The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1898-10-25
Miles

walia walla to Astoria.
Less to Astoria than to seattle.....,.. 6
-
In other words. as soon as Astoria Is
made a common point, the nitrate kings
of South America, the rice and jute ship
prs Of Calcutta and Bombay. the ore
men of New Caledonia. and hundreds o.
ether shippers AL over the world viii stop
bidding against the Portland exporters
Tor ships. and Astoria will have the ton
mage Of the world at her feet This Is
theory. and a very poor theory it Is. even
for Astoria. Yesterdays oregonian.
why win the orogOnian 50 misrepresent
tho Astoria cOn,enuons Neither the
-nau' nor no paper so politely al
laded to hy the orssonlan. nor any one
else in Astoria has ever advanced any
such "theery as this, !, is no, in the
regulation Of The freigh, rates Of the
world through the common point a, AS
ioria that the farmers o. the Inland En-
pire can get a better price for their wheat
II shipped from Astoria than II shipped
from Portland but nom the difference
in the cost OF ship charters vslch win
always prevail in favor Of Astoria as
against Portland; though Astoria VIII
some day douburss largely II not wholly.
rorulsie Paeiao coast freight rates. How
ever lhe ~vorld's" freight rates may
At oresenr vary. ships win charter
cheaper at Astoria than at Portland. The
xoaca item copied from the oregonian
and commented on few Gays ago by
the As,orian-which the oregonian has
twice since reproduced and discussed at
iength-was the first admission made By
me oregonian during the present oOn,ro-
versy that the price Of wheat in the hands
Of the farmer is regulated by the cost OF
charter. OF course such primary prop
ssItiou has never been denied by that
paper. but up to the time Of the publica-
ton OF the item 1t had refused to he
drawn into discussion OF the effect Of
charter rates on the crop OF this season.
II was because OF this admission. and be-
cause that is the very root OF the As
toria contention. that the AstOrian noted
md commented on the item. Now 1t ap-
pears that the oregonian would escape
the force OF fits admission and the Open
ing let, by It. through instrumentation
Of the Astorian's meaning. Let believers
m fair play and students OF the common
point question note the item and the
comment Of the Astorian:
An advance Of nearly shillings within
less than 10 days proves that the freight
situation is fully as strong as the most
-bullishly" inclined operators have main
tained. and II incidentally lops OF about
$4,000 In the value Of the wheat yet un-
sold In the northwest-Oregonian.
Make Astoria common point. and not
only viii this $4,000 be restored 10 the
value Of northwestern wheat within a
hours but the worth OF every bushel now
IN the hands of the grower will advance
from 10 10 cents in addition. Who knows
this fact better than the oregonian? And
vet that paper will not give its influence
70 the accomplishment Of that object
Astorian.
A few days ago the Astorian repub-
Tshed from the San Francisco CONNER
rial News the name and charter rate OF
every ship loaded or engaged to load at
Puget sound and In Portland this sea-
son A comparison Of these rates shows
that ships destined for Puget sound
have accepted an average lower charter
rate OF Is Sd or about ss cents per ton,
than those charged for Portland. NOW
the oregonian will not deny that ships
can be chartered for Astoria at rates at
Aczst as low as for Puget sound. and n
an advance Of IS in general charter rates
has deprecated wheat yet in the hands
or northwestern farmers 20 that extent.
would not wheat delivered at common
point rates at Astoria restore at least
Is sd OF such depreciation? Thus, accord
ing 10 the oregonian's own argument and
calculation. common point at Astoria
would restore nearly every penny lost to
me unsold wheat by this freight rate
rgpreciation As to whether this freight
rate auctuation will amount TO $4,000
to the farmers, depends entirely upon
how much wheat is yet in their hands un-
sold. It was estimated at the beginning
of the season that the 0. R. & n. Com
many would bring into Portland $4,000
Acns of wheat Assuming that eOO,OOo tons
cf this is yet unsold in tne hands OF