Union gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1899-1900, 1900-03-16
FRIDAY. MAR. le, 1000.
YAQUINA HARBOR.

YAQUINA HARBOR.
The following sesolutions show
how indignant the farmers of Ore
gon are because further improve
ment of Yaquina bay harbor was
postponed by an autocrat secretary
of war and an allwise committee of
soca,le1 engineers, thus reducing
the price of wheat raised by the
farmers from eight to ten cents per
bushel. The resolutions were re-
Gently passed by the Linn County
Council, Patrons of Husbandry, and
are as follows:
"Whereas, The congress of the
United States saw fit to appoint a
commission to examine Yaquina
bay harbor for the purpose of as
certaining ths advisability of the
government making further appro-
priation for the improvement of
said harbor, who in their wisdom
saw fit to make an adverse report,
deeming it useless to expend any
more for said harbor; therefore, be it
Resolved, That we condemn the
act of said commission as being un-
just and partial in favor of other
ports of entry, and that we give
Portland due credit for its influence
in securing such report as in
favor of the Columbia river, and we
look upon the acts of the commits
sion and the influences which are
brought to bear upon them with
anything but respect, and feel that
said report was made wholly for
the benefit of Portland"
The farmers of Oregon well know
that the reason given by the So
called engineers as the excuse for
making their adverse report was
only sembfance of truth and that
its falsity would have been appar-
ent had the whole truth appeared
together, and that every intelligent
person could not investigate the
subject without obtaining the truth.
1t is claimed, and the farmers of
Oregon realize it, that the traffic
through Yapuina bay harbor, dur
ing It's short continuance saved to
the producers OF Oregon more than
the improvements cost the govern
ment. If the traffic .had continued
10 increase at the same rate for five
years it would Ehavesssaved to the
farmers of Oregon a further sum of
twice the amount which the gov
ernment would have expended
under the contract which Secretary
Alger and the so-called engi-
neers sat down upon. The most of
the money saved to the farmers was
spent by means of traffic through
Portland and that city grew more
than it ever did before or since in
the same length of time. We
therefore do not believe the infer
ence to be correct that Portland
was specially instrumental in pre-
venting the continuance Of the i'm
provement. We do not4 believe
that the great men of Portland
can be..so short-sighted as to expect
Portland to become great and all
other parts of Oregon become |
dwarfed to Insignificant proportions.
But it is true that the papers of
Portland, as we'll as other papers of |
the state, permitted the truth to re-
main untold which made ii possi- |
BILE for the co-called engineers to
make a report on truth only half
told. The Gazette is the paper |
which, years ago, led the contro-
versy successfully which finally
brought about the appropriations
for and improvement of Yaquina
harbor, and the building of the
railroad to that point. 1t remains
to the UNIoN-GAzErrE to again lead
in this duty. Results will be more
easily obtained because the pro-
dueers all over Oregon have had
actual results here in the saving of
from eight to ten cents on each
bushel Of grain and a like saving
on all other classes of shipments.