The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1904-03-11
HOW TO BUILD up THE STATE.

HOW 10 SulLb W lHE 0iAtG
Astorlans enthusiastically claim tina
the proposed sea wall win give Astori;
the finest harbor of any city on th'
coast. and win attract wide attention
to that city as desirable port: alsc
will help to make It "a common point
and a commercial center. Go ahead.
good. live people of Astoria, broad
minded men Of Portland wish you all
sorts Of success
The above clipping is taken from the
Oregon Daily Journal. Portland's new
and highly successful newspaper. It
viii be observed that the whole soul
OF the writer is in the little parasraph.
and that the utterance is bubbllng over
with enthusiasm, This is striking
departure for Portland newspaper.
and is important as showing that the
antiquated mossback spirit heretofore
so general in the metropolis is giving
away to broadminded policy having
for its attainment advancement OF the
interests of the entire state.
There are today perhaps half a mil
lion people in Oregon--the estimate
may be a trife low Astoria. with
l4.O0O or $4,000 population. is the second
city: Salem the third with 5000 or TO-
900. and Baker the fourth. with 1000
or 5000. 1t can not be said that any
natural cause is responsible for the
fact that the state has not advanced
in all sections. Astoria is better locat-
ed by far than Portland, has vastly
greater natural resources. more water
and every other requisite to make il a
greater city than Portland. yet this
city has but 1900 people, while Port
land has 100000 or more. Portland en-
Joyed the early advantage Of railroad
assistance, and Astoria did not. There
in lies the secret of Portland's great
ness and Astoria's failure to attain the
prominence which her location should
give to her. The same statement may
correctly be applied to the other sec
ond-class cities Of the state, although
none enjoys the unsurpassed location
of Astoria.
Having secured the carly advantage
over the other towns of The state, Port |
land has industriously ,triven to gather
to herself all OF the enterprises of Ore
gon and TO strangle self effort on the
part Of her smaller neighbors Being
her most dangerous rival for suprem-
acy, Astoria has received most of her
attention.
Quite naturally the state has suffered
because Of Portland's narrow policy in
the past, and it is gratifying to observe
that the old spirit of antagonism to the
other cities of Oregon is now being
supplanted in the metropolis by a feel
fng that all sections should be encour-
aged. 1t is ridiculous for the people
Of one city to think they can represent
the commercial interests Of an entire
state. Salem and Pendleton should
make our flour; La Grande should man
ufacture our sugar; Baker should pro-
duce most Of our mineral wealth; AS
toria should furnish the salmon prod
uct and most of the lumber, and, sit
uated at the sea, should attend to most
of the shipping Each city of the state
has a special function to perform. and
it is a grave commercial error for any
other city TO attempt to deprive her
of the resources which rightfully be-
longs to her. Portland is the CONNER
cial and financial center of the state,
and probably will continue to be for
many years to come Advancement of
any section of the state can not but
help the, metropolis-indeed. is essen
tial to her wellbeing-and is lament
able the fact has been ignored for the
past % or 80 years.
The Journal displays the right spirit.
There is plenty of room in this great
state nf ours for Portland, Astoria, Sa-
lem, Baker and all the other cities. and
it is largely to the discredit Of the me-
tropolis that all OF the towns named
are not thrice their present size. With
the passing of the one-town idea Ore
gon may be expected to increase her
population and commercial wealth, and