The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1899-12-23

! adaptable to the very difficult waters
/, ~ the upper Columbia and Snake
rivers, The portage railway is NJ
course a necessary element in the pro-
jcc, Without 1t. the upper river
could not be navigated In contunc-
ton with the lower river. but our new
transportation system would he a
failure II 1t could mot be opsrNted ste
cessfully even II there ware no OBJ
structions at the palleS; that is 70 say,
with a fpee government canal and
/ locks around the Dallcs,
/ doubt II anyone would invest his
money in portage railway alone ~
serve as 4 sout OF toll gate to collect
tolls over its portage nom anybody
who operated steamers on the Column
+ b.a and Sn,ke rivers. As II is, the
. Central Navigation 4 Construction
/ Company. wlu and must transfer the
cargots ot other vessels than Its own
as cheaply as It does its own. Such
charge must BE- nominal and conse-
/ Quently insufficient, because the por'
/ tase railway haul IS too short. As
matter ~ fact, the Central Naviga-
ton x Construction Company would
rather have an open river at the ex-
pcnse of the United States govern
mcnt thau at its own expense. and 70
only undertakes the expenditure of so
large q sum Of money rs is required
f1r the portage railway, beCauSe there
is no likelihood OF anything being
done by the government during the
present aud perhaps the next genera
ton.
The question ot the commercial sue
cess ot water navigation on the
. Columbia and Snake rivers lies in the
possibility Of navigating those
streams at lower cost per ton per
mile than railroads dre now, or are
likely t1 he operated at, rather than
in the operation of few miles ot por-
tagc railway. On the Monongahela
river. for instance, which has been
navigated for nearly a century by
tow-boats and bdrges, the owners ot
water transportation lines were also
the owners Of seven different locks
between the ends OF its transporta-
ton route. when they succeeded in
inducing the United States govern
ment to buy their locks, dams
canals, &C. they felt much relieved TO
be freed from the outlay OF operating
these from and that time the princi-
pal prosperity OF the navigation com
pany commenced.
1t will perhaps b. apparent there
fore that all he charges against Mr
Mohr's portage rllrad company
land now against its SUCCESSOR II op-
posing the building II either O. pIr-
tage railway canal and locks. or boat
rany ay, for fear of disaster 10 his
own project. is arraut EOnsense and
rubbish. All reports 20 this effect can
only come from one source, and that
is the railroad companies which now
control the transportation of the
northwest. The railroads by means
Of thar powerful lobbias, viii oppose
anything tending to the opening u
the Columbia river The railroad COM
panlrs are the ,nly ONES who viii De-
hurt by an open river and consequent .
ly Will oppose private enterprise to
0Den the Columbia river. and SIN
more oppose a government enterprise
for the same purpose.
Thrd-In regard to the third specs
fcation (bsing evidently intended .
humorously). can only speak Of It
company on the Columbia river would
never be started by anybody upon
purely philanthrophlc lines any more
than the average man, whether far
mer OF not, would honestly go into
phlamthropic undertakings for the.
purpose Of making a living. our com
pany proposes TO navigate the Colum-
bFa and Snake rivers by powerful tow
boats and barges so designed as 20
enable them % carry the tonnage, es-
peclally the staple tonnage OF those
portions Of Oregon, Washington and
Idaho as are tributary TO the Colum-
blS and snake rivers, at the very
cheapest possible cost 10 the shippers,
not as philanthropic matter but
because water transportation by rea-
son Of its slowness compared with an
all-rail line, would be an utter failure
unless 1t could carry the tonnage far
more cheaply than the railway. Being
confined very largely to staple tom
mage. which cannot pay high rates ia
future success depends upon the en-
largement Of production and the In
crease Of tonnage from the country
from which It draws. The success,
therefore, Of our company, must be
reciprocal with that Of the farmer
and shipper The shippers and far
mers prosperity will De enhanced by
the operations Of our company as
logical, and not as a phllanthropic
proposition.
The Central Navigation & Construc-
tlm Company is owned by men Of /
such wealth and standing that It
would be folly 10 more than mention
their names They are William J.
Harris, a man Of great wealth and
business capacity, Geo Turner Frank
H. Graves and w. ]. c. Wakefield,
three Of the wealthiest men and most
prominent lawyers in the state, and
Col I. N. Feytrn, President Of the