The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1907-02-15


assembly pleading for patent nnl
useful reorganization OF the Astoria
Chamber OF Commerce, commanding
In eloquent terms. the good faith and
hrduouH work. Of the small group that
hnr loyalty maintained the present or.
Eanzation through thick and thin. the
sum and value Of tho reorganization
being TO crown the faithful labor oi
these men and demonstrate their faith
In the future Of Astoria, nB well an
that OF her cltizcnry. Ills address was
brief. direct, happily propitious. and
was thoroughly well received MIR.
dratke. In pleasant terms. introduced
tho leading speaker Of the evening, Mr.
Mcrriek, secretary Of the Oregon Gro.
cers ana Merchants Assoclation, who,
speaking upon the theme Of "Organlzu-
ton" in the following pithy and point
cd remarks, evoked round after round
Of genuine applause;
"sixsy.fivo years ago. New York boz
gan It's great change into a big city.
ZIP TO that time ita harbor was called
gangway 10 Albany. Tho first rail
road In the United States had recently
been built. A railroad was planned
to go down the Hudson and the Al
bany papers rldiculcd Il as fool pro-
Ject, and wound UP by declaring that
New York could never be more than
Il gangway to Albany. How does that
sound loday7 Perhaps not many who
1.-Two In New York today know why
II became the greatest city In this
country. I, is simply because It Ia a
great seaport, downgrade from every
where. The commerce Of this coun-
try breaks from the Rockies along
the lines Of least resistance, both
East and West. on the east Il fol-
lows along the line Of tho Great
Lakes, through the Mohawk Valley TO
the Valley OF the Hudson. and down
that river to Its mouth. Hence we
have New York. and for no other rea-
son. The traffic could not go to Bos-
ton without crossing the Catskills. and
It could not go to Philadelphia with
out other steep grades On the west
crn slope of the continent the same
laws apply. II In all n question Of
grade. That is all there Is to mod
crn rail transportation. Some OF our
tonnage has been diverted TO Puget
Sound for a time by certain railroad
manipulation and the mistaken course
OF Portland. but II will ultimately |
come here beyond any question. When
nature reared the great Cascade
Range, and sent the Columbia down
through their only gorge, she declared
where the tonnage Of the Inland EN-
plre must ultimately reach the sea. 1t
is the only point where the Pacific
can ever be reached downgrade. Ev-
cry train from the East to Puget
Sound climbs nearly 1000 feet through
the clouds. at tremendous expense,
Every train to San Francisco must
climb grades fully as steep. Here we
have the one down grade, natural out
let.
"The great cities are at the great
harbors. The better the harbor the
greater does the city become. Com
merce will center at the point where
Il can attain It's ends with the least
expense ana greatest despatch. /
wonder II you all know that this Is
he only first class. fresh water sea-
port In the United States. A really
good seaport is one of the rarest
.hings the Lord ever made. There
ire less than thirty good ones in the
world. You see 1t daily and are apt
o overlook its tremendous signih-
,ance. But as for myself, I am deep
v thrilled every time ! climb one OF
hose hills and take In the wondrous
sight. A matchless perfect, protect
ID, fresh water harbor within reach
ng distance of the open sea. It's en-
Ire equal does not exist on this globe.
And you have everything behind 1t, to
magnify its value.
"You see that the government is now
determined to rush the completion Of
he jetty. We shall have ample wa
er on that bar; not the slightest
luestion about 1t. Over million Gu
,lc feet of water second flowing out
,ver q sand bottom. Water Is the
,nly unsqueezable force in nature. Be-
ng unsqueezable, the compressure Of
ne ietties under the conditions here,
will give any depth required.
"Water and rail facilities have pro-
luced the great cities Of the world.
I Is an axiom that commerce will al
ways finally seek the easiest grades,