The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1902-04-24
TRADE OF SAN JUAN


nets of the islands than they have
done hitherto, and upon terms that
will leave fair margin Of profit to
tha producers. 1t is extremely dis
courae,.,g to a farmer who has spent
vsers Of hard labor in making home
in t1e wilderness a forest OF
q'e1t frs and patiently nursing AN or
chard into bearing in its place, to
ea~d his Gruit or pTCluce to a market
that is gfutted and where, if sold al
All tue cost or transportation, wharf
ace and commission leaves him little
If any, margin. If an orchardist takes
hundred boxes of choice apples to
Seattle he is not asked to barter them
for bacon, beans or calico, but gets
cash for thcm which ne is privileged
to spend as he pleases, an dit is quite
y til a that LIE should please to spend
considerable part Of it there, The
s.aul producers as lule sell to local
merchants and it is then ''up to them
m find markea-and they domot find
i here. The chief cause of the com
naratively SOW development of trade
trade relations with The islands is Tot
FIRE ID be found in the steamboat ser
vice. though there is no doubt that
daily round trip boat, arriving here
about 4 or 5 o'clo TX in he after
noon would be great advaut
+Lo ,,,orc-oonfc Of tho how
and to the people of the islands. And
| am authorized by MIR. Newhan TO
say that he stands ready to furnish
this service with the staunch and
o0nmodiOu5 new steamer which ne
is now building and, hopes to have in
about ninety days if the business I'M
erests of the bay will simply assure
him their cordial cooperation and sup
port. He does not ask any aid in the
construction of his steamer, nor any
subsidy for the operation, though
the extra services he proposes to in
augurate is hardly likely. to pay ex-
panses for year or more.
If your people here are willing to
devote to the fostering of closer trade
relations with the islands one-third
the sum that steamer suited to the
service would cost, you can please
our people best and get quicker and
larger return for your money if you
will put it into the establishment OF
an efficient telephone service. That
is the greatest need OF the islands
and would accomplish more than any
other one thing in promoting their
settlement and development. ven'
ture to say that there are not five
per cent OF the business men of the
bay cities who have an adequate idea
OF the resources and possibilities of
the islands. A few have made little
summer pleasure trips to Orcas, but
very few have been a far as Friday
Hl.bor, and fewer still know, that
there are in the country many of the
finest farms in Western Washington,
and that San Juan valley is well cal
culated to remind one of LongfeLow's
la1d of Acadie, the home of Eyangel-
inc, Where the richest are poor and
tle poorest live in abundance" But
the richest are not poor over there.
They have" fine homes and substan-
u2n bank accounts. But the insular
cto of h0 II q
together improbable that there will
ever be any large towns or great trad
csnters, though the resources of the
islands are ample to sustain pcpu-
lation at least twenty times as great
as they do now. The island Of Jei-
sey in the English channel is strik-
area, topography. climate. rainfall and
resources and it sustains population
OF some sixty thous d people, though
most of the agriculturists are tenants
OF nonresident Landlords and hola
their farms under long tenures, pay
ing annual rentals of $50 to 500 an
acre. 1t is well to build your trade
foundations now with an eye TO the
future, and you. should not expect
our local merchants to aid you in am
eHorts to wrest from them trade that
they feel justly belongs to them,
From careful personal examination l
nave no hesitancy j saying that
Whatcom is a much better trading