The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-02-27
V|cN)R|l'S TRADE Is HURT.
Are Wakisg u % the Fnet That
Trade 90 the yalae 81 HsnAreAs
~ ThssssnAs Of Dollars Has
Deen Cot Oa-xo Bene0e q Theu.

ciuding aliens from the placer mines az Al
In has had 4 yer1 bad effect GA the trade
OF British Columbia cannot be denied.
Even THOSE merchants who were al tsrss
favsrable 20 fhe bill have changed their
views snE aYs compelled 20 admit that the
trade o. Victoria and Vancouver has been
temporarily retarded, an some OF them
pHE IL Others again. more Intimately con-
nected with the jobbErg and ousfitting
trade, are eussSsoker In their condemnation
OF the law. AID With very good reason. A
gianfe al TIRE customs house figures today
shows thai the tonnage Of goods shipped TO
ALASKAN parts from Victoria In February.
iSse was over IN per cent. greater than
has been shipped this presens month. These
are telling figures Taen. too. the number
OF vessels Ia the Northern trade sailing
from the port Of Victoria in the month OF
February last year averaged very nearly
one day. whereas In the month now
closing not more than eleven or twelve rep
resent the Northern fleet. OF course. II
must not be understood from this that Vic
toria's general trade Ii on the decline; that
would be = false idea OF the situation. Vic
torta. Ia sympathy with the rest OF the
country, Is enjoying fair share Of pros
rerisy. and har merchants are doing .
good general trade. for ne province Is
growing. But the fact remains that the
silica bin 10 . barrier thas u etemming
back large volume OF the wave Of pros
pes1ty. ard consequently preventing the
city from gcsng ahead vita a rush.
Interviews with Merchant.
Mr.. @. II. seelig. representing the Z.
Bioomingdale estate, which has very large
interests here, WAS most emphatic today
in his denunciaton Of the exclusion BILL
His utterances deserve to be treated as
wetghty, fer he Is Intimately connected
with the johbing trade. ard from the In
cepiioa OF tie klondike excitement had
charge of tie Quitting portion Of 8. Lei
ser 4 Co.'S immense business.
While ether men are as emphatic in their
ntterances as Mr.. Seelis, most Of them. for
fear of offending their Canadian CUSTOM
ers. are chary OF allowing their names TO
be quoted. Mr. Seelig does not share in
this tiniidity. but boldly says:
The act Is doing very material dam
age to E.cioria's trade with the north.
and / within the mark wnen ! SLY
that $SG.000 at the very least has been
los; TO Victoria by excluding ai:ens from
our placer mines. l can give instances
in support OF this statement. and in nv
own case, within the past few days, two
orders OF about $1,000 each were cancelled.
Now here Is man." continued Mr.. See
isg. pulling out card. who intended go
ing to Attn and would have purchased his
supplies here He Is an American: and
when l had TO inform him of how the
law stood he reconsiiered his intention.
These are q few instances out of many.
Mind you. 1 refer only to the jobbing
trade and merchants alone when put the
loss OF trade at <3000 900 for Victoria. / do
M. refer 10 the large loss that transporta-
tien companies have sustained.
Mr.. Seelig went on To say that there was
not a single large merchant In Victoria
who can deny that the exclusion act had
f.-ss, bur ri in fx tfs IN "a stf+x
The act came at u most .nopnorfune
time" another man In the jobbing trade
said Victoria fsas for a long time been
fighting for a share In the northern trade
and was just beginning TO set we'll known.
Then came the Atln excitement. and. mai
uraiiy. the district being In British Co
lun,ia. what more likely than that British
Columbia cities should have a large share
In the Quitting. Consequently. thou
sands of people all over the continent
made their arrangements to go to Attn
In the spring, and letters of inquiry were
resolved here by cutfitsers in large num-
bers. The great bulk OF the men who
Intended going into Atlin were Americans,
and just as soon "a Martins alien law
passed these orders. 10 the amount OF
thousands of dollars. were withdrawn both
from Victoria ard Vancouver merchants.
Not jobber In the city bu, Is forced 10
admit that the rush which Was anticipated
has been checked by tae alien law. and,
bexdes the ultimate effect, is likely to
throw a good deal of trade with the kion-
dixie that otherwise would have come here
into Sea.tle's hands Many Of the men
who. after reaching Atm. found that they
were debarred from taking up PAGER
claims from the mere fact that they are
alters naturally have feeling agains: the
british Columbia people for putting In
force a law that hal ihis effect. cnnsse-
Esx eafS nfsxr IN.
would In the ordinary course Of events
have sent his order Ia a British Columbia
city. would rather. under the changed
conditions deal sn Seattle and give Vie
toria ard Vancouver the eo-hy.
Another source Of loss 20 the i3boess Is
that owing To the limited number Of peo-
pie who are now golng into Attn many
men who had Intended 10 stock here
for trading purposes in Atln have recon-
sisierea their intention. and consequently
the individual stocks sold are much small
er than was anticipated
Naturally. too the transportation com
pantes are. perhaps. the worst sufferers.
They were ready this year to handle hsg
rush, bat the alien iaw put a damper on
that. the travel Is lighter, the hotels DO
no, ger as many guests and there are nor
a. many people 90 feed SO 1t HTS The mer
chant through this channel. too, and hits
him hard
The camyicston Is growing that the alien
exclusion act was mistake, and thai II
the government had consulted the N r
chants here before passing Il. the bill
would never have become law
Why were the merchants OF Victoria
nos consulted asked one lndlgnan; man
today instead 81 fhrusting on rs Il iaw
that Is ttstas,efui 10 us ard does graf In
Jury to our business
NEW WHARF AT SEDRO-WoUILEY