The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-02-06
By ROBERT STEIN.

II the present article reaches the city
OF Prince Rupert. so young and flourish
ing (on paper, its worthy citizens will
probably read II with mingled dismay
and resentment Having grown accus-
toned 20 the idea of occupying the very
site destined from all eternity to be the
main emporium of commerce between
the coasts Of North America and Asia.
at the point where the straightest route
from Winnipeg TO Yokohama intersects
the American coast, they viii be shocked
10 find that on closer inspection that ad-
vantage belongs not to them. but TO the
more northerly city Of Wrangel. which.
being situated on United States territory,
was overlooked in the calculation.
However. on second thought they Will
discover that the suggestion which at
first sight seems merciless is really merci-
fuI. II. by the time the Panhandle bound
airy vanishes, Prince Rupert has gone far
ahead in its BOOM it may have 20 face
a period of decay. which would be far
more serious matter than a mere period
Of sIackened development such as would
probably ensue if Wrangel became a
Canadian town this year.
British Columbia measures So $50 square
miles. and about half of it, or 1885
square miles, is behind the Panhandle.
Germany 20879 square miles, Is not
much larger. Now, imagine Germany
separated from the sea by Dutch pam
handle ten marine leagues wide. extend
ing from Emden TO Danzig. Or imagine
a Canadian panhandle running down the
Atlantic coast from Maine TO Phnadel-
phia. lined with custom houses all the
way 1t would be uncomfortable. In other,
words, the boundary between the Alaska
Panhandle and its hinterland is sure to
disappear as soon as the country ac-
quires a large population. The only rea-
son why it has maintained its monsrous
existence on the map up 10 the present
time is that it is as yet of no great
practical importance.
But that condition is passing away
Industrious, Ike their national animal
the beaver. the Canadians are working at
their National TTaHsCOntinental Railway
and I'm two or three years the country
back Of Prince Rupert will be filled with
thousands of coIonists. a large part Of
this immigration will overflow into the
hinJerland Of the Panhandle. Among the
projected side lines of the Transconti-
mental Railway is a line to the Yukon
Valley, and this will doubtless be begun
as soon as the Transcontinental is fin
ished When a hundred thousand people
are gathered behind the Panhandle. 'EI
they he content 10 look down from ,-Ieir
mountain erests at the Pacific Ocean
washing the shore almost within gun
shot, yet unattainable to them except
through a line of custom houses and
bonded warehouses?
On the other hand. will the people OF
the Panhandle. with their magnificent
- harbors, be content 10 see a line Of GUS
tom houses dam back the tide Of com
merce which nature designed 10 be tribu-
tary TO them? Coast cities depend for
their prosperity on the possession Of as
large as possible an area of inland terri
tory whose products may be exported,
and whose purchases may be imported,
through their ports. What is the
nearest way to tide water?" is the anxious
question which every seller is perpetuauy
asking.
When II becomes known that in the
hinterland of the Panhandle some million
bushels of wheat, some hundreds of
thousands of cattle. some million feet of
lumber, some tens OF thousands Of tons
of ore are awaiting transportation 70 tide
water, representing an immense amount
of freight that will have to be handled at
some port and will have to pay for the
handling the Panhandelites will naturally
ask themselves; Why should not we
handle this freight and gain our utmost
profit thereby. instead Of letting any Of
ii seek the far-off shore of Hudson Bay?
In brief, 10 the Panhandelites the ten
league boundary win become even more
intolerable than to the Hinterlanders.
As soon as the hinterland becomes set
tied and cries for ports, the people in the
coast cities will be foremost in demand
ing that the boundary be wiped out.
II this is the manifest destiny. it Is evil
dent that delay is not only needless, but
harmful. It hampers the settling Of both
the coast cities and the hinterland. II is
apt TO force commerce into unnatural
channels. from which it could not after
ward be turned into the natural chan
nels without loss, perhaps disastrous
loss 10 vested interests. In fact as noted
at the outset, the best moment for abol-
ishing the unnatural boundary is already
past. Had Wrangel been a Canadian city
\ IL
selected as the terminus Of the Transcon-
tinental Railway. and the million dollars
invested In town lots at Prince Rupert
would have been invested al Wrangel.
II WrangeI changes its allegiance this
year and begins to compete for the Pa
Clhc trade il is evident that the value
Of real estate at Prince Rupert will not
rise as rapidly as was expected, and there
may even be a falling of
It Is reasonable to suppose that, if the
people in the Panhandle were free to
determine by vote whether they shall con-
tinue to belong to the United States or
Join Canada, their manifest interests
would drive them to the latter alterna-
tive. As a condition for the transfer,
they would probably demand that the
Yukon Railway be built within five years
with a branch 10 every important coast
city. Several hundred thousands of Amer
leans have already decided that Gods
country does not stop at the forty-nnth
parallel In fact. it is entirely probable
that the hinterland Of the Panhandle will
be largely settled by Americans, with
whom the Panhandelites Will, OF course
be all the more apt to fraternize.
Suppose, then. that the people OF the
Panhandle did declare their desire to be
annexed TO Canada, ought not that TO
IL u.