1
MASON COUNTY JOURNAL, SHELTON, WASHINGTON. STATE IMMIGRATION CONTENTION. 1 liiAT GATHERING. been exported, thus showing a gain over 1891 of $1,000,000. In 1891 such an establish- ment as a packing house was not dreamed of, other than two or three smokehouses for the purpose of curing Eastern meats; to- day we have six exclusive concerns (throe of them very large ones) in different sec- tions of the stale which slaughter annually thousands of cattle, hogs and sheep, and whose pay rolls number hundreds of men. Nearly every town and hamlet has its meat market, where hams, bacon and lard are cured for home consumption, all giving em- ployment to more or less labor. wealth to the world. It is estimated that it takes 15,000,000 cows to supply the demands of milk or its product in the United States. It takes 60,000,000 acres of land in cultiva- tion to feed them. The agricultural imple- ments and dairy machinery in use are worth $200,000,000. The farmer thinks it a side issue and woman?s work. There is nearly $2,000,000,000 invested in dairying, in amount almost double the banking capital. With all this creamery butter is scarce and big demands are made for bogus butter or oleomargarine. In 1891 we paid out for egcs and poultry $1,000,000; in 1595 less than SIOO,- 000, possibly not over $25,000. That deficit can be said to be practically wiped out, as there was very nearly as much in value shipped out of the state as there was shipped in. Thus, you will perceive in four items alone we show an increase of $8,000,- 000 in four years?the hardest four years we have ever known, when labor, if employed at all, has received the poorest compensa- tion known for years. What will it be In prosperous times? I firmly believe in the year 1900 these above mentioned items alone tvill show an increase of 100 per cent, or nearly $30,000,000. With our state settled \u25a0with thrifty farmers who will study agri- cultural economics and pursue a diversified husbandry, I shall not be surprised to see it more. If we can make such a showing during four years of blood sweating, such as we have had, what cannot be done in four years of prosperity? i not * nt;end t0 touch on farming and wm only say a few words. Being asked by a farmer friend of mine from east of the mountains a days ago what he should do with his farm this year, I asked him now much land he had. He replied, 240 acres; that he had 120 acres in wheat last joar. I told him to put in 160 acres this >car, save his heifer calves, feed them well, take good care of his brood sows, be sure * iave flood coops for his chickens, feed ail of them plenty of wheat and to raise everything it was possible for him to supply bis iamily with food, but be sure to raise p.enty of wheat. I find in summing up the business in which I am engaged that in 1891 thls state shipped in 100 carloads of rolled oats from the East?but the last car has come, unless we should have a failure of the oat crop. Since that year four large cat- mea, mills have been erected and we are ?i/wwi> nß> at in the neighborhood of SIOO,OOO that formerly went East; in 1891 the flour consumed on Puget sound nearly ail came from California mills?that is a thing of the past. We not only consume flour maoe at home, but nearly every steamer go- ing to California is loaded with Washing- ton product, while on every steamer go- ing the Orient, to the Islands, and to Central America, we see thousands of bar- rels of flour, chop and feed. The tonnage has to be engaged months in advance. The celestials are crying for more Washington flour, from Central America comes the cry: ?Send more flour.? Corn meal, flaked wheat and all cereal products in 1891 were shipped m either from the East or California; to- day we manufacture all we consume ard are exporting. In 1891 all the codfish, smoked halibut, dried and salt herring, came from the Atlantic seaboard; today we produce not only what we consume, but are shipping codfish as far east as Gloucester. The quantities of salmon (fresh, salted, canned or dried) that leave our state show an increase so large that it is almost impos- siole to compute. This industry is but in its infancy, and I predict for the tish in- dustry of the future the third place in the state. Our in- crease in green and dried fruits has teen a phenomenal one. I am informed by a gentleman who this year shipped sixty cars of Washington dried prunes (many as far east as New Y'ork) that in five years we will ship 1,000 ears of prunes alone, besides as many, and possibly double the amount, cf other dried fruits, as well as green. In 1891 I saw potatoes shipped in by carloads from the East, and I might say by ship loads from California; today we are ex- porting more than we consume. The in- crease in dried peas has been something like 400 per cent., and still we bring in neas from California, In 1891 we raised no beans to speak of; in 1895 about ten cars. This state brings in annually between 200 and 250 carloads of beans. Just think of it! In a country where the Creator has arranged for producing beans equal to, if not better than, any other on earth. The finest beans 1 ever saw were produced in Washington near Wenatchee. Our consumption amounts to 5,000,000 pounds annually. We can easily produce 20,000,000 pounds by the year 1900, raising all we consume and exporting many million pounds. California sends 5,000 cars east every year. There is no reason why we should not send as many. I find also that in the manufactured articles handled in the line of business with which I am most familiar, many items now made at home that in 1891 were imported; During that year this state shipped in twenty-five car- loads of brooms; in 1895 none, the broom corn being nearly all raised in the state. In 1891 fifty cars of laundry soap; in 1895 not to exceed eighteen or twenty, and there should be none. Vinegar to the extent, of fifteen cars; in 1895 none. Woo den ware, matches, baskets and many other items arc nearly all now manufactured at home; wrapping and printing paper we obtain from our sister city, Everett. The same city manufactured in 1895 70,000 kegs of nails; in IS9I there were none manufac- tured in the state. In 1891 the smelting of gold, silver and lead ores had not com- menced; in 1895 two smelters in this state turned out bullion valued at nearly $2,000,000. I might go on indefinitely enumerating the small necessaries, as well as luxuries, that are produced in this state now that only four years ago were shipped in. Many of our successful factories are small, but we must not lose sight of the small things?- foster the smaller industries and support them by your patronage. I sincerely trust that I may not hear of any more enor- mous enterprises, as they are only barriers in the way of smaller institutions that will grow as our population increases and be- come healthy and prosperous concerns. We must not forget that "large oaks from little acorns grow.? I believe I have exhausted my time. In conclusion let me say. this immigration movement is something we must not lose sight of. All our industries, both agricul- tural and manufacturing, can only reach a certain point if we do not increase in popu- lation. Nowhere in this country are such opportunities presented for home-making as here in this state. Nowhere should that spirit of enterprise which makes opportunities, creates industries and builds up homes more happily blend with the charming amenities of life and mark at once a brave and gentle people than right here in this God-favored, beloved state of Washington. Standing here a witness of the great growth and development during the past foui- years, I feel that I am voicing the sentiments of every delegate and of every county they represent. That if we formu- late an organization with the one object cf populating our state, are steadfast in pur- pose and farseeing in our methods, that within a few years we shall see a population of 1,000,000 cultured, intelligent, happy peo- ple, who will obtain that prosperity which they will so honestly earn and deserve. ? smaller streams, while south of Cape Flat- ten? the Ozett, the Dickey, the Solduek, the Bogachiel, the Calowa, the Quillayute and the Hoh rivers drain a section of country forty m'.les wide and sixty miles long, the extent, fertility and natural wealth of which are comparatively unknown. A sec- tion that has never been boomed by de- scriptive pamphlets, holiday newspapers, boards of trade or immigration bureaus. A section still awaiting the magic influence of railroads, and which, with the finest body of merchantable timber on the continent, has not even yet a single sawmill, shingle mill or other factory; where the first set- tlers, after a quarter of a century?s resi- dence, lived to see last year the first buggy taken within its borders. A section abound- ing in the richest of soil, and the wonderful extent and value of whose mighty forests of fir, spruce, larch, hemlock and cedar may be faintly imagined from the fact that on a sh gle 160 acres of land it was conservative- ly estimated by a reliable timber cruiser that there were 14,000,000 feet of sound, first- class lumber. A section that has not as yet a single cannery, although its rivers teem with salmon and other ebible fishes. scat the permanent scat of government of the state, occupies a strategic position from which must soon radiate other railroads in addition to the two she already has. Her possiblities for commercial, industrial and agricultural greatness and development are evidenced in many ways. What shall we say of the soil and prod- ucts of this vast domain? Space and time fail us. Suffice it to say that they are worthy of investigation and test by the im- migrant who desires to locate where social advantages, wealth, population and the blessings of modern civilization will multi- ply indefinitely. The next period of railroad building ac- tivity within our state will witness the con- struction of such roads on the Olympic pen- insula, to open up its remote localities and place them in communication with the in- terior of the continent Then will occur the greatest rush of immigration the slate of Washington has yet seen. The Olympia peninsula will then be rapidly settled and developed. It has the necessary geographi- cal advantages and the necessary natural wealth to support one of the leading cities of the Pacific coast, and the time is coming when such a city will flourish within its borders. <i r caiii/atioii of the State Im- migration Association. "Next in importance is the dairy interest. In 1891 there was shipped into the state butter and cheese to the value of $2,500,000; during 1895 less than $300,000, showing an in- crease of over $2,000,00*). I am informed by the dairy commissioner that there are over fifty creameries in operation in this state, and that with the additional ones that will be erected this year we will produce more butter and cheese than we consume and that by the beginning of 1897 we will be ex- porting. This in ?us try will surely continue to increase rapidly, as there is no section of the United States so uniformly adapted to successful dairying as the state of Wash- ington. I firmly believe in ten years from today the dairy interest will be equal to, if not greater, than our lumber industry. 1 desire to lay great stress on this dairy in- terest, as I believe it to be the backbone of our agricultural success, and while it may not be in line, still I want to call your at- tention to the fact that during the last four years, when the darkest clouds of depres- sion hovered over the entire land, when every other commodity .produced by the farmer declined in value, butter held its own and the price today is as high as it was four years ago. Also the fact that the past season during the height of the making, butter sold on the Elgin exchange at from 2 to 2*2 cents higher than for two years. With our facilities for fall feed (by this I mean roots, beets, carrots, etc.), we are in position by having our cows come in during the winter season, when prices are highest, to obtain the top of the market. California has emerged from the old style of dairying. I have recently talked with the manager cf the largest creamery and dairy outfitting concern in that state, who informed me his company built sixty co-operative cream- eries during 1895 and nearly 200 private ones. As a result, California in 1895 shipped her first car of creamery butter East and fol- lowed it up with twenty-seven mdre, a ABLE PAPERS DISCUSSED. iirrunniGMuliitions to the Legislature ami to Congress. >n u . -title Will He Asked for an Annual VHj.i opriiilion ol $*.£5,000, and Meau- tjm,.( iti/.eiisand Commercial Bodies Will enthusiastically Support the ]?).!, i With Voluntary Subscriptions l.vliablo Information as to \\ ii-liintrtcu's Vast Resources Head tiii subjoined Able Papers Dis- cussed by the Convention. The timber resources of the Olympic pen- insula have been drawn upon constantly during the past forty years, its timber prod- ucts being sent to all parts of the world. Its sawmills include those at Hoquiam, Aber- deen, Cosmopolis, Olympia. Sydney, Port Blakeley, Port Madison. Port Gamble, Port Ludlow. Port Hadlock, Port Townsend, Pori Discovery, Port Angeles, and Clallam bay, to say nothing of the many smaller mills. Some of the mills at the points men- tioned having to be constructed with facili- ties and capacity for handling and sawing timbers 150 feet long, and a single mill turn- ing out 250.000 feet of lumber daily. Yet the timber has been consumed merely around; the edges, next to water courses, an aver- age depth of perhaps two or three miles back from the shore. It is true that within the past few years logging railways have been in operation?notably in Mason and Thurston counties?but these are the excep- tions and not the rule. FRUIT ON PUGET SOUND. An Excollont Paper by One Who Knows the Subject. John T. Blackburn, of Vashon, is one of the best known fruit growers in the state. He has made it his business for years in England, in the Eastern slates, and for years in Washington. His paper follows; There is nothing new or startling in the title of the subject assigned me on which to prepare a short paper. There is no one, however, who has resided continuously on Puget Sound for a period of twelve years, which has been my lot, and has been di- rectly or indirectly interested in the cul- ture of fruit, but will say that there is subject matter enough in it to fill a large volume. Fruit culture on Puget Sound twelve years ago was very different from what we find it today. Eleven years ago street cars were drawn up and down Sec- ond avenue by horse power. Mark the changes. While pomology may not have grown by electricity, she has made rapid strides in the right direction. Prior to the time just mentioned it was generally be- lieved that the hill or upland of the Puget Sound country was worthless, save only for the timber that was growing on it. But since then the fact has been demonstrated beyond the shadow of a doubt that our up- lands are especially adapted to fruit cul- ture, which has passed the experimental stage, and when the dark cloud of financial depression shall have rolled away, it is a question of only a short time before the shores of Puget Sound, as well as the in- lands, will be one vast fruit field. The question may arise why this prediction is made. I answer, the conditions are all fa- vorable. We have the climate, the soil and the transportation facilities to market our fruit, which facilities will improve as the volume of fruit increases. Fruit cul- ture has a fascination connected with it which grows on the person engaged and is very contagious. It is not absolutely nec- essary that a person should have a large bank account before he embarks in this, one of, if not the grandest, industry in the world. True, it has shared with all other industries the effects of the financial depres- sion during the past two or three years, and the margin of profit has been very small, and were it not for the bright star of hope for the future the fruit grower might have reason to become discouraged. But when he remembers the fact that a failure of a fruit crop is not known in the Puget Sound country and when he remem- bers the amount of failures of this crop ia the Eastern states, should not this stimu- late and encourage the fruit grower, and also the would-be fruit grower? For ex- ample, last year I received a number of communications from Eastern cities, say- ing: ?We depend entirely upon Washing- ton, Oregon and California for our pears, plums and prunes.? c. Jan. 15.?With two days work t v ~aa;i!/aiion of the Washington State a..:, a ,» 11 ? >n Society is accomplished and lijaay i-.kgaies went home Tuesday night U nee that the corner- .of i great work hud been well and K~y Lid. others stayed to attend the . r. and to enjoy for a brief space tha jv , ; : i v city with their new friends. ? aVeinion has bound together in ties i-, amity the leading men of every section . . ta The meeting of these 200 in- . representatives, though so brief i. s l a ration, has organized the whole state in one great patriotic party, higher it- aim.- and impulses, ami also in its j :. - .,u.t>.s than any political party, v y loft their profit-making and came litre a: their own expense, with a well- ,Mimd purpose, and this they accomplish- ed without loss of time. The convention was called in pursuance of the resolution of the national immigra- t a convention held in November at St. haul. The governor came here to welcome tlvm, and congratulated himself and the delegates that so enthusiastic a response had L eri made to his call. The mayor of Seattle also warmly w'elcomed them, gave them the freedom of the city, and floated iM star-spangled banner over their place cf meeting, and on the city hall. For two days the air was full of welcome and of enthusiasm. Committees were speedily organized, and while they w T ere discussing the formation of a permanent organization and a practical platform, delegates and gentlemen special- ly united for their technical knowledge of subjects kindred to the association?s aims read interesting papers. These papers form such a valuable panorama of views of the Mate from various standpoints that the Post-Intelligencer decided to give them to its readers in full. The preparation of this specific information in regard to our state, he special features of particular localities, her wealth in minerals, in forests and wa- ters and evergreen sod, and its wide circu- lation, is in itself a great work, and it can- not fail of beneficial results immediate and for all time. On the second day of the convention the committees reported, and after some dis- cussion their plan of a permanent organiza- tion was adopted. This plan provides that the organization shall consist of one mem- ber from each county; that there shall be an executive committee of seven chosen, who shall elect a president and a secretary and treasurer from their number. The com- mittee earnestly recommended that an ap- propriation of not less than $25,000 per an- num should he made by the next legislature, and there seemed to be no doubt that this recommendation would he granted without question. To pay current expenses until that time an assessment of $lO on each coun- ty was talked of, but no definite action tak- en, and it was also decided to call upon commercial bodies and citizens for volun- tary aid to the work. Clallam and Jefferson counties are tra- versed by the Olympic mountains, a short coast range less than 100 miles in length, running east and west, from which the p.en- insula takes its name. These mountains, the tops of which are at an altitude of 7,000 to 8,000 feet, cluster around the highest peak, old Mount Olympus, whose frosty summit is bathed in glittering sunlight at GOV. JOHN IT. M?GRAW. As before stated. It Is not absolutely nec- essary to have a large bank account to en- ter into the business of fruit culture. How- ever, he should have enough to purchase a small tract of land and pay for It, from ten to forty acres being sufficient, or even less. If he is not able to clear up enough of his land for an orchard, garden and meadow, he can plant his garden in the orchard for two or three years, and by thorough cultivation, the fruit trees will not object very much to the company of vegetables and small fruits. By so doing he can, the second season, receive returns from a good crop of strawberries, as well as vegetables, if he desires to plant both. These are items of vital interest to the in- dustrious man of limited means. The cli- mate is such that he will not freeze in win- ter. Up to this date, January 10, my ther- mometer has registered at its lowest point 23 degrees above zero, with from four to five inches of snow. He will not be over- come by heat in the summer, the mercury seldom reaching 90 degrees. Blizzards and cyclones are unknown on Puget Sound. With such a climate, were the soil almost worthless, by man?s ingenuity and the use of common sense it could be made to pro- duce wonderfully. However, the soil of the Puget Sound country is by no means worthless, but in every respect equal. If not superior, to that of England, and it is generally known what is raised there and how much per acre. The writer has lived and cultivated fruit in England, Illinois and Western Washington, and I consider Washington superior to either England or Illinois, with reference to fruit growing. So I believe it is safe to say the conditions are favorable for the Puget Sound coun- try to become one vast fruit field. It is now laying the foundation upon which to build a structure that is bound to com- mand the admiration not only of our own nation, but of all the other civilized na- tions of the world. France is known as one of the foremost nations in the line of industry and pros- perity, and her prosperity is attributed principally to the fact that a large por- tion of her domains are cultivated in small farms. The same condition that has gain- ed for France such perstige can and will apply to Puget Sound, if we follow their example, and we find in a large degree that we are doing so. Very many of the homesteads of 160 acres that were owned a few years since by one family are now owned and being cultivated by from four to eight families. These are some of the stones in the foundation of what will, in the near future, be one of the greatest fruit growing sections in our country. As before stated, fruit growing in the Puget Sound country is no longer an ex- periment, as the annual crops for a num- ber of years past prove. To say that the cultivation of fruit has ???'~rpased won- derfully during the past few years is to state the fact in mild terms. It is not many years since that our now large cities were mere hamlets, and they consumed all the fruit that was grown, and the de- mand could not be supplied by home grown fruits. These baby hamlets have developed into giant cities. We now can supply the demand and ship carload after carload to the Eastern states. I have not the figures or the number of cars of fruit shipped the past season by one firm in this city, but think about twelve of strawber- ries?and several of plums, prunes, etc. I may say here that the shipping of soft, fresh fruits from Puget Sound is an ex- periment of 1895 by the Rochester Broker- age Company, and as far as I know it was a success and has given fresh impetus to the cultivator, not only of the large and hardy fruits, but also of the smaller and more delicate varieties, such as the straw- berry, which is the king of small fruits in Western Washington, and it is an estab- lished fact, conceded everywhere, that Western Washington stands at the head as a producer of this noble fruit. Two hun- dred crates of twenty-four pounds each are grown with ordinary' care and cultiva- tion, and over 300 crates have been gath- ered from one acre, A neighbor of min« Recommendations to congress were also to be found in the report, one that the arid lands should be granted outright to the state, and another that no immigrant should be allowed to land who could not read and write. The committee on permanent organiza- tion selected the following as the executive committee: C. L. Webb, King county; A. S. Cole, Whatcom: E. G. Crawford, Clarke; E. J. White, Pierce; H. Bolster, Spokane; E. P. Benson, Yakima, and Harry Corn- wall, of Colfax. This committee organized by the election of C. L. Webb, of Seattle, president; H. Bolster, of Spokane, vice president, and the president was authorized to appoint a sec- retary and treasurer. A full report of yes- terday's proceedings will be found on an- other page. Here follow all the more im- portant of the valuable papers read before the convention. IV ONLY' FOUR YEARS. Enormous Increase In Onr Products During the Hard Times. C L. Webb is one of the Seattle dele- gates, a wholesale grocer, as well known throughout the Sound country as he is in his own city. He is an optimistic patriot, who bridles his imagination with a check rein, and from his business training de- mands facts as the only true basis of an argument. He is something of a statisti- oian, too, and his able paper, which was the first one read at the convention, might well have served as a model for those who desire to give a clear, cold showing of the state?s actual condition and the deductions to be logically drawn from it. His paper read as follows: hen I was asked to address your meet- up on the subject of the industrial and ag- r cultural growth of the state of Washing- ton. 1 felt as though the subject should have : een delegated to some one whose knowl- edge dated farther back in the history of the state, but, as your committee insisted, I have briefly gone into the matter and pre- : area a few statistics, complete as possible ?n the short time allotted to me. Eighteen hundred and ninety-one seems to have been the year in which we enjoyed the greatest prosperity and magnitude of commer'Lil pursuits, therefore I have formed my con- clusions on the business done in IS9I and compared with that of 1895, compiling as rear as possible the imports for both years <by imports 1 do not refer to goods brought In fr °m foreign countries, but those from outside states) on such commodities as should have oeen produced within our bor- ders, showing the increase in amount of production during that time in the lines Wlth which I am most familiar. In basing values I have taken those of 1891, although they are lower now, and have recorded them in dollars and cents at same values the tonnage consumed being about the same. DESIRABLE IMMIGRATION. How to Secure It?Methods of Adver- tisln-z. First, and chief, is the hog product (hams, bacon and lard). In 1891 there was shipped into this state a tonnage valued at s 1,500,000; in 1895, less than $500,000, showing h n ?i ncrease of Production amounting to ?hM .(M). The value of live bogs shipped out the state was nearly $300,000, thus almost wiping out the deficit. This deficit will not only be overcome, but everything Indicates an increase that will supply us with all we consume and allow us to export a consider- fvoi d uantity during the present year. In v .u there was brought in beef and mutton lo the value of $500,000-this year none; on me contrary* something like $500,000 has Joseph Shippen, esq., of Seattle, needs no introduction to the people of his home city, and to the people of the rest of the state his paper, which follows, is a suf- ficient introduction: The signs of the times indicate that the near future will witness more migration of mankind than history has ever known, which is a natural result of the prevalent financial depression, political disturbances leading to wars and rumors of wars, the modern methods of transportation and of conveyance of intelligence combining to produce throughout the civilized world a spirit of urn cst and discontent. Better far C. L. WEB total of twenty-eight cars for the year. This state is eminently better adapted for butter and cheese industry than California, hav- ing as we do more nutritious grasses, an abundant and never-failing supply of pure water, a cooler climate, and on the western slope almost perpetual green grasses. 1 am a firm believer in co-operative creameries, and, if I may be allowed to digress, I wish to impress every delegate from the coun- try sections with this one idea of co-opera- tion. If the entire state could take it up and get a boom on like the shingle mill business on Puget sound did a few years | ago, I am sure the results would be a thou- | sandfold more remunerative. I nave fre- quently thought that if a stock company could be formed, something on the line of a building association, or even better with a paid up capital of $50,000 to develop this dairy Industry, it would do more for the general welfare of the state than all the big schemes talked of, even though some of them should materialize. We frequently hear of large sums of money being raised by localities to induce some large enter- prise to locate, receiving immense subsi- dies for the same. Now, if you could have a company and the stock subscribed to from all sections of the slate with a capital as above mentioned, with the sole object in view of increasing the dairy industry, and, for instance, in a locality where there were 300 to 500 cows; say to the citizens of that section, we will put you up a plant com- plete costing $5,000; they to take one-half che stock and the parent company the other half, and operate it on the co-opera- tive plan, feeding the skim milk to hogs that might be allotted to each stockholder I pro rata (which would be a very great i source of revenue to the creamery); then j give the local stockholders the option to ; purchase the stock held by the parent com- I pany in, say two years, at a small bonus I and a reasonable rate of Interest, it would i encourage and open up this industry very j rapidly, would be a paying investment for ; the parent company and at the same time I make money for the local stockholders, putting them on a solid foundation, and i they certainly would become prosperous. I believe the state, by such action, would every year become richer by $1,000,000 or perhaps more. Of course, this is merely a suggestion. In 1867 and 1868 I lived in the northeastern part of the state of lowa, which was at that time essentially a wheat producing country. Wheat sold at from $1.25 to $1.50 per bushel, and still the farm- ers were all poor. They had sod (houses with occasionally a small frame house, their barns consisted largely of straw stables. The families were very poor, and many of them did not have the necessaries of life. Wheat kept on going down. The condition of the farmer kept getting poorer until the maintenance of the families devolved on the housewife, who saved up the eggs and made a little butter (which ordinarily was of a very poor quality), and by so doing they barely kept body and soul together. About this time a live Yankee came out from Massachusetts and started a small creamery in Jones county. It was a very hard matter for him to make the farmers understand they could bring their milk to the creamery and get money enough out of it to pay them, but they were so sore pressed they finally, one at a time; began to deliver their milk. In the year 3893 this same county produced 4,243,218 pounds of butter and 402,840 pounds of cheese, which sold for $984,359.70. It so happened that in 1890 I visited this same section of the coun- try for the first time since leaving there. The change was something morvelous. The wheat fields were gone, but in their places w T ere fields of luxurious grasses, fine herds of cows, a creamery at every cross- road. In the place of the old shacks were large residences. The straw stable had given way to immense barns. The house- wives had sewing machines and all the new devices for keeping house. The daughters had pianos and organs. The young men had fine buggies and fast horses. Their houses were well furnished, the children were being educated at schools and colleges and a general air of culture and knowledge pervaded the entire section. To sum up, they had become a cultured, intelligent class of people. All this change was due to one thing?the cow. A few figures and I* will leave this gentle animal, which, now that the horse has become an article of diet, must be recognized as the noblest ani- mal* to chew her pud in peace and add her in the interest of humanity is this than stagnation and decay. The growth and development of our loved state of Washington in the recent past awakens our pride, while a knowledge of its resources and firmly planted free in- stitutions inspires absolute confidence and high hope for its future. It has every- thing that tends to make a people strong, prosperous and happy. Few of its inhabi- tants were born within its borders, and its future progress, welfare and prosperity must depend largely upon immigration?- not merely on its amount, but rather upon the quality and character of that immi- gration. Experience ratifies the conclu- sions of common sense that there are for us, as for other enlightened communities, divers classes of desirable as well as un- desirable immigrants. It goes without saying that neither our nation nor our state can be made a dump- ing ground for foreign jails and alms- houses. Our Federal government must protect us from the incursions of foreign criminals and paupers and servile labor, and in this demand our intelligent, worthy foreign born citizens join as firmly as do we who are native born. For our own state w- e do not desire immigrants without visible means of support, tramps, adven- turers or speculators seeking sudden wealth regardless of methods used. We do not want those to come to us whose de- parture gives more satisfaction to the communities they leave than their con- tinued presence. Y'et, in our free country, the voluntary movement and migration of individuals ought not and-' canrtot be controlled as in many foreign lands. To many longing to better their condition wisdom, foresight and thrift are not vouchsafed, and their desire of change may arise from prior er- rors discouragements and failures. It is not within our power,.nor w r ould it be ex- pedient, to exclude such from our borders. We must of necessity receive and harbor our share of such driftwood of civilization and in patience and wisdom elevate and in- corporate it as best we may into the struc- ture of society. We may go further and say it is not wise to solicit or encourage immigration fceyond that which can read- ily find employment in the avocations and industries to which it Is accustomed with- out depriving those who are now here of work or the opportunity to obtain it. How, then, shall we define desirable im- migration? I have already described one general class of immigrants that must be stamped with disapproval, and another that must be accepted if they come, and there remains a third class worthy in qual- ity and character, to be sought for, solic- ited and welcomed by us. To define this class in precise words is difficult, for the definition may prove too broad or too nar- row. We can only deal in generalities; that we want men of brain and brawn and en- terprise; that we want intelligent home- seekers with resources: that we want those who come to stay and assume with fidelity their share of the burdens and priv- ileges of good citizenship: that we want especially producers, those who can make two blades of grass grow where one grew before. W?e may say we need men with capital, but it is not for us to set limit of kind or amount, inasmuch as one may have it in skilled brain or hand of greater value and permanence than he who has a pocket full of what he knows not how to use or preserve. We may say that we need producers of value, and yet under a prop- er conception, the term must include crear- tors of intellectual and moral worth and civic stability, as well as hewers of wood and drawers of water. These three recognizable classes of Im- migrants merge so gradually into each other that lines of demarkation cannot arbitrarily be drawn. Each individual case must have divers elements rendering a forecasting judgment, sometimes doubt- ful, but usually reasonably certain. I would generalize by saying that desirable immigrants are such as to a reasonable de- gree of probability will find adaptation to environment for the attainment of pros- perity and happiness for themselves and those dependent upon them, and will prove thrifty, self-supporting citizens of our commonwealth. Even within such lines of limitation I be- lieve the number of such people now' and in the near future desiring to better their condition by seeking new homes is vastly beyond ordinary estimation. Note how wuthin recent decades millions of Euro- peans have been quietly seeking settle- ment in Africa, South America and Aus- tralia, in addition to those who have come to the United States. Within our own country the tide of interstate migration has ever been westward. In the favorite park of St. Louis stands Ponton?s statue bearing for its legend, as his raised arm points westward, "There lies the East.? Observation shows that migration in large degree follows parallels of latitude, as peo- ple usually prefer and seek the climate to which they have been accustomed. The large percentage of Scandinavians and of Scotch and of people from Maine, Michi- gan, Minnesota and Nebraska now found in this state confirms this general theory. Again, it is observable that many families move twice, once from the East to some locality in the middle West and afterwards to a permanent home still further West. Under present conditions of climate, crops, floods and depression it is manifest that the migratory spirit is arising as never be- fore throughout the middle West, and it is probable that it will be from that region a large if not a main part of our desirable immigration is to be obtained. Men act upon motives. What are the attractions our state has to offer to those of migratory spirit whom we desire? We have the rich and natural re- sources of field, forest, mine and sea, each as yet but partially developed; we have opportunities for manufactures and for commerce; we have a genial, salubrious climate that cannot be excelled, and we have the institutions and advantages of established civilization based on good gov- ernment, education and religion. Well can we challenge any community truthfully to surpass us in these substantial and highest attractions. They are all well known to you and admirably detailed in the valuable papers already presented to this convention. The task before us is to make them known throughout the civil- ized world, and especially to the minds of those likely to be influenced thereby. The printing press is, beyond question, the chief agency for this purpose. The very fact that this Washington immigra- tion convention is in session will be her- alded and commented upon by all the lead- ing news journals of this country. The ad- mirable addresses and papers here pre- sented are, in fact, better to influence the minds of our fellow citizens of the middle West than of us delegates. Judiciously edited and published as the proceedings of this convention, as we trust they soon will be, they will form a statement of facts worthy the attention of all interested in such subjects. In addition to the publi- cation and diffusion of these articles, state- ments of a similar kind, substantially ac- curate in statistics and devoid of any sen- sational or boom character, should be pre- pared and issued to the world in small pamphlets and leaflets, with due propor- tion in the Scandinavian and German languages as well as in English. The newspapers of the state afford one of the most effective and ecomonical modes of disseminating information, efficient use can also be made of personal letters by prosperous residents of our state to news- papers of the region of their former ac- quaintance and to individual friends. We know what an important factor in the past such personal communication has been In promotion of foreign immigration. Ad- vantage should be taken of fairs or gen- eral exhibitions to exhibit and advertise our resources and products. This Los Angeles did on a Igirge scale at the recent Atlanta exposition, even as our state did so effectually at the Chicago centennial. While the day of promotion of immigra- tion chiefly by land grant railroads has passed by, yet the interests of the great transportation companies are so closely united with the growth and prosperity of the state at large, their liberal and ener- getic help can well be relied on. Funds permitting active agencies may well be established in Eastern cities. Of course, no novelty is claimed for any of the fore- going suggestions relative to old and well known methods, and experience and the examples of other states may evolve yet more efficient expedients. To effect the wide diffusion of informa- tion as to our resources and attractions in a continuous and adequate manner mon- ey must be had and spent with brains and method through organization well con- ceived and maintained. As the direct re- sult and substantial outcome of this con- vention there should be organized a Washington immigration society, with a branch in each county. By concert of ac- tion much can be accomplished that will otherwise be left undone. There is room for a great deal of individual patriotic work for the public good in organizing and maintaining such societies and col- lecting funds for conducting their volun- tary work. It is only in permanent organ- ization and effective work in establishing systematic methods for the diffusion of re- liable Information of the resources and at- tractions of our state, that this conven- tion can fully justify its existence. Let us hope that our assemblage may by its prac- tical results, constitute a marked event in that onward and upward progress which we fervently pray may characterize the approach and dawn of the twentieth cen- tury. THE OLYMPIC PENINSULA. Closely Summarized Facts About Its Magnificent Possibilities. The natural wealth of the northwestern part of the state have never before been so strongly and succinctly put forward as In the paper read by Hon. Allen Weir, which was as follows: , The Olympic peninsula, the most north- westerly part of the magnificent empire we call the state of Washington, lies between the Straits of Fuca on the north, the Co- lumb?a river on the south, Fuget sound cn the east and the Pacific ocean on the west. Tt includes the counties of Clallam,, Jeffer- son Kitsap. Mason, Chehal.s, Pacific, Wah- k'akum part of Lewis and most of Thurs- ton Being for the most part heavily tim- bered its settlement and development have hitherto been by a slow process. Its pos- \u25a0ib'llties for the future have scarcely yet been brought to light. Occupying about one- ceventh only of the area of the state, its shore line stretches probably to 600 miles. That shore line includes some of the finest harbors in the world. W ; th a population approximating 60,000, the peninsula contains an area of about j. 500 Imiare miles? being one-third the size of frSind three-fourths as large as Holland, four-fifths the size of Belgium, larger than t£e entire state of Vermont, larger than New Hampshire, and about the size of Maryland, which sustains a population of over 1.000.000 souls. Its rivers include the rhehalis draining that extensive and fruit- ful valley which will some day be bisected hy a canal to connect the headwaters of the Sound with the ocean, ?where roils th! Oregon.? When that portenUous time arrives our capital city will become a great commercial and manufacturing center. ThT Willapa. Cowlitz and Hoquiam rivers are little thought of thus far. but some day each one of them will mark a fertile region Sly brought under the sway of the orch- nrdist the truck farmer and the dairyman. The same may be said of the Skokomish. the Docaboos. the Quilcine. the Dungeness. the Elwha, the Pyscht, the Hoko and other ALLEN WEIR. an altitude of about 9,000 feet above the sea level. A magnificent game preserve, where the lordly elk, deer, bear and other wild animals roam, seldom fretted by the lead of the huntsman or the encroachments of civilization! This mountain range displays the most gorgeous scenery that ever in- spired a poet?s dream or tempted an art- ist?s brush. Their mineral and other treas- ures are almost wholly unknown and unex- plored. Certain it is, however, that they contain gold, silver, copper, coal, slate rock, sandstone and many other induce- ments for the miner?s pick or the manufac- turer?s machinery. The climate of the Olympic peninsula, sit- uated as it is right in the track of the warm Chinook winds that sweep northward from the south land, its ocean front being laved by the Japan current, afford practically but two seasons, the wet and the dry. Its an- nual rainfall is for the most part enormous, and herein lies the secret of the amazing fertility of its soil. Its distinction from Texas, concerning which Gen. Sherman made an odious comparison as to its only lack, that is, water and good society, by saying that these were all that hades lack- ed, is marked by the fact that our peninsula at least does not lack the water, either from tha clouds in rain and dew or from its sur- roundings for the purposes of navigation and commerce. Of the counties named but little can be said in detail in a fifteen-minute paper. Clallam contains 1,600 square miles, has about 120 miles of shore line and a popula- tion of about 6,000. It is one of the richest counties in all our state in natural resources and one of the least developed. Jefferson with 6,000 population and 2,000 square miles of area, boasts of her beautiful, safe and commodious harbors, bays and inlets, her soil, timber and products. Her principal city. Port Townsend, commands the nar- row entrance of the inland w'aters of Puget sound, where Uncle Sam must erect sub- stantial fortifications before he will be justi- fied in talking too saucy to Great Britain. The bays at Port Angeles and Port Towns- end, county seats of these counties, may be safely pointed out in a challenge for the world to beat them as harbors. About the time a locomotive whistle wakes the echoes in the Quillayute valley a new county will be organized out of the western end of Clallam and Jefferson, and by that time the taxable wealth of these counties will have been doubled. Kitsap county, with an area of 400 square nr.les and a population of 5,000 or more, is almost en- tirely surrounded by the waters of Hood?s canal and of the Sound proper with their numerous indentations. The government dry dock at Port Orchard, the prospective government army post at Magnolia bluff, and the immense lumbering establishments at Blakeley, Madison, Gamble and other points, mark her progress to future great- ness. Mason county, covering 900 square m?les and including a population of upwards of 4 500, is perhaps the leading county on the peninsula in the magnitude of its logging enterprises now in operation. Its harbors, topography, soil and natural wealth are varied and form a sure basis of indefinite development. Chehalis county, with 10,000 population. 2,062 square miles'of area and her vast milling, fishing and agricultural interests, tributary to an ocean outlet at Gray?s harbor, clamoring vigorously and properly just now for national appropri- ations, is a county with a future whose im- portance is amply foreshadowed by her past and present. Pacific county (population 5,000, area 875 square miles) has thirty-five miles of ocean shore line. Her Shoalwater bay, sug- gestive of oyster and fishing industries, spreads out to greet ocean commerce. This county is especially attractive for the home seeker. Wahkiakum county, the smallest, w th a population of 3,000 and an area of 274 square miles, skirting the north ride of the Columbia river, is a center of fishing, lumbering and farming industries. Lewis county, having a population of 13,- 000 or more and covering 2,800 square miles, is partly on the peninsula. To enumerate one-half of its elements of wealth and ad- vantages would require a separate paper devoted to that subject alone. Her princi- pal towns, Chehalis, Centralia and Winlock, are all prosperous. Thurston county, with her 13,000 people and her 700 square miles of area, lying partly upon the peninsula, com- manding and including as she does the head of navigation on Puget sound* her county
