The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1900-11-18
TO AWAKEN PORTLAND.
Mr.. aholes Of Montana Offers Some
Pertinent Suggestions From an
Outside Point OF View,


II Is not difficult 10 see why the Ore
g0niaIi chooses % put the following let
ter from Mr.. Sh0les In ar obscure Dor-
ton OF the paper. yet lts blindness In
deliberately taking the side, In an Is
sue, that is 80 vastly against It's own
interests and that " the city II repre-
sents, IN rather hard 10 understand.
The letter speaks for itself:
Butte, Mont. Nov i4--(To the Edi-
tor )--W"ltbOut desiring 10 thresh bar
rem straw. will you kindly permit me
a few lines In repy 10 some suggestions
OF Major Sears and Mr.. Hughes In re-
lcent issues Of the OregOnlOn.
II Major Sears theory Of geographic
conditions II altogether unanswerable"
1 II hope It ~. and II the assumptions
4 and arguments Of Mr.. Hughes are half
true. the commercial supremacy OF
/ Portland In 80 absolute that the giving
/ Of common rates 10 Astoria cannot but
result TO Portland's advantage. Then
why not yield that much 10 city
which. IN proportion 10 population and
commerce, II as much part Of Oregon
aa Portland II, and thus forever sllspce
q contention that has waged for years
To the detriments Of both cities and the
lslate7
The p;-sllt that the seaport win always
be az far inland on the line " traffic
MS the waterway win permit has not
been, and is not likely 10 be. question
I cd In this discussion. as II Is a matter
OF schOolboy knowledge. But 50 iOre as
! the forces Of nature level the m1un-
J tains and carry their substance sea-
ward, fllling the channels Of river (.
fnoaling harb)rs and creating bars
icities favored by geographic cJndItlprs
{ have something TO do besides sleep on
their natural advantages. And HlthOu
having the date at hand 10 prove II.
II venture the assertion that cities of
this class are always sufficiently hanii-
capped In other respects to require
something besides faith to work out
: their destiny. I have as much faith
as AIRY one in the strength Of Port
lands natural location: but / do not
think we can afford to minimize diff
iculues, nor fail to make the best Of
+ opportunities. II Is not a question OF
sentiment for the Astoria railroad or
Astoria. or any man. but Of cold blood
ed seli-intrest for the whole OF Oregon.
lof whose prosperity nearly one-fourth
VIII De Portland's share
win Major Sears permit me to say.
with the highest respect. that / have
just as sincere desire as he 10 arrive
at the truth Of this transportation prob
lemf II Is not question Of friendship.
nor OF self-lnterest; nor would know
ingly advocate In behalf Of either a
proposition l believed TO be false. /
am not an apologist for capital that
ignores gravity routes TO fresh-water
harbors. and seeks bOttomless harbors
across difficult mountain grades; on the
contrary. IL appears 10 be a blunder;
but capital has so acted In the past. and
II viii no doubt continue to so act In
the future more than ever. because OF
it's vastly increased ability. by the aid
Of science. TO overcome many hitherto
unsurmountable obstacles. The cita-
ton of ST. Helens. Kalama and Flayel
as instance of failure 10 create seapOrts
seems hardly worthy OF Major Sears
scientific standing. for every one knows
that they were purely real estate
schemes. And while / regret TO add TO
an already lamentable ignorance. I
must confess did not know that either
OF those places had a harbor. but l
never heard the most violent PARTISAN
OF Portland or Astoria claim that there
were not good harbors al Tacoma and
Seattle. ready for the coni:ng NJ rail-
roads and commerce The comparison
Of New York md l'osJon Il NOR. - the
purpose and accept It for all the facts
will prove. In the first place the har-
Dor Of New York is imcomparably SUI
perior to that OF Boston, and is situated
at the mouth Of a river navigable for
more than 100 miles inland; and then
its supremacy was forever established
by the construction Of the Erie canal.
which drained the country tapped by
the lioOsac tunnel route. precisely as
Portland's situation will become impreg-
nable when the Columbia river shall
become an open waterway from Eastern
Washington to the sea.
c. H. SHOLES.