The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1914-04-06

in our daily papers regarding a
port district for Pierce county. i
have been a resident of Tacoma for
over thirty-five years, and have
seen the city grow from a popula-
ton of five hundred people to over
one hundred thousand. During all
this time, 1 have boosted for Taco
ma and her shipping interests, and
the people of this city can rest as
sured | will stand by them and
help to make Tacoma the largest
and most beautiful city in the
world-a city that God can look
| down upon and admire while seat
ed on His Great White Throne, Mt.
| Tacoma.
am onposed to the amended port
| bill as passed by our last legisla-
| ture, but l am In favor of a Taco
ma port commission, and this COM
| mission will not cost the taxpayers
| Que red cent. 1t can be created this
| way:
The city council can be authoriz.
| ed to act as port commission and
| then the council can vote on Its own
| chairman of that commission.
| l read with a great deal of inter-
| est tho first article opposing the
port commission by John Il. Bibb.
| MIR. Bibb is one of the best posted
| men on the Pacific coast In regard
| to shipping business. This article
hit the nail sGuarely on the head.
Edward =. Osborne has done valua-
| bic work in getting additional In
| formation pertaining to our ship
| ping that was not taken into con-
sideration before.
Tacoma has the longest lumber
docks fronting on deep water of
any city in the world. Not only is
| this true, but Tacoma people have
the largest unoccupled strip of deep
water frontage particularly adapted
for additional lumber yards and and
mills. This strip lies between Old
Tacoma and the smelter. On the
south side OF 1t are two trans
continental railroads, the Northern
Pacific and the Chicago, Milwaukee,
& st. Paul. When the Point Defl-
ance water grade road is finished,
| on September LIST, We will have
three more trans con tinental rail-
roads operating alongside of this
strip, the Union Pacific, Southern
Pacific and Great Northern. Just
think, two miles of lumber mill
property, with city harbor area in
| front OF 1t, where five trans-con-
tinental railroads meet all the big
ocean steamers! My. but what a
big lumber dock this strip would
| make! No city In the world has its
equal; and think that no money. is
required to dredge alongside OF this
dock The people travelling over
/
| Tacoma smelter to the Cushman In
dian school, seeing all our dock i'm
| provements, saw mills and big
ocean docks and factories, would
not ask us what We have to keep
up the city. Again. what a great
would have of Tacoma when COM
ing into port on one of these big
ocean liners! Now, my dear broth
ers and sisters, | make this sugges-
ton: Vote against the county port
| commission, and, after the Tacoma
should want to buy this strip be-
tween the city's Old Town dock and
| the smelter for the fishing fleet,
| lumber dock and saw mills, we
could do so. The present saw mill
property we would not need to buy.
| Seattle, with her fish dock and lum-
Der dock, would be laid In the shade
alongside of Tacoma. The Tacoma
| port commission could attend to the
| leasing of this property in connec-
| ton with their other work, and the
city would not be to but very little
Robert Bridges, port commissioner
of Seattle. in his speech here few
| days ago, said there was time
| when Tacoma used to make Seattle
| sit up and take notice, but not now.
| Well, Robert, II the United States
| government, unuef the republican
administration, had given Tacoma
| the same consideration and support
| it gave to Seattle In the Bremerton
and Alaska trade, our wholesalers
| (who sell cheaper than Seattle
| wholesalers) would have enjoyed at
| least one-half of the three million
dollars business that Seattle got.
With that amount of business, Ia
/ coma merchants would have put on
a direct line of steamers to Alaska.
| believe the United States govern
ment now, under democratic control
| will see that Tacoma, Centralia
Chehalis, Aberdeen. Hoquiam. Ray.