White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1925-10-30
THE FUTURE OF WASHINGTON
BY w. 3. HENDERSON, in Pacific Commerce

Less IMAM eighty years ago what is
now the State Of Washington was
practically an uninhabited region
claimed by the British. The treaty
which definitely made this section a
part of the United States was not
ratified until 1916. Since that time
and all within the lifetime Of single
individual-the section of which this
state is a part has grown to it's pres
ent pretentious proportions. Most OF
the progress has been made within
the last fifty years-within the life
time of the speaker. What have we
now to show for the fifty or seventy
five years? A state of $4,000 square
miles; a population Of approximately
two millions; metropolis with AGO.
900 inhabitants, and two other cities
with over 100000 each, and a number
Of smaller cities, towns and hamlets
scattered throughout the length and
breadth of the state.
Seventy years ago we had no rail
roads, no harbors, no farms, no cleo
trio power, no ships plying to and fro
on the high seas, no manufactures,
and very few people. Today, all with
in the space of one mans lifetime, we
have $500 miles of railroad within
the state, which is more mileage than
in the whole of China, notwithstand-
ing that country is about the size of
the United States in area, and with
a population four times larger. We
have a sea which rivals the Mediter-
ranean for it's fine natural harbors,
many Of which have recently been de-
veloped. In addition we have other
important harbors on the Pacific
ocean direct. Our farm number, &C.
~,cording to United States statistics for
1920, 66,288, with an acreage of i'm
proved land of over seven millions,
apd an annual output exceeding $780,
100000. These have all been de-
veloped since 1850, and are only a
fraction of what can reasonably be ex-
pected along agricultural lines within
the next two decades. Our mines and
quarries are now turning out prod
ucts annually to the value of fifteen
millions, principally coal. Our forest
products exceed annually 235,000,000
dollars, and our shipping cannot be
estimated in dollars and cents, but it
represents to a large extent the life
blood of our commerce which is noted
the world over. In the number of YES
sells arriving and departing, in cargo
handled, in the value of inward and
outward movement Of that cargo, the
ports Of our state are second only to
New York in Importance, and there
fore rank among the leading ports of
the world.
Our water power, developed and
potentially in sight, equals that Of any
section of the world; our fisheries,
the products of which exceed fifteen
millions annually, go to the several
sections of the world, and constitute
one of our chief assets as producer
of world supplies. Our orchard prod.
ucts, which fifty years ago were a
negligible quantity, today rival the
world as commercial product. The
value Of the output from the last
available government figures of all or.
chard products combined in this state
lars annually, and over period OF
more recent years, the average is far
above the fifty million mark.
These are a few of the things we
have, to say nothing of several mil.
lions of small vegetables, small fruits
such as berries, currants, etc.
and all the growing improvements in
the production and manufacture of
sugar, production Of honey, nursery
products and dairy output, and live
stock raising. But the prospects that
appeal to the average person in the
future development and the continued
progress of this section, is not so
much along the lines just covered
because that is dealing entirely or al
most entirely with raw Materials
but rather with higher state of
manufacture, therefore higher price,
increased opportunity Of employees,
better wages and larger increase in
capital and expenditure of money in
the way of manufacture and COM
merce. No doubt the future greatness
Of this section will depend largely on
these aforementioned factors.
There are eight cities in the State
of Washington today, each of which
has more inhabitants than the entire
territory Of Washington had in 1870.
One of<these cities-Seattle- now
more population than the entire state
had when it was admitted to the
Union, SO years ago. These items are
mentioned merely to show the prog
ress within the past few years. What
af0 the factors behind that progress
Virgin forests, undeveloped fisheries
and farms, orchards and dairies
mines and harbors. What has been
the secret Of this rapid development?