The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1899-05-21

There are a few inaccuracies IN tA'
ire urssenta,ion made by the HiHsbOrc
Independent this week OF the AstOria
proposition which We hope that ao'e pa.
per will clear up. In the arst place, tn
1a,emen, is made shat Astoria claim.
the saving resulting to the in!and farm
ers in shipping their wheat by way
or Astoria rather than Portland would .,
$4,000. Instead Of $5oOOO, as great a sum
as that doubtless seems TO the Indepeud-
ent. and really is. the Astoria contention,
based upon the statistics of wheat ex-
ports from the Pacific coast, as pub
lished in the oregsnian, is that the total
saving to farmers would Approximate
s5.oo0Oo0. The Astorian can show and
has shown, by the oregoniaR's own fig
ures. that the saving on this years crop
would exceed siOoO.OOO. With the larger
shipments that would undoubtedly go
out OF the Columbia river. If loaded at
Astoria, 1t Is entirely reasonable to put
the annual saving at 10000 or over.
Another error of the Independent is in
suggesting as one OF the factors in the
Astoria situation the relative cost OF
rail as contrasted with inland ship navi-
cation. The Independent Is misled into
this error by the frantic efforts OF the
oregonian to divert discussion from ,ne
real merits Of the case through frequent
assertions that wheat can be sent down
the river in ship bottoms cheaper than
by the A. & c. railway. Every well-in-
formed person in Astoria knows that this
statement is not true; but since ii does
not concern the real question a, issue,
the Astorian has refused over and over
again to be drawn into its discussion.
What Astoria contends is that the rail-
roads should deliver wheat at the mouth
OF the Columbia river at the same rate
charged to rake it from interior common
points over the mountains 10 Seattle.
We argue. for instance. THAI il VII at can
be carried from Pendieton TO Seattle
over 5000 feet Of mountain grade. and
fully 1Os miles further. at the same rate
charged by the o. r. & n. to send 1t
over its down grade to its own steamers
at Portland for trans-shipment to San
Francisco (at an additional charge TO
the farmer of $3.50 a ton for the water
carriage) the O. R. & n. can make a fair
profit by continuing the wheat on the
down grade to Astoria, only 100 miles
further from Portland-AND EIGHT
MILES NEARER THAN TO SEATTLE
for the same rate; and that if the
wheat were so delivered here Il could
be loaded directly into export ships at
charter rate so much lower than that
charged at Portland there would be no
profit in taking it to San Francisco. But
THAT IT WOULD BRING NEARLY,
IF NOT QUITE. THE SAN FRANCISCO
PRICE AT THE MOUTH OF THE COL
uMBIA. This Is the Astoria proposition. |
The Independents attention is also
called to the last published statistics Of
the quantity and value Of wheat ship !
nents from Pacific coast ports. This
statement can be found in the orego-
man Of April 4. 1899, and was republished
n the Astorian. 1t shows that during
he month of March this year wheat
,rcught three cents a bushel more at
seattle than at Portland, and liz cents
more at San Francisco than at Portland,
md that on the shipments made foreign
nut OF the Columbian basin in dhe month
Il last March alone the farmers lost
learly $4,000 because Portland is the 7