The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1898-10-04
Miles
DUTY OF OREGON FRulTeRowERs

II the prune growers OF D0ugEls county
are wise they viii ship only their small
est sizes OF dried prunes in sacks. some
OF the buyers now In the held here pre-
fer sacks, and the inference is they wish
to pack our prunes IN boxes later on and
sell them with a California label one
buyer. FOR example made grower here
y very liberal offer u he would pack In
unbranded boxes Very promptly the
grower refused to sell under these condi-
tons II the fruit growers OF oregon
refuse 20 stand by their own interests.
who may be expected to do II for themf
The industry cannot be In satisfactory
condition as long as II is used as a side
show for California 10 an out orders when
her crop IL short. Oregon fruit must
stand on It's own merits, and meet all
competition In an open market, ard the
sooner this end Is accomplished the bel
ter II viii be Tor all our people. Crow
ers. box and brand your fruit before
sou place Il on the marke, q Is a duty
you owe yourself AMI the state in which
you reside.-Ro -Roseburg Review
The above applies equally to the wheat
product Of oregon, made possible and
profitable by those who handle and ma
nipulate 1t al Portland. an interior and
expensive port. 10 miles inland The
wheat pool and the oreSonian represent
TO the world that Portland is "sea-
port" when IN fact It Is not; but even
II Portland were seaport. the whea,
pool does not so utilize IL. for san Fran
csco is the wheat POOLS seaport. CALI
fOrnia is allowed 10 ship. handle and re-
eeive the credit. no, only for choice Ore
EOn wheat, but fruits and other staple
products Of our state
II eastern Oregon papers would DO a
little investigating on their own account
Instead Of accepting the statements OF
the Oreronian and other agents Of the
Portland cOmbinatiOn. they would come
out on the other side OF the Astoria com
mon point question. The wheat pool can
only be broken by loading the grain at
the mouth Of the Columbia river. Inland
Empire producers will be robbed on this
years crop alone TO the enormous extent
Of 100000 II common point continues
10 be kept out OF Astoria
Astoria harbor is a fresh water harbor
the only one on the entire Pac.hc
coast. 1t is accessible to the largest
ships and is but three hours sail from
the open roads,ead With common
point on grain over the o. R. q y. and
A. & c. railroads this harbor would
swarm with vessels seeking charters at
the lowest competitive rate on the Pa
clhc coast. The result would be that
walla walla wheat would bring almost
Il not quite as much at Astoria as in san
Francisco. and loss Of more than two
million dollars each year would De saved
the eastern Oregon and Washington grain
growers.
AT the dictation of the Portland wheat
pool, the O. R. & y. Company sun re-
fuses to make common point rate on
wheat at Astoria. why? Because that
company now receives Ol52 cents per ton
per mile for carrying wheat from Pendle-
ton to Portland. a distance Of 81 miles
The Northern Pacific railroad carries
wheat from Walla walla to Seattle, a
distance OF 35l miles at / cent per ton
per mile, and It is stated that the South
crn Pacific has carried grain this year
from Forest Grove. Oregon, all the way
to San Francisco for $50 per ton. DO the
eastern Oregon papers mean to defend
this discrimination Of the o. r. & N.
Company against the inland producers?
Surely these papers do not understand
the condition and advantages Of a water
level route to the ocean, and are quietly
submitting to a grip which is being grad
ually closed tighter upon them. The mo-
ment Astoria is made a common point
on grain with Seattle and Tacoma ships
viii charter from Astoria to Liverpool
at the same rate they now charter from
San Francisco. 1t is out of a conviction
Of this fact that the 0. R. & N Company
T. now seeking to misrepresent and preju-
dice astoria IN eastern Oregon. 4
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