Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1898-02-17
MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS-.

| ~ iiic Tcii'ttc anu liouSc "a hclllcScuti-
tives of the United States, in General
Assembly Convened:
The undersigned committee of the
Board OF Trade, at Il meeting Of the Board
of Trade OF the city Of Aberdeen, Wash
ington, held in said city in the month Of
December last was charged with the
grave duty OF preparing and presenting
to the Congress- of the United States Al
memorial, embo lying the action OF said
board, accompanied with such statistics
and information Is the committee might
deem expedent.
The board which committed this grave
duty to your memoralists, was one repre-
scnting, in an eminent degree, the COM
inercial and industrial interests OF wester:
Washington, and particularly OF Grays
lIarbor and its immediate vicinity and
tributary districts. Tie highest order of
talent, judgment matured by careful
thought and large experience OF the great
questions so intimately connected with
the advancement and development of the
great state of Washington, and our com.
mon country. met, in council, ard the
important question before them was con-
sldered by men representing all the
multiform industries Of this western coast.
The farmers and merchants, the bankers,
the manufacturers, the professions and
al trn flf
with earnest zeal discussed and with
striking unanimity, reached the conclu-
sions adopted by the board, and which it
now becomes our duty, as your memorial
, lists, to urge upon the National Congress.
Most of the distance from Cosnorolis,
at the mouth of the Chehalis river, to
the outer entrance of Gtays IIarboi, there
exists, formed by Nature, II channel deep
enough to float the largest vessel. that
ride our seas. But at Il few points there
are bars and shallow water, 50 tnat at
low tide ships of the larger classes are
unable to pass over the same, thus con-
shutting an obstruction f. commerce and
preventing the development Of the great
and varied resources OF this young state.
Heretofore the National Government has
caused to be built, in this harbor, works
intended to accomplish The deepening Of
the channel at the points referred to; but
owing to the nature Of these bars and the
hardness OF the earth composing them, it
vii! he necessar, to adopt other means
to accomplish the object intended.
70 do this will require the expenditure
of Il considerable sum of money, which
sc ask Congress to appropriate, to the
end that crafts drawing sixteen feet of
water may pass, at low tide, from the
entrance of the harbor to the town OF
Cosnopolis, at the mouth OF the Chehalis
river, and that said appropriation may be
expended during the ensuing year. in
comprising that end
The aid now asked and the benefits
sought to he secured, through the liberal
action OF the Government, is not alone
for the present, nor for the near succeed
ing years, but reaches on to the distant
future, that eventlul and busy future, for
which it is the duty and business of
craftsmanship to prepare.
The states OF this Union are bound to-
gether by chords of common interest,
and the young state OF Washington is
rapidly taking her just and inevitable
rank as one Of the first states in import
ance of her commercial relations to her
sisters. Less than decade of years
have elapsed since she adopted statehood,
and already, she is recognized as the
gateway to the Orient. Lying rs she
does in the direct path OF traffic between
the older states and Japan, China, and
TIE other commercial nations OF the East,
she must eventually occupy the most inn
portant position on our Pacific coast. And
when we consider that no better han bors
are to be found in the world than indent
her shores, that her forests are more vast
than those Of, and her wealth IN agri.
cultural, mining and fishing facilities
equal to, any other state in the Union it
becomes evident that she will soon be in
a position to grant, instead of solicit, ia
vors, through the instrumentality Of
government aid.
a compliance now with her reasonable
demands will be gratefully recognized,
and will hereafter find reciprocal re.
Spouse from her people.
OF the comparative few good harbors !
upon the Pacific coast none is destined to |
be OF more commercial importance than
Grays Harbor. In fact, that is its rank
today, considering the shortness of the !
time since it had NO commerce. Little |
more than one decade Of time has passed
since the primeval forests surrounding it's |
shores were unscarred by the AK Of the |
woodsman, and the canoe OF the pioneer
or of the aborigine was the only yes sci |
that traversed its tranquil waters; today |
she boasts a commerce OF which our
country may we'll be proud. We append |
to this memorial statistics showing the |
shipping and commerce Of Grays Hartor