The Struggle for Kennewick's River Future
As the Celilo canal nears completion, local business leaders push for a Port district to tax outside corporations and secure the town's maritime edge.
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.
The failure of the rivers and harbors appropriation bill in the senate was a keen disappointment, but a substitute measure will provide for the completion of the Celilo canal. Kennewick is commercially interested in these Columbia and Snake river projects, but the one of vital importance is Celilo. The passage of the bill means that in less than a year, the Columbia will be open to continuous navigation. This means one of the enterprises looked forward to as a great factor in development will become a reality. A navigable Columbia will mean nothing without navigation and traffic facilities. Kennewick's future will be determined by the accommodations she has to offer. The Commercial club has asked for the creation of a Kennewick Port district. This means that if Kennewick must build bigger docks, the improvement can be financed quickly and equitably; it means the railroads, foreign corporations and non-resident property owners will be made to stand their just share of the expense instead of the whole burden falling upon a few business men and local residents. The port district should receive the support and vote of every voter.
“It means the time-worn subscription list will be replaced by the local improvement plan and the railroads, the foreign corporations and the non-resident property owners will be made to stand their just share of the expense.”
This editorial captures a classic Pacific Northwest civic struggle: the tension between public utility and private capital. The call to force 'foreign corporations' and 'non-resident property owners' to shoulder the cost of local infrastructure remains a resonant argument in today's debates over tax reform and land development in the Tri-Cities.
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