The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-07-05

FMS STATES sCF181ACX.
- usopls of tn STATS azs aedastsuns1
10 havhdg prssanksd 10 fhen ssstistjcs
whose Office It - to prove that washing
tom il the best state on the Pacific coast
ana e damoagtfate that - III chie3 otisa
VIII BE- concenfrated The commsrcaal su-
premacy Of the Northwest It win Be
novelty to them, however. to ind that
poaftion sustained ~ - eminent N a.
thostty, and one 50 free fro0 suspicion
OF bias n our favor. ~ the Portland Ore
gcnsan That paper has compiled some
figures for the purpose Of exhibiting the
growth OF Oregon. Washington and Ida
no. The result il highly creditabas to
each OF the states. Allowance - neces-
sary for the failure Of the orsgonian 70
bring out into too bold relief the facts
which present Washington a. the inesit-
able leader.
This is particularly noticeable in the
the two states. Il 10 the only particular
in which the advantage seems to lie
with Oregon. and that il due TO two cir
cumstances. One Of these is that nearly ell
the wheat grown IN the southeastern tief
Of counties In this state Is shipped 10
ties are better in that direction. Another
reason IL that Oregon ID an older settle-
ment, the willamette valley having been
on tho main road from the Mtssissippi
crossing In early days to the ceast coun-
try. Tho error the Oregonian makes 10 in
claiming for Oregon . continued SUPERIOR
ity in productivepess. This y manifestly
not to be.
The largest wheat area In Oregon II the
willamette valley. and It 10 50 well sat
tied up that its output OF wheat IL practi-
cally nearing Its possible maximum
Such Is not the case in this state. The
Big Bend country and tho Palouse coun-
try now fairly rival al the wheat area
Of Oregon. and they are now only In the
infancy Of their fertility. Unfortunately:
the figures are not attainable which viii
give the comparative production Of wash
inston and Oregon.
Yet. even with the Oregonian's OWE
figures, the superiority Of Washington =
marked. There were shipped for the CO.
real year Of 1850. ending July / from Port
land, 11.2n.6S busheis. and from Puget
sound 5.sS5s5a All the Puget sound wheat
was grown in Warrington; much Of that
shipped from Portland Was grown n
Washington and Idaho. Deduct thssa
from the total and add what should be
credited to washingten to tho Puxet sUun&
exports ana the difference win be found
very slight: and In addition 10 this wtn
soon be added all the production OF the
yet barely occupied Palouss country and
the Big Bend empire.
It IL this magnificent Geld which viii
make the backbone Of the states pros
perity. The west side will b givsp over
to manufactures, but the money made In
mills and. factories will BE- kept II the
state for the great necessaries--the staple
OF productive trade. wheat. butter uaiIk.
all dairy produce. and fruit.
The statistics given by the Oregonian
are In other respects even more satisfac-
tory. The individual deposits In the Ma
tionar banks OF Oregon are sloos2.6z1: Of
Washington. $ll.704 .0s9. The increases be-
tween September 80. 1885, and April s. 1889.
are: Oregon, Ss27.522: Washington. $l.S77.-
s2s, or more than three times that Of Ors-
gon 1t had been already published that
the deposits had increased In this state.
but we did not realise by how much until
the comparison with our sister stats was
made.
In population Washington stands flrst.
with $4,000 to 4snooo for Oregon. Perhaps.
the most striking feature Of the
whole compilation Is that presented by
the condition OF the banks Of four cities
The individual deposits and loans and dis
counts on April I. 1889. were as follows:
Deposits. Loans. etc.
Portland ...... s...... -, CAB 500 $26S2,196
Seattle ........ ......... 4lN,S0 sbnI1
Spokane ......... iE5.08 lMLl0
Tacoma ........ ........ a0szN foS,sSs
1t seems incredible that seattle's bust
ness should be within $4,000 Of Port
lands. or that our bank deposits should
be within u.oooooo spokane's high ns-
ures are due to the sales and dividends Of
mines, and they are most gratifying.
Many OF the facts presented are not new
to the readers Of the Post-Intelligencer
but they acquire q new force by contrast
and a new significance. coming from an
Oregon newspaper.
Faith ana works.
the meanest farmer within twenty miles Of
here"