Coastwise trade.It will, of course, not be overlooked, that in the great coastwise trade which the Pacific States have and must always have with each other, they will minister to each other's prosperity. And here it will be shown that Puget Sound will have the advantage in supplying the wants of others.
South American trade.In addition to these is the foreign trade along the coast of British Columbia, Mexico, Central America, and all the Pacific States of South America. Chili is a prosperous State. She has nearly doubled the volume of her trade in ten years. From 1874 to 1883 her exports went up from $32,000,000 to $73,000,000, and her imports from $35,000,000 to $50,000,000. The United States imports over $4,000,000 of goods from the Pacific side of South America, and exports about $8,000,000 to these states. England, however, gets the most of the West South American trade, so that here again we must enter the lists with Britannia. Already the contest has begun, and our Pacific States must bear off the palm sooner or later.
Large existing trade.Thus it is evident that a vast field of commercial enterprise is wide open to the people of Washington Territory as well as to Oregon and California. And our commercial statistics show what handsome progress has already been made. Taking both exports and imports, there is already a business of $80,000,000 done by the seven Pacific ports of entry. San Francisco is now far ahead of the others, and this city has nothing to fear from any other port except Puget Sound, which will gain upon her rapidly and ultimately surpass her. Washington Territory has all that California has on which to trade, and a great deal besides; and has the advantage of position. When our commercial statistics were made up, Puget Sound had no direct railroad communication with her own back country east, much less a transcontinental line. A very different story will be told a few years hence. I here insert a table of summaries which show that the commercial revolution is now in operation.
| PORTS OF THE PACIFIC. | TOTAL VALUE OF EXPORTS OF DOMESTIC MERCHANDISE FOR YEAR ENDING | TOTAL VALUE OF IMPORTS OF MERCHANDISE FOR YEAR ENDING | ||||||
| JUNE 30, | JUNE 30, | JUNE 30, | JUNE 30, | |||||
| 1885. | 1887. | 1885. | 1887. | |||||
| Humboldt, Cal. | $ | 201,500 | $ | 1,731 | ||||
| Oregon | 1,928,829 | 161,170 | ||||||
| Puget Sound, W. T. | 1,877,485 | 238,036 | ||||||
| San Diego, Cal. | 65,654 | 71,106 | ||||||
| San Francisco, Cal. | 37,082,520 | $ | 32,027,995 | 35,040,350 | $ | 40,707,708 | ||
| Willamette, Oregon | 4,142,156 | 277,386 | ||||||
| Wilmington, Cal. | 252,673 | 187,348 | ||||||
| $ | 45,550,817 | $ | 35,977,127 | |||||
In the latest report to which I have access, San Francisco is the only one of the Pacific ports mentioned separately.
Much of the exports above reported to the credit of Oregon really came down the Columbia River from the eastern part of Washington Territory; and the great bulk of the exports from San Francisco consists of wheat, flour, and other breadstuffs, an item in which Washington Territory can surpass all competitors. The following table shows the principal items of export from the Pacific ports.
Let it be noted that in respect to the production of the larger items, to wit, wheat and flour, wood and its manufactures, animals, iron and steel and their manufactures, machinery of all sorts, fish, etc., Washington Territory can surpass all competitors.
| PRINCIPAL EXPORTS OF DOMESTIC MERCHANDISE, YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1885. | |||||
| PORTS ON THE PACIFIC. | APPROXIMATE VALUES. | ||||
| Humboldt, Cal. | $ | 165,000 | Wood, and Manufactures of. | ||
| Oregon, Oregon | { | 1,493,600 400,000 32,000 | Canned Salmon. Wheat and Flour. Wood, and Manufactures of. | ||
| Puget Sound, W. T. | { | 830,000 240,000 160,000 | Wood, and Manufactures of. Wheat and Flour. Animals. | ||
| San Diego, Cal. | { | 58,000 4,000 1,800 | Animals. Wood, and Manufactures of. Machinery. | ||
| San Francisco, Cal. | { | 27,226,000 1,211,000 900,000 745,000 700,000 650,000 430,000 375,000 358,000 | Wheat, Flour, and other Breadstuffs. Manufactures of Iron and Steel. Fish. Ginseng. Cotton Manufactures. Wood, and Manufactures of. Fruit. Gunpowder, etc. Medicines, etc. | ||
| Willamette, Oregon | { | 3,339,153 704,000 37,000 | Wheat. Flour and Breadstuffs. Wood, and Manufactures of. | ||
| Wilmington, Cal. | { | 211,928 33,600 | Wheat. Honey. | ||
Note.—Humboldt, Oregon, San Diego, Willamette, and Wilmington have almost no exports except those included in this list. Puget Sound and San Francisco have a great variety of exports.