The End of the Steamship Monopoly
Competition heats up on the Sound as new steamer lines challenge the dominance of the Villard railroad and boat combinations.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A year ago the Villard lines of railroads and steamers had practically no opposition, or at least so little that it amounted to nothing. They had against them the steamer Fleetwood from Portland to Astoria and the steamer Washington from Seattle to Whatcom. It is quite different now. The combination has broken to pieces, and the several parts are doing each what they can against the other. The opposition has developed enormously hereabout, and is now to be found on all the steamer routes. The competition on the Whatcom route is more severe now than it was last year, while a new trouble has arisen on the Victoria route. Between all these sources, an era of healthful competition in transportation, with reasonable rates to the public, has dawned.
“An era of healthful competition in transportation, with reasonable rates to the public, has dawned upon the public.”
In 1884, Seattle's economy was held hostage by a single transportation monopoly, mirroring today's frustrations with consolidated corporate control over regional transit and logistics. The 'healthful competition' of the past has arguably evolved into the digital-era monopolies we struggle with currently.
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