The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1898-11-25
PORTLAND'S SECRET FOES
ASTORIA'S HALT In GROWTH
Hill Forces the 0. R. & n. to Stand in the
Door and, With the "Wheat Pool"
i PluckS the Parmer-GOOSe.

NhoiAf W VINNJllL AgpuIlh IlVAlFV IN lHA
oaSts OF that hostility and the source OF
Donan's dirt.
To effect tho object Of holding the Co
iumbia exports At Portland, pool was
necessary end was or
The Whsst ganiEed. II consiuss of
Pool, the tranaDortAtion oorn.
panies. the wheat buyers,
and tho elevator owners-ths farmer
being the goose 10 30 plucked. In
cidentalIy. Of a nniliIon dollars OF rnore.
A. to all common points In the wheat
fields reached BY both the o. r. K N. and
tho Northern II was necessary 10 make
satiBfactory dlnferent.ais. Al 70 all wheat
fields further north Jim" Hin could
force the Hons share Of the traffic over
his road. As 20 the o. r. & n. and the
Northern. the Portland wheat buyers
(Who also arc tins Puget Sound buyerl
and elevator men were me enlcient
agennes OF the pooling. They agreed
amongst themselves upon the price they
would kindly >iAcHw the farmers Al the
railway stations. That price was 10 be
the same. whether the wheat should be
shipped to Tacoma or to Portland. Then
they were 10 distribute the shipments Of
wheSG and tho freight rates upon prin-
ciples OF railroad "diferentlais" 20 that
each rad would get satisfactory share
OF tho business. On account OF larger
ship bottoms tlIs charters at Tacoma
were about 35s a. Sgainst sSs at Portland.
To Offset this disadvantage. the o. r. 4
n. was. by the wheat pool, allowed
enough higher freight rates 10 enable It.
as agent of the pool. to furnish free
lghterage and towRge 10 Columbia
river grain ships-afl TO come out Of the
farmer goose. In arriving az the proper
figure tho o. r. & ~ Co.'S shorter haul
and water level grade were taken into
account. modified by the coalIng tacil-
ties Of the Northern at both ends Of its
mountain grade.
This pooling resulted. about three years
ago. In the o. r. 4 n Co.'S providing
for all ocean wheat ships
Eject OF coming up our river free
the Pool. towage and free lighter
age. and this status is
the key to tho efforts Of that company
to abolish Independent pllotage on the
Columbia river. Even with shis bonus.
however. the Portland charters are some
per cent higher than Tacoma charters.
owing to the smaller bottoms that can
rvach Portland and the greater expense
Of farmland river navigation over inland
sea travel
To maintain this unnatural condition Of
the exports Of this basin. the farmer has
TO suffer. with general
The Farmsr's resulting loss to the en-
Loss. tire Pacific northwestern
trade. The farmer is. OF
course. at the mercy OF the wheat pool.
his wheat. On the (estima.ed) million and
half tons Of wheat produced in this
basin for 1895. the Columbia farmer gets
over two millions less than the California
farmer for an siaal product. Much OF
this substracted value goes into the
pockets OF the wheat pool G.. W. Nc
Near Is credited with the statement that
his reason for buying a S25,0o0 wheat
warehouse in Portland was that he
could make greater profit here than In
san Francisco on his wheat business.
Does II seem strange to anyone that
tho o. r. & n. Co.'S hired writers should
defame and belittle AS
IL IL eorla as a seaport? Does
Strange? Il seem strange that the
o. r. & N. Co. should
lead tho struggle to hold on to these un-
natural conditions under such circum-
stances? Conditions, be 1t known, wholly
at variance with the interest Of the Union
Pacific, which Is Portland's only true
friend. Yet this series of letters will. l
feel sure, make It plain TO every Port
knder that this valuable natural ally
OF Portland. and of Astoria as well, is
cutting its own throat and RELOCATING
Portland to an inferior place when It
should. and with Astoria as the seaport
would quickly take first rank among
Pacific coast cities, Having disposed Of
"Col." Pats shallow argument, my next
letter win show that Astoria as the chief
seaport would give our farmers Liverpool
prices Instead OF China prices, as now,
for their wheat and -four, under the
wheat pool domination.
1t is well, perhaps, 10 add n caution as
to our really great newspaper. Its mo-
nopoly of the newspaper
A field and Its powerful
Caution. influence on public sem
timent is most dan
gerous factor In Portlands future.
Special interests are so liable to hire its
supportl The wheat pool and other
special interests are looking out for such
agencies, to help themselves, though it
should result in holding Portland and
all Oregon back, A tell-tale story on
this line is found In the statistics showing
moro rapid growth OF Washington state
and of Seattle than Of Oregon and Port
land, The Worlds almanac shows Wash
ington's population in 1880 as 75,l16, while
Oregon's was 1747SS; in 1890, as Si9, 800,
while oregon's was S1S7S7, 1t shows Sc
attles population now nearly equal to
Portland's whore ten years ago it was
only half as large.
A PORTLAND BUSINESS MAN.