New York.
Il have given you the facts, so you
will understand the situation and be
able to see that, unless these ships can
bring their main cargoes of merchan-
disc to the Pacific ports at rates that
will compensate them for the traffic,
the business must go as heretofore, tc
New York, and the rates on -four to
Asiatic ports will be again at the old
figure, or at an advance of about so
cents barrel, which would, in my
judgment, destroy the business that
has just been built up with that coun-
try. The province of Annoy alone,
which is near the coast, contains over
$4,000, 600 people, and, at 30 pounds of
flour per capita per annum, would con-
sumo the product of 40, 900, 900 bushels
Of wheat. The large districts of Tien-
Tsin and Shanghai, both within easy
reach OF the SEA. would consume about
as much more as soon as the trade
could be fully opened. 1t is not outside
the range of possibility to say that we
could ship wheat at DEVILS Lake or
points west, as long as the demand for
-four continues to grow as it has for the
past six months"
There are over 2.000 miles of rail,
ways in operation in japan.