.T2A5 aV •/■'. A^^' -. A-^" ^,^ rJ- ^r ^^ '\. ^0^ ' <^ ^o\\-* ,• >0^ -•^ * ,j^V^- V. ^^ -V "^ xV ^„ '■^ "uV'^^'^^v o •^. .c;-> * <^A_ '*».»-' \\' V- ,;^ ''^. ^'^ , ^- v ' M'-^/'o.. "' ..0- .'^'/*/'' :*^\" .^j^ ^^- ^v ^^"^. o*^ ^^\ ^^.^ %^' .^ ''^., .0^ ,0- ^ * « A '^c^ '■ >«• ,, "> '^\o" .^-'. -"o "' \y ^ i,'0, TACOMA AND "DESTINY. " 1891. RRICE. SO CENTS. m X X ^V-s AND Wh hh Men at some time are masters of their fates. C. 75 N D R E inZ S, . «^RV OF co^ DEC 30 13 Tacoma, Washington. PuGET Sound Printing Company i8gi Entered according to Act of Congress, by C. Andrews in the ofilce of the LlbrHrinn of Congress at Wnshington, D. C September 18. 1891. ^^ ^ 9 'obfe of (2oRt©i^ts- Prefatory. I. Pi7ilosopl7y. 1. Popular Piu-asc'h;. Aphorisms. 2. " Men of Destiny." Cities and Dynasties, ditto. II. Ar;)alogy. 1. Atlantic Cities. 2. Inland Cities. 8. Pacific Cities. 4. Cities of the Old World. 5. Failure of First Sites. III. Logic. 1. Uniformity of Causes. 2. Philadelphia and New York. 3. Pvivalry of Atlantic Cities. 4. ParalU^l on the Pacific. 5. Raih-oads on the Atlantic Coast. (>. Railroads on the Pacific Coast. IV. History. 1. Neighboring Cities not Antagonistic. Chicago and Milwaukee. St. Louis. Chicago and New York. 2. Continental Lines of Cities. Baltimore to San Francisco. Charleston to Mazatlan. Boston to Victoria. 3. Continental Divisions. The Atlantic Seaboard. Pacific Sea- board. Interior. 4. " Three Cities." New York. Chicago. Tacoma. 5. Focal Points of Distribution. 6. Center of the Continent. V. Prophecy. 1. " Star of Empire." Its Starting Point. Westward Course. Cj'cles. 2. The World's " Exchange." London. New York. Chicago. Tacoma. 3. Re-Conquest of Asia. 4. '' Looking Backward. Vl. Cor;>clusior5. 1. "City of Destiny" no Misnomer. 2. Destiny, Chance, Design, Law. 3. Chicago in 1852 and 1892. 4. Chicago and Tacoma in 1942. Prefatory. Distance from the centers of wealth and population in the- Eastern States has tended to shroud the actual condition and prospects of initial points of improvement in this State, in a mass- of conflicting ideas. That the greatest misapprehension, not to- say downright ignorance, of the physical features of the Sound. and Coast country in general, prevails east ot the Rocky Moun- tains, is, on this account, not surprising. The enterprising and ably written up accounts of these various points, representing so-called rival interests, have also tended to create still further confusion, in regard to the physical indications of future developments in different localities. The natural and financial reasons for the fact that all great commercial lines of ocean and railway traffic must neccessarily concentrate at some one locality and one only, for the benefit of all, in each great section of any country, do not seem to be clearly apprehended by the majority, notwithstanding the obvious analo- gies, past and present, which clearly point them out. In other words, the question as to whether there is any gene- ral, uniform law of commerce which governs the location, relative growth and success, of towns and cities, still remains an unsolved enigma in the minds of the general public. To remedy this, in a measure, by presenting the facts and analogies of history and of present movements, under a slightly more philosophical method than has yet been attempted — to probe the apparently prevailing error of popular conceptions in regard to the laws which have prevailed in such cases, especially the crude notion that great sea-ports are ever built near the sea-coast, when more inland positions are accessible, is the main object of this brochure. It is intended as a thesis of " education," not opposition. C. A. 1. pi^ilosopt^y. ' Master of human destinies am I. I knock unbidden once, at every gate; Rise quickly, haste to follow me, before I turn away; it is the hour of fate." " Wt;)at's in a r^anr^e?" ORDS are used to formulate and express tliouglit. A single Avord sometimes in- volves vast combinations of ideas. Few, however, pause to consider liow much of real worth — or possible error — may lie concealed in a single, common word of human language, that grand and only vehicle of knowledge. Popular appellations are popular prophecies. Axioms arise from the attrition of reason and ex- perience. Hence there is a deep philosophy hidden in the meaning of most conventional phrases, maxims, saws, and fables. The undefinable attribute that dwells in The Wopd Destiny Has been employed to account for the phenomenal career of men of genius, successful generals, statesmen, or fortunate adventurers. 8 TACOMA AND DESTINY. It has also been applied to the noted dynasties, states, and cities which have appeared on the horizon of history. Hence when applied to modern men and municipalities it cannot be relegated to the vocabulary of extant slang, or sensational colloquy. Its deep eth- ical significance and common use has gained for it a most respectable position, not only in polemics, but in the literature of all classes. For whenever its popular use has occurred in obedience to that instinctive pro- phetic prescience — prompted by inherent indications, visible only to the eye of genius, it has seldom been misapplied. II. f{r)3\o(^y. " Life's current oft runs sinuous; this way. Now thiat, and many eddies up-stream play; But all must yield to nature's final force, Returning to their destined, normal course." ^EIS often err in their first estimate of the effects of natural conditions, but these errors time invariably corrects. Cities which have sprung up and prospered where least expected, while others failed or fell behind on sites previously selected and which seemed most eligi- ble, illustrate clearly this principle. The first commercial town-site in New England, Salem, Mass., planted in 1626, had an established Eu- ropean and Asiatic trade when the site of Boston, only fourteen miles distant, was sold for £30 sterling, (Cham. Enc.) But Salem succumbed while Boston boomed, all because destiny, i. e., commercial conditions, willed that the farthest inland point of Boston Bay should be the harbor of the hub of New England. Roger Williams put his trust in Providence, but the city founded by him now points to its position at the head of Narragansett Bay, as the providence that destined it to become a maritime port of a quarter million people, while Newport, at its outlet, with an equally fine harbor, is simply a summer resort.* ♦Newport, R. I., was from 1653 to 1690 "the chief port of entry for the colonies." (Enc. Brit.) 10 TACOMA AND DESTINY. Quebec, founded in 1(308, was by its strategic and political importance, long able to retain its position as a leading commercial city, yet Montreal, 180 miles farther inland, notwithstanding it was held as a mere outpost of Quebec until 1832, has since then, through the force of this commercial law, become the largest maritime city of Canada. Hendrik Hudson hunted for inland ports as far up as the site of Albany, but on account of insufficient depth of channel alone, destiny decided that the only place which could at last develop into the great city of the Atlantic seaboard, was at the deep-water junction of all the sounds, bays, inlets, and rivers which meet around Manhattan Island, at the head of Long Island Sound. But even there destiny was not able to annul the tendency of trade to seek more inland positions, until man originated a new class of causes, in constructing artificial channels of commerce which virtually altered New York's relation to the interior. Until then other cities took the lead. But of this more anon. — Sec. III. William Penn, the prototype of that more modern city founder. Jay Cooke, instructed hi's advance agents also to "proceed to the highest point of deep-water where good landing conld be had,'' to found his friendly city. Lord Baltimore's servants did the same thing. Philadelphia and Baltimore, the first 95 and the latter 200 miles ship's course from the sea, both became mighty maritime competitors of New York, the first maintaining its precedence as the largest city in the United States until 1830, while Yorktown and James- TACOMA AND DESTINY. 1] town, Va., the latter being the first English settlement on American soil, made in 1607, both i)lanted near the sea and long the pets of royal patronage, never grew into importance and are now almost unknown. This rule of choosing the farthest inland location possible, nearest to tributary territory, which is practi- cally uniform with all Seaboard Cities, Holds good also on all our lakes and rivers. General Dearborn, wdien he stuck the stakes of his stockade fort in 1803, decided the destiny of the duck- ponds around the mouth of Chacaqua (skunk-cabbage) creek, and presto, change, more than a million very live ducks now plume themselves on the site of the World's Great Fair ; wdiile Milwaukee, Chicago's quon- dam rival, is content to sit with jolly resignation 'round the "bier" of its early ambitions, satisfied to rank with other quarter-million, growing cities. Yet Mil- waukee was prior in settlement and population, besides possessing the cream of sites and of "bricks" — both in men and building material. But it gradually receded from the position of the chief city on Lake Michigan, because 85 miles from its common head of navigation, for all commercial lines. Thomas H. Benton, standing at a discreet distance on Randolph Rock, three miles below the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas rivers, pointed to a coming city of destiny, while the red-skin devils were yet dancing the scalp- dance on its very site. Kansas City, situated where the "big bend" of the Missouri made it the virtual head of navigation for a vast region south 12 TACOMA AND DESTINY. and west of it, has nobly honored the shrewd states- man's prophecy, though Independence, Mo., eight miles below, had for a long time held a heavy river and in- land trade, and Leavenworth, twenty-four miles above, aided by local events, also gained a large advance of her in early trade and population -thus showing that destiny permits no defeat, for trade like " Truth cru>iheil to earth will rise again." St. Paul was saved by grace only, in joining its destinies with Minneapolis, its slightly more inland neighbor.*^ "Superior" cities have been built, on paper, all over America, but bad weather and bad wit combined could "Knott" down destiny at Duluth — it is ahead, because at the head of Lake Superior. "'^^ French voyageurs and Catholic padres have pad- dled, parle vous'd Francais, and planted schools and trading posts, from St. John's, New Foundland, to San Diego, California, but each saintly-named site failed to evolve a city where destiny did not dictate, for was not quaint old Kaskaskia killed by the "slow-moving fin- ger ' ' of fate, at St. Louis, only a few miles above ? *1 The extreme tendency and ultimate results of this principle of marine traffic seeking the farthest inland point possible, is receiving fresh illustration from the enter- prise of Mi neapolis, whose capitalists are now expending large sums of money in deepening the channel of the Mississippi and carrying its navigation some ten or twenty miles past its ancient head, at St. Paul, where it has been established for half a century — thereby attesting that though destiny bides her time, sooner or later it laughs at all ob- stacles, whether of rocks in the river bed, or " rocks " in the bank vaults of capitalists who would impede its progress. *2 The building of terminal warehouses, etc., by the Great Northern Railway at Superior City might appear to be an exception to this rule, but probably it is only a par- tial one, as the passenger terminals of that road will be at Duluth. The supposed per- manent terminals at Council Bluflfs, Iowm, are now removed to Omaha, Nebraska. The latter city may also be cited fairly, as created by tlie operation of this same law, for Coun- cil Bluffs, owing to the non-occupancy of the opposite bank at the lime, was built on the w;'ong side of the river to be nearest to the territory of its greatest tributar\ trade. Hence destiny gravitated across the river, as soon as circumstances permitted. TACOMA AND DESTINY. 13 Should we quote illustrations of this universal law nearer home, we have only to advert to the history of early settlements on our own coast. Sacramento, 70 miles from the ocean, was the early ' ' destined " chief city of California, but gold- digging got the better of commerce in that case, by so obstructing the Sacra- mento's channel with debris, as to effectually destroy its navigation for large vessels. To this fact alone is attributable the necessity for building a commercial emporium on the ocean side of San Francisco Bay. Even the shrewd German genius of plodding, old Jolm Jacol) Astor, was misled by the perverse mistake which pioneers have made in every age, viz: that great and permanent commercial cities could be built up at the mouths of rivers or near the sea, at any point where it was possible, even at great expense, to reach a more inland site. The thriving city of Pox'tland, Oregon, stands as a forcible refutation of that Old Fashioned Fatuity, Effectually blurring the brilliance of Mr. Astor's elegy on that moss-grown monument, Astoria, " The City by the Sea," which will doubtless follow the fate of its prototype, Jamestown, Va. , once first now last. This law may also be seen working itself out — slowly to be sure, like everything else in that sedate quarter — by the transfer of traffic from Victoria to Vancouver, and again from Vancouver to the more inland harbor of New Westminster, B. C, since the completion of the Canadian Pacific R. B. The modern railroad system may, perhaps, furnish a new factor in favor of the local traffic of some sea- 14 TACOMA AND DKSTINY, ports near the sea, bat no cliange in transportation methods can more than slightly modify the great eco- nomic law, that heavy ocean traffic will always seek the most Inland LUhapfage Possible, on either natural or artificial channels, to discharge its cargoes and reload' for foreign ports. So long as water is cheaper than land carriage, this rule must hold.* Commerce calculates closely and intuitively — for her freightage figures are practically infinite. In the great aggregate of years and centuries, billions of tons duplicated pass over any given route, and every trans- fer, handling, lighterage or delay, every mile of dis- tance, every fraction of cost, even to the friction of car- wheels, counts up in cumulative ratio. Hence, to superficial observers, the apparently unreasoning reck- lessness of expense in destiny's (choice of position for her emporiums. If need be she constructs her marts over marshes, as at Chicago, or amid lagoons, with canals for streets, as at Venice; builds whole sea-ports on piles, as in Holland, fights turbulent currents and treacherous bars, as at Portland, or begins in a gigantic forest, as at Tacoma. Were any other illustrations needed, of this grand financial law oi loration for commercial cities, they could be given l\y a brief study of the jxisitions of maritime cities in the old world. *Capt. , a gentleman of wide financial ability and ample means, on being asked for the reasons which led him to invest in a certain sea-port town, replied promptly, that it being miles nearer the ocean, " railroad and shipping lines would surely concentrate there." Yet on being asked which showed the highest relative cost, transportation by water or by rail, answered as readily " rail." Tuis closed the categor- ical lesfjpn. TACOMA AND DESTINY. 15 Where have the main marts of the Mediten-anean always been found, if not near its head and on its in- land arms, bays, and straits, as seen at CoiL< I>K^'JI\V. 28 Note again thin Htrictly analogoUH fact. How many at pre.sent are building their hopen and booms upon tne con.stnu-tion of additional linen of road acroHH the continent, to .strike new "tennini" on this coa.st and on the Sound ? It requires more than ten digits to designate the number of mf>Ht promising sites for the "chief city on the Sound," t<^> say notliing of sites for great seaports on the rivers, bays, harbors and coasts south and west of us, all based upon n^'il or sup- posed teiTfiini of certain railroads. But if the comple- tion of such great road- ways and water- routes as those which now reacli tlie Atlantic cities, both nor-th and soutlj of New York, could not anrl does not prevent foreign commerce from concentrating substantially at one main [;oint, will the completion of any number of new routes to Pacific cities produce any different re- sults \ Please note anotlier f act, which throws light on the logic of the case, if not at first sight clearly analogous. The N. P. K. R.. terminating at Tacoma, wa« not the first railway reaching this coast. Another sea- board city farther south (enjoyed tliat adxantage. For many years, while the Union Pacific trans-continental line was doing business in the YA Dorado of California, the waters of Puget Sound were practically un ploughed by the keels of commerce and her shores were pathless primeval forests. But the moment a connection wa« foiTfied betwf^en Commencement Bay and the great lakes, with what alacrity did not only the Union Pacific, the Canadian Pacific, and the newer Great Northern, but als<^>, as is currently believed, the Southern Pacific seek to secure terminal facilities at the same point ? 24 TACOMA AND DESTINY. Why are the Union and the Southern Pacific so eager to side-track old established sea- port cities, in the race to reach Tacoma's tide flats and the "open sea" via Paget Sound ? Why have the Northern Pacific and the other two Northern roads made no similar move towards the Golden Gate ? As in ancient times, "all roads led to Rome, " so in modern, all railroads converge towards their natural foci, and this struggle of the giants to gain Rome (room) on Puget Sound, indicates where the goal of commerce lies. Facts and logic all combine to demonstrate that here, as on the Atlantic, all trans-continental roads tend to seek a common terminus, and though for obvi- ous reasons it is usual for competing companies to con- ceal their plans, it is too late to ignore the facts already known and pointed to by strong inferential data, which show that each one of the five great corporations alluded to, have already secured or have inaugurated arrange- ments for securing terminal facilities on Commence- ment Bay, which is actually the nearest most feasible common point for striking across country. ppom Oeean to Ltakes.'' Similar data point to the not distant advent of five or six other powerful western systems diverging from * Speculations as to the probable "terminus" of tlie Great Northern railway at a point near the mouth of the Snohomish river, a promising point for a manufacturing town, claim to show that that point is on a ''shorter route from Puget Sound to Lake Superior." The same has been alleged of Vancouver, B. C, Auacortes, Seattle, Fair- haven, Whatcom and what-not other towns on the lower Sound, all of which have good harbors, rail connections, and fine sites for manufacturing, and are good points for homes and for investments. But all such speculations involve a fallacy when they sup- pose that commerce will ever violate the invariable law of placing her great emporiums at the most inland head of deep-water navigation. In this case the Hill cannot command the main terminus to come to him, but must go to it at Taeoma, which will be found to becxacily what the aliove words imply, " the nearcBt. most feasible, common point," for all lines, from ocean to lalies. And none but a •'common point" will do for any one line. TACOMA AND DESTINY. 25 Chicago and other points, all pointing their far-reach- ing arms in the direction of Puget Sound. And it is safe to aver that no large railroad corporation on the continent Avill ever be tnlly equipped for business with- out some direct or collateral connection with the great Pacific center of commerce on Puget Sound. At Tacoma, regarded— not as a separate, dominating rival of other cities, but simply as a great central emporium among them, there is room enough around Commencement Bay, with its immense tide- flats and level Puyallup valley approach, to say nothing of its adjacent islands and mainland shores, to accomodate a vaster railway and ocean commerce than now centers at New York, and if this were not enough, its marine environs and urban adjuncts are more numerous grand and conve- nient, and far safer from climatic storms and winter closure,* than those of New York would be were the Delaware, Chesapeake and Potomac merged into one continuous, land-locked, unobstructed, deep- water- way, direct from New York to Washington, D. C, via Phil- adelphia and Baltimore. Think of it ! Here no barren sands like those of New Jersey in- tervene, no treacherous reefs lie. concealed, nor frown- ing headlands jut out upon a boisterous sea, between Tacoma, the terminal entrepot of Pacific commerce, and the grand retinue of auxiliary, allied seaports. "And cities prourl, with towers and buildings grand, Which line the shores of this Arcadian strand; " Already built and of which fate and metaphysical lore, as well as Tacoma's poets, also prophesy. »Xo ice ever forms in the waters of any part of Puget Sound. 26 TAOOMA AND DESTINY. Again we repeat the pertinent inqniry : If an outlet from tlie Great Lakes and rivers of the interior decided the commercial status of the Atlantic cities, will it not perform the same function for the Pacific cities similarly situated? The fact that all the railroads now operating and building upon or towards the Pacific coast, are converg- ing to a terminus on Puget Sound, is of itself sufficient to settle the question as to wdiat locality possesses the natural facilities for creating the great focal maritime entrepot of the west coast. "Capital is at once conser- vative, cautious, and keen in its intuitions" and the same data which caused the Union-Central Pacific rail- road to build directly to San Francisco Bay, the best harbor in the only section then attracting unusual at- tention on the coast, at a later date decided the North- ern Pacific railroad to select from among many other points the head of deep-w^ater on Puget Sound. If the natural adaption of Commencement Bay had cut no figure with that corporation, how easy it would have been at that time, to have secured ample grounds with large bonus elsewhere, both for terminal or speculative purposes.* But that their decision was based upon con- siderations of a much wider and more far-seeing policy, there is no doubt. Commencement Bay would have been finally made the extreme terminus of all the marine routes and railroads which are now clustering there, had not the Northern Pacific chosen it at that time as a terminus. And if to-day, instead of a city of nearly 50,000 inhabitants, the entire natural site of *A large bonus is said to have been offered by a town nearer the sea. TACOMA AND DESTINY. 27 Tacoma was, as one-half of it still is, an Indian reser- vation, it would yet become the great radiating center of Pacific commerce in time. Simply because destiny, — natural causes, cannot be defeated by temporary obstacles. The inane idea that "a railroad can make a city" wherever it pleases, may be used to catch unsophisti- cated settlers or callow capitalists, but railroad com- panies are not thus deceived. Nature makes the rivers, the harbors, and the sites for cities, and it is the instinct, tlie business of railroad men and mariners to find them. And no matter how much lap- wing policy they may use in concealing their intentions they finally get there. Jay Cooke and his envoys "knew" where the natural terminus of the Northern Pacific Avas indicated. And all the rest "know enough to know" that they must follow suit, and wdien it suits will show their hands.* Nor are railroad companies responsible for holding- out false ideas. Professional town-builders may afford to spend some money in pictures, puffs, cheap books and buildings, in order to boom a town which they in- tend to abandon, but for "a railroad to make a town by *The way to build up great cities aud great railroads is found to be by iuvitlngaud shariiiK business from every quartiT instead of repellinc it Hence the mistakes made in the early days of railroading— still remembered by all mature business men, of at- tempting an exclusive policy towards rival Hues has never been repeated by the Northern Pacific. On the contrary no great landed or commercial company has ever dealt so liber- ally with purchasers or pursued so enlightened a policy In affording facilities for other lines of trallic. In spi;e of the primitive spirit of opposition by the first great railways reaching tliose point-, the cities of Now York, Bufl'alo, Detroit, Cliicago, Omaha, el al, have become vast, networks of converging railways, connected by belt lines encircling each city. To prevent destiny from weaving a like mesh in and around Tacoma would be as impossible as it would be undesirable for tlie pioneer plant, to wliich the city owes its inception and rapid growth. Neither can grow to i's destined dimensions without the concentration and co-operation of every great line of marine and railway traffic which seeks its natural terminus at the head of Puget .Sound. Either all must seek this point or else the Nortliern Pacific must remove its terminus to some other center which is as easily supp sed as that water will run up stream. 28 TACOMA AND DESTINY. its own efforts, " merely to speculate in lots, would uKi- rnate in certain loss, if the town were not backed by resources yielding a continuous income from traffic. Actual railroad building — not paper schemes nor watered stocks — is a true barometer by which people may judge the comparative merits of town-sites. When- ever it appears from the bona-&de outlay of money and permanent improvements by railroad companies that certain town- sites are not merely to be, but actually are, the termini of important railroad enterprises, that fact is rightly relied upon as proof that far-seeing cap- italists have studied the philosophy of finance as con- nected with the natural resources and laws of develop- ment at these points and have invested their means accordingly. And such action may usually l^e taken as indications of a correct judgment. Moneyed mag- nates are not making costly roads merely for amuse- ment, they mean business. Thus, when any city like New York, Chicago, or Tacoma, is found to be the focus of five or more connecting railroad routes, the facts warrant the conclusion that those corporations seek that point as a common terminus, not because they desire a town to be built there — another point might suit some of them better, if it depended upon their clioice — but because they foresee that the condi- tions all conjoin to necessitate the "concentration of commerce" at that spot, and as wise financiers they hasten to procure a position for their purpose. Hence any account, which purports to be a fair statement of the rightful claims and prospects of a city like Tacoma, cannot leave out or ignore any number of the railroad companies doing business in or l)uilding to that city, TACOMA AND DESTINY. 29 without omitting an important item among tlie facts wliich attest the fulfinment of its promise as a city, not of ordinary tributary resources only, but as the true city of destiny, wortiiy to rank in importance with other representative cities which have passed through similar periods of incipient growth, but whose claims are now recognized as beyond cavil.* * While within the present year the Northern Pacific Railroad company has com- pleten a model machine-shop plant costing $2,000,000 and capable of employing ;i,000 men, which IS only one item of its outlay in this section, involving branches in every direc- tion, yet owing to persistent and most misguided statements of "expectations'" on the par' of supposed rival points there is at the East a wide-spread prevalence of actual doubt as to the real permanence of the Northern Pacific's final terminus at Taeoma. Though to all unbiased people on this coast such a doubt sounds wholly "daft, " yet we find in the Philadtlphia Railway Record an ably written letter detailing minutely the reasons why the terminus of that road will '• never be remov d from Taeoma. " Such a popular mi-apprehension in the sections whence Washington receives her accessions of citizens and (capital, will result in more mischief to the points where it originates than to Taeoma itself, for it is made from boom material solely, and only tends to confuse the public and keep back the influx of men and money to the entire region whose final prosperity depends upon the whcdesome development of each point on its actual merits. These efforts to "push" other points have never been met i_ kind and are not likely to be, on the part of heavy holders and sound corporations, whose entire coniidence in Taro- ma's assured destiny allows them to wait without effort or anxiety for the inevitable and natural rise of real estate. Such su))reme confidence, amounting- to apparent apathy, exists nowhere else on the Pacific coast, and while it undoubtedly operates to strengthen the misaiiprehension abroad as to Tacoma's real status, which has never been strongly or adequately stated, yet no fact could form a stronger inference in favor of Tacoma's future. The memory of every mature business man will recall analogies of this kind occurring in other cities of destiny. \\f. J^isto^y. •'All legoudary lore, Jjut lends a clew To what transpires fitresh, in regions new." HESE ars'iiments and analogies belong- to "tlie philosophy of history/' a science that is far too little studied. Yet its principle is neither so deep nor so obscure as not to be easily comprehended by every unbiased thinker or "student of geography,'' who ^Yill take the trouble to examine a map of the world, comparing the situations of other maritime cities and noting the relative re- sources and commercial possibilities of this grand, but, as yet, undeveloped region. While the advantages accruing from a location at the natural terminus of trade lines, will always assure supremacy to the cities possessing them, this does not by any means render them rivals or antagonists of any other cities, near or remote. Tlie growth of secondary centers of population, manufactures, etc. , is a necessary factor in the development of each respect- ive region of country, without which no great cities could ever be created. Tacoma's position is tlie gift of nature, it is its own sole birtliright, its inalienable LUappanty Deed fpom Destiny, Possessed by no other. Hence, it is in no sense the rival of any otlier point, and for the same reason it TACOMA AND DESTINY. 31 neither lias or can have any real rivals. For it is one of the decrees of destiny, that all tlie contemporaneous activity of neighboring districts — construed as rivalry, and resulting temporarily as such in the period of early growth, must eventually aid in the development of the great centers, and 1)e mutually benefitted in return, by contributing to the volume of each other's prosperity in their respective spheres. Large cities do not suffer, but thrive by the prosperity of smaller ones, and vice versa. Prosperous cities, like thriving contiguous states, mutually benefit each other. New York feels no jealousy of her numerous opu- lent neighbors, she has more to lose by their decline than otherwise. Milwaukee, with one-fifth the popu- lation of Chicago, has forgotten that it was ever ac- counted a rival, it is now a valued customer, itself largely benefitted ])y the proximity of a great emporium of trade, in whicli to buy and sell. An elevated rail road is even now proposed between the two cities, thus putting them not more than one and one-half or at most two hours apart, though the distance is 85 miles. ■■■^ AVhy should cities on the Sound, not half that space asunder, cherish a spirit of enstrangement long since out of date i Modern appliances annihil- ating distance will eventually practically consolidate, commerciall}', all cities within 100 miles of each other. ^^ *(l.i Since penning the above Mr. Henry Villard has announced bis intention of building, at once, a rjiilvvay from Chicago to Milwaukee, to be operated by new electrical contrivances l»tely invented by Mr. Edison, which proposes to reduce the time to one hour or less, making perhaps ICO miles an hour. He also intiujates that he might, some day, build such a road between Tacoma and Seattle, Twenty minutes each way! Seattle isTacoma's Brooklyn. *(2 ) The practice of residing in one city and doing bu.'-iness iu another is common in eastern states and Avill become so here. Already the merchants of Portland, Or., annually punha-e large quantities of gram in eastern Washington and Oregon, sending It direct to Tacoma elevators to be exported, thereby avoiding the expense of lighterage S2 TACOMA AND DESTINY. In the great interior there its not now a remnant of rivalry, nor a thrill of regret remaining that Chicago's Diploma fpom Destiny Is already signed, sealed and delivered. If jealonsy of Chicago exists anywhere, it has been transferred from Milwaukee and St. Louis to New York itself. What a stupendous step for any city in a single life- time. Reviled in 1840 as a " due '^-pond, ' ' passed by for Milwaukee, sneered at by St. Louis, jeered when the Joliet "cut off" was projected, and yet, in half a century securing the rank of second city in the United States, with a possible chance of attaining the first in a less period of the future. As for St. Louis, always satisfied with her slow and sure niethods, she never went into a decline over the growth of Chicago, nor is likely to. She herself occupies a typical location of a high grade, typical, too, in the line of analogy, to which we have alluded. For a long time St. Louis had good reasons for believ- ing that her enviable wealth and prestige, together with her supposed central location, commanded the ele- ments of a development that would distance all rivals for supremacy in the great valley of the interior. But destiny pointed a few degrees further north, to a city in a latitude towards which, indeed, seem to trend all the greater triumphs of both ancient and modern popu- lations on their numdane march from east to west. and frequent delay over the difficult navigation of the Columbia rive'', which often more than covers tlie railroad charges from Purtian^i lo Tacii.a. Grain hah even been shipped in liKht vessels from Portland here, sold mid re->hlpp d in heavy bottoms but this long and dangerous distance by water has e-n d pcoutinued in favor of the nl irier railroad route, a method that must increase with llie completion of the Union Pacific aud other railroads from Portland here. Thus ihc capi al accuinulat<'d in one city is employed in utilizing the facilitie> of auoiher to the advantHgc of both. TACOMA AND DESTINY. 33 The map of North America displays three conspic- uous lines of cities stretching across the continent. One of these lying between the 35th and 40th parallels of latitude, seems to have been the line first attracting attention as furnishing the most feasible and popular route for a trans- continental railway system. Starting from Baltimore, Md. , it runs westerly, taking in Pittsburg, Pa., Cincinnati, O., St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo., through Denver, Col., and Salt Lake, Utah, to San Francisco, Cal. Each one of these cities, not to mention other prosperous towns on nearly the same line, have received the stamp and seal of destiny, en- titling them to metropolitan honors for limited, yet Gpand Areas Of rich territory, extensive trade and large population. A prominent line of cities still further south can also be pointed out, of which the same things, as to conunanding importance for their respective sections, may be said, viz: Charleston, S. C, Mobile, Ala., New Orleans, La, Galveston, Tex. , and Vera Cruz, Mexico City and Mazatlan, in Mexico. All these are destined to figure prominently in the future .of the continent and its interoceanic pathways. But it is quite another line of initial points of population in North America, lying between the 40th and 50th parallels, that has lately established itself as the ideal track of interoceanic communication. The completion of two mammoth systems of railways, one in Canada and one in the United States, with supple- mentary continental roads under construction, has demonstrated that the shortest, best and quickest 34 TACOMA AND DESTINY. routes of transit from Europe to Asia lie across the American continent between these parallels. The an- cient "East" is thus reached through the West, the real Orient having been overtaken by the Star of Empire, which starting from the home of the Aryan r^ce in central Asia — or wherever else it originated, has kept on its way bearing " west by no'th," till to find further conquests, it must now cross the Pacific ocean, and carrying with it a newer and better civilization, re-illumine the vast regions whence it first appeared on the horizon. This line of American cities — ignoring the invid- ious national distinctions, may be epitomized thus: Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, Omaha, Minne- paul, Duluth, Winnipeg, Spokane, Portland, Victoria. But among all these cities, in the three great belts, prominent and important as they all a.re, not one has been mentioned that can be cited as the probable or possible metropolis of either of the Three Great Divisions Of the continent in which they are situated, viz: the Atlantic seaboard, the Pacific seaboard, and the great Interior. Each one of these grand departments needs and must have a "measuring city" for the use of all the others; a main entrepot of mercantile, maritime and monetary commerce.* In each there will be one, and but one main monetary center, one general focus of all the railroads and shipping lines which do busi- ness in and for those divisions. All the facts of exi)e- rience and analogy, unite to lu'ove the tendency and * "Drafts on New York are worth their face all over the United States in settle- ment of accounts." The same is largely true of Chicago, but of no other city. TACOMA AND DESTINY. 35 necessity of tlie concentration of great monetary in- stitutions and commercial appliances at leading focal points, where exchange and transhipment is most convenient and inexpensive, while production, manu- facturing, residence, and resorts of poi)ulation, are distril)uted throughout the districts where the re- sources of each region are found. Thus the large and the small cities, towns, villages, hamlets, and neigh- borhoods, each have their respective necessities for existence, their uses, convenience, and beneficial rela' tions to each other. , In two of these great divisions the question of supremacy is already settled. No one surmises that New York City can ever be dislodged from her position as the commercial metropolis of the Atlantic seaboard. Her destiny, due to natural position, is fixed beyond repeal. And the next great division is .just as definitely supplied. Chicago, without a dissenting voice, is queen of commerce in the great central basin. She now occupies 40 miles of dockage (Enc. Brit.) along the two branches of Chicago river and is reclaiming large areas from Lake Michigan, besides extending her marine environs to Calumet river and lake, some 20 miles to the south.* Her marine tonnage — clearing * The Degplaines river, eight miles inland, a stream but little above the Lake level is also proposed, at great cost, to be connected with Chicago's harbor system. This ten- dency of commerce to extend itself inland at all seaports— no matter what the cost— is shown already at Tacoma, The site of Old Taeoma at the very mouth of Commencement Bay, was selected in 186S as the'nucleus af a future city. But marine traffic soon mi- grated to the present wharves, more than a milefiirther inland, and business which began at or near them, is now gradually extending up, with the newly dredged channel, around and across the tide flats towards Puyullup City, eight miles inland, which it will soon reach when the Indian title to intervening lands is extinguished. And as their low level presents no serious engineering obstacles, the Puyallux) river for 16 miles to its forus, and also the Stuck, a deep, bayou-like branch, extending from the Puyallup to the White river, eight miles, and that stream to its debouchement into the Sound near 36 TACOMA AND DESTINY. not alone for inland waters, but for ocean ports in all parts of tlie world, via Welland and Illinois canals, is said to exceed that of any Atlantic port, and as for railroads, what road in tlie United States or Canada lias not some sort of terminal or mid-continental con- nection at Chicago. On the Pacific Coast, some may affect to regard the question of supremacy as still pending, or persist, against evidence, in setting up conflicting claims. But if analogies, ancient or recent, are worth anything, there can be no more doubt about the choice of destiny on the Pacific coast than in the other two sections. Glance at your map and note the position of The Three Cities, New York, Chicago, Tacoma. They all lie on the isothermal line of country, cli- mate, and production, of which Jay Cooke found the trend, and which about equally divides the extreme boundaries of the great English-speaking continent of North America — that extends from Panama to the North Pole, for the bulk of all the "business" done on this continent will always be done in the English dialect. Chicago is popularly, though erroneously, supposed to be situated near the territorial center of the conti- nent. It has already made great strides towards vying with New York both in population and finance. These Seattle, a distance in all of some 42 miles, will in time, be made into a continuous, deej), tide-level, fresh or semi-fresh water channel or canal, for the accommodation of the im- mense commerce that must concentrate here in the near future. How immense that will soon be, can be surmised from the fact that the foreii?n tonnage now frequenting Korth American Pacific ports, is larger than that of all Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico ports together. That commerce here, as elsewhere, will take this course, if possible to be done, the towns and cities along these valleys may confidently expect. TACOMA AND DESTINY. 37 two cities have a history, and comparisons of the past furnish curious and suggestive figures from which to compute the time, when at the rate of their present mutual increase, Chicago will be prepared to contend for supremacy in both population and wealth. But the true emporium of the Pacific coast, is yet nascent in history. The resources of its tributary regions, countries, and continents, near and remote, are yet eitlier undeveloped or unappropriated. Its connections with its own and the continents contigu- ous, are still inchoate in condition as were those of New York previous to 1825. It is not yet popularly realized or even generally known, that Tacoma is very much nearer the exact center of the United States ter- ritory and of the entire continent, than is Chicago, being, instead of west, about 400 miles east of the central line of longitude. Nor is it realized that its position for foreign traffic is geographically far more favorable tlian New York or London ever enjoyed.* Less than five years in age as a city, Tacoma's growth is in the future, but that it will be on lines parallel with the history of New York and Chicago, only more rapid and brilliant in achievement, is as certain as that its natural position is similar and tliat the social and economic conditions of the present period are vastly superior. * It should be borne in mind that its present distance by water from European markets is soon to be shortened by two important marine routes, viz: via Nicaragua and Hudson's Bay. An all-rail route via Behring Straits is likewise among the probable possibilities of not distant time. \I. propt^eey. " No pent up Utica contracts our powers, But the wbole boundless world will yet be ours. ^lK 'T is imposi^ible to predict witli precision the future, but forecasts, sucli as careful financiers and statisticians employ, and students of the "philosophy of history" constantly indulge in, are sometimes fruitful of good results. Not so definite and certain as the mathematical forecasts of the astronomer, yet they often affect events by tending to bring about the results they predict sooner than would otherwise happen, through directing attention to the means which accomplish them. To predict an event that is pointed out by and pending the course of natural law, is to hasten its arrival. In this light prophets are not altogether unprof- itable. There is one other analogy, too historically pat to be passed over without notice. The march of empire has. been accomplished by the steady creation, not only of new commercial centers, but of that upon which all commerce depends, Neui Monetary Centers. Babylon, in the legendary east, probably organized the first "Board of Trade" — and most of them are "Babels" still. TACOMA AND DESTI-NEY. 39 Tyre, at the extreme head of the Mediterranean, perhaps formed one of the last halting places of the money changers, before leaving Asia. Later, the bal- ance of trade hung periodically between Alexandria, in Egypt, and Athens, or other cities, in Greece. Then pushing further west to Eome, to Venice, to Genoa, to Frankfort, the Hague, and to London, where it has made a somewhat lengthy and historically brilliant halt.* But " Coming events cast their shadows before." Tlie constant accession of European capital, to- gether with financial development generally in the new world, points to the not far distant day, when the monetary control of the Avorld's traffic w^ill be trans- ferred to this side of the Atlantic* Such a result is a e necessary corollary of Bishop Berkley's poetic prophecy, for the "Star of empire" must be followed by the "wise men" bearing the gold, frankincense, and myrrh * The Bank of England, which Is the great depository of bullion in the realm, holds at ordinary times in its vaults !i!125,OCO,000. Th'e Bank of Germany holds $200,000,000 of liuUion in gold and silver. The Bank of France usually holds .$i75,00U,n00. The United States holds in the treasury and in the various national banks some- where about ifTOO.oao.OOO in gold aud silver. It will be observed that among the above England stands the lowest on the list. This can be accounted for in two ways^ There being no issue of notes under the value of $25, it necessitates an immense quantity of gold being kept in circulation Secondly, the commerce of Great Britain with other countries being so enormous, and its lending powers so great, a perpetual drain is the inevitable result. Russia, Italy and Spain have little or no financial influence. They are constant borrowers from more wealthy nations, but lenders, never. (Gommercial Review, 1891.) * The STRUGGLE FOR GOLD IN EoEOPE.— Eleven of the leading joint-stock banks held in 1889 only 10 3-10 per cent, reserves against 12 9-10 per cent, in 1879, and these reserves counted as cash the balances of these banks in the Bank of England. Mr. Goschen insisted that the banks must become more independent, and that beginning July 1st they must issue monthly statements showing the actual cash in their tills. This new demand for gold to strengthen reserves caused tbe great banks of Europe to scour the world for the yellow metal. The united States came to the re.?cue; while ?70,000,000 of gold left our shores for foreign parts. The splendid spectacle of the great republic yielding up to European necessities such vast sums of money almost on the eve of an autumnal crop movement of unprecedented proportions, extorted the admiration of the world, and attested the tremendous resource and vitality of our country, (Geo- Rutledge Gibson, in Nat. Convention of Bankers, New Orleans, Nov. 1891,) 4U TACOMA AND DIOSTINV. of meiraiitile enterprise, or else it must cease its travel toward the Avest -which it will never do until it rests over the si)ot where the young city, last-born child of civilization lies, as yet in its swathing clothes. Once transferred to this continent and who shall essay to stop its predestined i-ourse ^ Henceforth it needs neither prophet nor poet to foretell its movements. The oiily possible halting points in its career will be New York and Chicago — if indeed it should not over- leap the first altogether. The ^great valley city of the continent is perhaps already constructing the coffers to contain the coin which shall supply sinews of support to the World's commerce — even as she is now preparing to exhibit the grand results of the World's production. After fulfilling its destiny at the head of Lake Michi- gan will not the financial center, true to its traditions, travel to a still more central emporium, which can only be found on the Pacific coast, where "facilities of exchange," not only with the richest and most populous hemisi)here, but with The Whole CUopld, Will be most feasible and (-onvenient ? And when the Celestial and Mongolian millions shall adopt Western civilization — as under the influence of modern commerce, they must in time or be extermi- nated — the star of commerc-ial progress will have ac- comi)lished its missionary purpose and may then start again on another and still more beneficent cycle of the earth. How many trii)s it may already have made sinc(^ man the monad commenced his upward mental metamorphosis, oi- how many it may yet make b(;fore TA('OMA AS\) liKsri.VV. 41 tlif^ full fniitioii, to \vlii<"li man ]fK>kH forwjird in '' Ijookin^ Ba<;k\vard," nljail Imvc arrived, we cannot know, but \v(;, do know tJiat itn march lian be(;n steadily westward ninee our liiKtorie p(;riorl.w be^^an, and that itn advent always bodes peace and plf;nty "to men of ^^ood will," wherever its rays have reached on itn journey around tlie world. V/l. ^opelusioQ. " There is a tide iu tlie affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." O those wlio have never carefully considered the force of the foregoing facts and analo- gies, a certain air of blaze, bombast, or un- warranted assumption, may have seemed to attach to the phrase "City of Destiny," which has so frequently been applied to the city of Tacoma by erratic orators or dillitante writers, who, if they under- stand it, seMom stop to give due statement of its deep philosophical and practical import. But an unbiased examination of its real meaning, by any person of aver- intelligence and candor, cannot fail to remove any such impression. On the contrary, our present study has invested the phrase with a new and peculiar inter- est. The word "destiny" — so susceptible of abuse by designing charlatans, under the exegetical analysis we have given it, is shorn, once and forever, of every pos- sible trace of superstition or mystery. Destiny is nothing more nor less than the evolution of law, invar- iably establishing the "eternal fitness of things." Bacon perceived its pith when he wrote — under the nom deplume "Shakespeare," " There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will." It is not too much to claim that under the foregoing, simple, concise explanation of historical data, the clear TACOMA AND DESTINY. 43 esoteric light of logical demonstration has unmistak- ably established the certainty that the city of Tacoma, with its outlying auxiliaries, is destined — not by blind chance, nor yet primarily by human purpose, but by the unalterable laws of cause and effect, to occupy the place of supremacy among commercial cities on the Pacific slope ? No legerdemain, performed by ignoring facts and well established principles, no loose esti- mates or unreliable guess-work as to what men have done or intend doing, is allowed to enter these calcu- lations. Nor is any amount of business energy and ability, nor even capital, "the almighty dollar," relied upon — except as mere adjuncts, for the accomplish- ment of Tacoma's destiny. Of all these Tacoma pos- sesses her fair share ; they are, in fact, but a part of destiny's legitimate assets and concomitants, but the certainty of her future is enforced by something far more potent and uniform in action than these alone, by a Grand Geogpaphieal Centralization An uniform historical and commercial necessity, the legitimate application and results of which, as applied to Tacoma, it is impossible to ignore, i)revent, escape, deny, or explain away. It is one of the most beneficial provisions of nature that men should differ as to the best locations for ex- pending their surplus energy and capital, thereby de- veloping the resources of every section. Men of every blood are constituted with different tastes to dwell on all the face of the earth."''" * Destiny wills this divisiou of labor Hiid pursuits. Nature points out the spots adapted to each. Man must submit. That is, honor law. Bow to destiny. What avails recaUitrancj' — no matter how "ent-rgeiic" a form it may take? Those enterprising cities who are now playing their " push " against destiny, are loUowlng too closely the 44 TACOMA AND DESTINY. In tlie liglit of these analogies the appellation "City of Destiny," when applied to such cities as London, New York, Chicago or Tacoma, is perfectly rational and appropriate. In either case it is no mis- nomer, no unmeaning catchword, no buncombe, boom- let, nor boomerang, but a genuine idiomatic English phrase, conveying in its combined sense, valuable historical analogy, true criti(Jal acumen and pure finan- cial foresight. Tacoma's history has been, and will continue to be, the analogue of the history of all successful cities the world over; with this single exception, viz: the advanced condition of the world's w^ealth and popula- lation, its improved methods, means and appliances for the rapid development of natural resources, being so much greater now than at any former period, her grow^th from the start will be proportionately more rapid. Africa, South America and Australia are furnish- ing outlets for the redundant populations of Europe, but among all the older or newer regions of the world, none are so favorable situated to receive a speedy and permanent development as the western w^ater-shed of the North American continent. The growth of civiliza- tion in older countries and states has been for centuries prei)aring conditions for successfully taking possession of this, the most admirably adapted territorial arena ever yet opened, for a display of human energy and example of dame Partington, who thought that energy with mop and trundle could wipe up and wring out the Atlantic ocean. It can, just as easily as arrest or change the destined course of commerce. In either ease it will prove a waste of energy. Better let the ocean tides rise obedient to law, and keep abreast of them on lines accordant with their flow. But to ♦hose who will not take this advice, we can only repeat the irony of Sir Sidney Smith—" Go on, gL'ntltmcn. you will b^'.'it Mrs. Partiiitrton." TACOMA AND DESTIISTY. 45 intellect. For rapidly subduing nature and appropri- ating her riches, nowhere has man found her forces more subservient, or her resources more varied, exten- sive, or readily remunerating. Nor have they else- where been found under such genial and equable, yet vigorous conditions of climate, such favorable relations of race and refinement, or such rare financial regime and enlightened govermental policy. In 1852 the census figures gave Chicago a popula- tion of 38,796, a less number than Tacoma new con- tains. At the end of four decades from the above date, i. e. in 1892, there will doubtless reside within a radius of forty miles from Chicago harbor, quite two millions of inhabitants. Will it require two score years from now to place within a much smaller radius around Tacoma harbor, an equal number of people ? • It does not seem so To a Cnan Who studies the Pacific slope and its foreign afiiliations after haying watched Chicago's growth since 1852. Those who are on tlie spot, estimate that the ground already platted and sold for actual or intended im- provement within Chicago's present limits, would af ford homes for a population of 5,000,000. Would the addition of 3,000,000 to that city and its environs, within the next half century be any more phenomenal than its wonderful growth to 2,000,000 in tlie last? Thousands, in that time, having caught the "tide," have \)een borne on "to fortune" while other thousands who "omitted" it now furnish — "examples that others may profit by avoiding." 46 TACOMA AND DESTINY. No one can doubt that the sum total of Tacoma's re^ourcec?, domestic and foreign, together with the entire aspect of her own and the world's present en- vironments, are vastly superior to [those of ^Chicago in 1852, and that it is only a question of TIME when a greater city than Chicago ov New York Avill flourish on the more salubrious shores of Puget Sound. With all these facts before us are Ave not war- ranted in postulating Great Expectations For the groAvth of Tacoma and its environs on Paget Sound, within the period of the present generation? In another brochure we shall give further facts, figures and analogies in regard to climate, scenery, soil products, resources of mines, forests, fisheries, foreign traffic, etc., wdiich will place tlie prospects of Tacoma and its sister cities on Puget Sound, above par in comparison with the most ambitious, promising and salubrious cities and regions of the world. Tacoma, Dec. 1, 1891. MOUNT TACOMA, 14,444 Feet High. \V''^''c- '■ ^^' ^- .^^■'^ '/ o. ■'^^ ,<^ ;;*r,- - ^ci- ■» *. '^ v^^ •r* 1 ^ ■/ \ 0' .,(" •N f. '"o 0^ .^ '''^. - ^^■ •^•. , V ' ,1,^^ oo\ ,s -/,_ ..^^~ .■.^' •^, "^^A v^' A"^'- y^^i^^^^'- ^^ ">• . ,^x^^ .-^^ '.'^c. o 0' -'«- ^. t^ ^y^ *" N^" oV'' A^^' '^Z .\^ c. > ' * vA'- V^?!^^^ ^0^ sV * .0' ,0c> o^ ,0 't^ '"'.-'c ■^.^"^ ,-.s^ "< ■'o. cf.^ M' ^.^v,^*^^' ./ % ^'^ ^^"\ %. '^/v. "bo^ \0^x. ,1 *V. ^ » t> . •/> _ 'I N, O .\* ■^^, ."^^ '^. 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