The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1898-11-27
tcOpynsia Reserved,


PORTLAND. Nov. z.-Edltor AstoriAn;
Theories may be wrong. Actual eH-
porfenco iS more salts
ny factory and conclusive 10
Analogy. tho human mind. In rea-
Donlng by analogy. how
ever II is important that tho anaiogies
shall bo complete-perfect in essentials.
In that case. tho object lesson Is always
convincing. Il establishes principle OF
economic science. II serves as q safe
Ruide for human logic. American history
furnishes two striking analogies 20 the
relative situations OF Portland and As
tog1a Those annlogiea seem 20 bo COM
plcie. They prove. II seems to me. the
soundneHs Of the theory Of my last letter
showing that seaboard ports are superior
to those far up inland waterways.
Tho city OF Philadelphia In about the
same distance from New York as Port
land !s from Astoria.
New York aud Each Is upon a water
Philadelphia. Level grade from the
same tributary country.
Philadelphia Ia far IN the interior. some
sixty miles. and dlke Portland on the
willamotte.) al the head Of navigation on
the Delaware. New York is at the mouth
OF tho Hudson river on the seaboard. and.
like Astoria at the mouth Of the Colum-
bla. IL a first class port. where the lar
gcst vessels Of commerce may come. The
Delaware Ia one of the best rivers for
commerce. vide. deep and gentle. In the
world having g feet OF water AT low
lido, and nearly 90 feet az high tide,
while the depth al Portland Is only
~ feet al most with two feet Of tide.
The analogy u perfect with the advan-
tago In favor OF Philadelphia over Port
land as a seaport. Philadelphia being
great second class port where the largest
vessels can go, while Portland is only a
third class port.
Yet. after n heroic struggle for seaport
supremacy against New York. under the
mos,. favorable conditions. Philadelphia
was forced 20 confess
The Great def@at and Weld tho palm
ObJect-Lesson. 10 the port on the sea
board. A brief quotation
from a scientific paper prepared for the
Society OF Railroad Engineers will tell
in graphic style tho story Of that great
struggle II was written by Archibald
A. schenck. principal assistant engineer
OF the New York and Hudson River Rail-
way Company. one OF the best authorizes
on the subject in the union.
philadelphia" he says. sis most natur-
ally located TO suit the water route con-
dltions and limited areas
sehenok'a developed thereby close
Sketch. to waterways. II Is the
best radial point OF the
Delaware and 6chuylkill basins and. by
these and by a series OF canals. was
po!nt OF greater radlal concentration than
was New York City The develop
mani Of railways, making possible con-
centratlon OF radlals more to the coast
ward NJ New York, moved the CONNER
cial supreunacy eastward. Prior 20 1875
the Pennsylvsnla Railroad Company
hacked by its great control OF tonnage
and its Ave hundred millions OF capital,
undertook 10 secure commercial suprem-
ocv permanently for Philadelphia.
The u s. engineers and the ran
way officials worked in harmony toward
,he desired end. The Pennsyi-
vanIa railroad built wharves and great
elevators and established a line
Of steamers 10 Europe, Yet In a few
wars that company was OBLIGED To
MOVE ON to New York. Its elevators
and wharvos were left standing Idle ana
rotting. whoever passes VIII see
the wharves for such vessels almost de-
serted"
Mr. schencks paper shows the same
result at Baltimore on the chesapeake
Raw under conditions analogous TO Puget
sounds relations TO the mouth OF the
Columbia.
The same author, concluding his review
q, all tho seaports Of the world in favor
OF coast ports as against
Perfect Inland ports, gives stu
Analogy. stronger example tha'
shows the disadvantage
Of inland navigation by ocean ships Ihe
analogy seems even more perfect than
the preceding. because It is case Oh
two ports on the same great river
"As contrasted with these expensive
inland experiments he says, we ma
the great inland channel
uudson OF the Hudson standing
river. totally unused by ocean
vessels to foreign ports.
and by almost all coasting vessels "
has from So to 900 feet depth OF wafer
IAO miles inland. The river Is oroau'
without great currents or high hoods
or tendencies to deposit much SILT IN lts
cNannels Mote we'll. the reverse Is true
Of the Columbial A coast port at l's
month has reduced It's usefulness to zero
as a deep water inland route Tor ocean
vessels"
In this case, too, as In the case OF the
Delaware, ocean steamships ana vessels
of the heaviest tonnage
seaport could SO mp the river
Analorv. without ditnculty, TO
Rondout in the one case
and TO philadelphia In the other Yet
only the smaller ships Of commerce can
reach Portland. 1t is true that the last
named city is at the conveTence OF All
the waterways of this basin, while Ron
dout, with an inland waterway, stands
al one gateway to New York ION the
north from the valleys of the lake region)
and Philadelphia stands at the other
gateway ION the easO with another
inland waterway to capture the ocean
commerce, The difference, however, does
not spoil the SEAPORT ANoLoGY be-
tween those places and Portland.
1t is worthy of note in this connection
that the Pennsylvania Central allows
"dfferentiar' OF 80 cents
A pifrcr- n ton on wheat in favol
entail of Philadelphia over New
York, Yet the wheat Il
hauled past Philadelphia wharves