The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1909-02-05

4 Is il not well for all Oregon to un-
derstand that the commerce Of the
Columbia River is falling far behind
that OF Puget Sound and to know the
reason why3
II the entire state understood that
a remedy could be applied, would
not every business and patriotic rea-
son seem to indicate that it would be
1t does not seem reasonable that
any but an affirmative reply could
satisfy this interrogatNe,
During the calendar year OF 1908
the Columbia River exported 1902
o63 bushels OF wheat and 6Ss,044 bar
rels of flour. eQualling total OF l6
l24,76l bushels OF wheat, while the
Sound exported li,9l7,6S2 bushels OF
wheat and 100000 barrels of flour,
equaIliug a total Of lS,697.6s2 bushels
of wheat. The Sound did bigger
business than the river in the princi-
pal agricultural product by 2,sS4,49l
bushels.
At superficial glance il might
seem thar this is merely logical re.
suit OF the comparative size OF the
States of Oregon and Washington,
remembering that the former raised
100000 and the latter, 100000
bushels. But careful study reveals
that all of the wheat grown in Wash
ington as well as that grown in Ore
gon can be brought down the water
level railroad on the Columbia, but
when taken to the Sound must be
drawn up hill over the mountains
Thestatisties indicate that most Of
the wheat is transported over the
mountainS two locomotives being
employed to pull short train Of one
third the number OF ears that one
locomotive would pull on the Colum-
bia River rails. As all the wheat in
both states is grown in the basin of
the river it would seem that it would
be the natural right of the river trans
portation facilities to handle not only
the major portion but an Of it.
The poor commercial showing for
the Columbia River indicated by
wheat is made all the worse by pre-
senting the total import and export
figures for the calendar year of 1908
for both the Sound and the River.
The total imports and exports for
the Sound amounted to $ss,000,OOO
while the total imports and exports
for the River were only $l8,750,0O0
or only one third of those of the
Sound. Yet very recently the River
carried on practically all Of the i'm
port and export business of the Nortt
west
The cause Of Oregon's Commercial
delinquency seems plain to me ant
the remedy easy.
The cause is the bar at the moutl
OF the Columbia which prevents BIZ
ships entering as they may enter tn
Sound.
The remedy is to deepen the chan
mel through the bar so that big ship
may enter.
The remedy is easy and the i'll ca
be thoroughly cured within thre
( years.
E We have been building jetties a
the mouth Of the river "a years, sine
1884, that is we have been playing q
1 building jetties, but the depth of wa
, Ter across the bar is actually five fee
less than it was IS years ago, in l8oI
; The depth was then 81 feet. Now
} is only 26 feet.
During this period Of "a years pla
the British government has deepene
South African harbors where onl
I 900 ton schooners could enter 70
depth sufficient to permit the entranC
of $4,000 ton ships; Brazil has sper
!, $50,000,000 making Rio Janeir
one Of the best harbors Of the worlt
Chile has spent $20000,0OO on tn
harbor Of Valparaiso and China $40
100000 on the harbor Of Shanghai
During the "a years we have bee
I playing, we have spent about $500
600 on the mouth Of the river bt
have allowed the channel to fill Il
five feet during the past l3 years.
The marine news Of almost an
date will show that while small vel
sells are bound for the river a larg
number Of greater tonnage are e
route to the Sound
On a recent day this news shove
only one vessel Of 5000 tons, the TAX
Maru bound for the river, while ther
were ID vessels from 5000 to 61o5 ton