The Pacific commercial advertiser., 1906-08-13
PORTLAND'S
] GLAD HAND
Extended by Envoy of
Its Chamber of
Commerce.

PoFtland's business representative
| W. a. Mears, who arrived on the So
noma Saturday, is here on a mission
| to work up a reciprocal trade between
| Oregon and Hawaii. Mr. Mears is {
guest at the Young Hotel, which will
be his headquarters during his stay il
| Honolulu. He is here as the repre-
| sentative of PortIands foremost ccm-
| mercial organization, the Chamber OF
| Commerce.
| The cause of his appearance in the
| field came through Mr.. Matson. presi-
dent of the Matson Navigation Co..
placing the steamship Hilonian on the
Portland-Honolulu route. A dinner
given aboard that vessel at Portland
by Captain Johnson brought up a dis
cussion concerning reciprocal trade re-
lations between the two cities and it
was proposed that an able representa-
tive of Oregon's business interests make
the trip to Honolulu to size up the
situation. And so Mr.. Mears was Sc
lected.
Mr.. Mears was interviewed at the
Alexander Young hotel last evening in
regard to his mission. He spoke opti-
mistically of the hopes he has of show
ing the business men of the islands
the opportunities offered by Portland
for establishing trade relations. Before
coming here he pretty well sized up
the situation and knows the difficult
ties that beset his path.
In general appearance Mr.. Mears is
something of a double of P. c. Jones'
A picture of the letter gentleman ap-
pearing in the Advertisers Jubilee
number caught the fancy of many
Portlanders and they took particular
pains to call Mr.. Mears' attention to
it.
while in Honolulu to meet here one
of the most prominent men of the
transportation business on the main
land, with a view to establishing an
other line of steamers between Port
land and Honolulu. AS to the reasons
for his coming here, he said:
Il know that Hawaii has established
close trade relations with San Fran
cisco and maintained them for over
fifty years, but 1 believe a change can
be made on a reciprocal trade basis
Frequently what seems impossible be-
comes possible. The disaster to San
ENro oiC ait
cially, and it is not unlikely that what
Portland is able to offer now may be
accepted. The exposition which we
gave last year has awakened our citi-
zens to expansion in trade. We be-
lieve We can show the people of these
i~'a"ds sufficient inducements to trade |
with US.
For years you have bought hundreds |
of thousands of tons of goods, from our
section, secondhand, through San
Francisco, and there is no doubt we
have bought a vast quantity of island |
products, secondhand. through San
Francisco. We see no reason at all
why we should not deal at first-hand.
With that idea in mind our merchants |
deemed it wise to send someone here
% show your people what can be done
oy having a competitive buying and
selling market.
I'VE started in by getting the Mat
son Navigation Co. to make Portland
he most northern port of call for its
steamers and we are now following
hat up The Portland Chamber of
Commerce sent me here 10 try to show
he people what we can do. OF course,
know that your sugar output is con-
rolled already and can not be divert
d, but you have other products that
We can buy and we have many that
'ou can buy direct. For instance. my
rother is manager of the biggest
ordage concerns in the northwest He
7anJed me to see what there was do
ls in rope down here and wanted me
D see what could be done toward buy ]
lg up some of your sisal output
hats reciprocal. We want to have J
= thing as nearly reciprocal as pos
ible
III / get the chance to address I
leeting of merchants or any Of the 7
egu1arly organized mercantile bodies. ,
can show them that large num-
er of the things they buy through I
an Francisco originate at Portland or q
the northwest. h
Our Hood River apples are known
ie world over and brought IS box
New York last winter. Our pears
e also known the world over too and d
ing good prices. I suppose two r
irds of the potatoes and onions
hich are sold in San Francisco, of
hich you get your supply, are from G
1rtland. We hope that your people "
i'll consent to have buying and sell-I Il
z market for Portland and San Fran
SEQ.
'On my return to Portland I will be P
lie TO make a general report of the v
1de conditions here. as well as a ",
report on every line
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