A Mill Owner's Warning: Free Trade and the Fight for Seattle's Lumber Future

C. P. Holmes, of the firm of Renton, Holmes & Co., agents in San Francisco of the Port Blakely Mill Company, of which he is one of the stockholders, is at the Rainier. He arrived from San Francisco on the Umatilla yesterday, and is accompanied by his son, F. Edward Holmes, and daughter, Miss Nellie Holmes. Young Mr. Holmes and his sister are on their way to Winona, where the former is to be married to Miss Patton, a handsome and accomplished young lady of that city. Then Mr. and Mrs. Holmes will take a wedding tour through the East. Miss Holmes, after seeing the wedding ceremony, will return to Seattle to join her father, who will remain here for several weeks.

In talking about the lumber business yesterday, Mr. Holmes said:

“We are transacting a large volume of business at Port Blakely, and we keep our mill going all the time. The foreign trade, while fair, is not as large as it has been. There is nothing very encouraging at present in the lumber business generally. The small mills supply nearly all the local trade, but we keep our mill running in supplying the foreign demand.

“What effect do I think the war between China and Japan will have on the lumber business? Well, I can hardly tell as yet. It may improve the condition of trade. The Civil War in this country made business very lively while it lasted and for a long time afterwards. We have two vessels bound for the Orient. One vessel went to Philadelphia with lumber and took on coal oil, and is now on the way to Japan. Another vessel is en route to Shanghai with lumber. These vessels were started before the war began. In addition to this we have a number of vessels now loading at Blake for foreign ports.

“We do not handle Eastern business at the Port Blakely mill by rail. We sent several cargoes to the Atlantic seaboard last year and year before last, but they consisted of timber decking and clear lumber of a kind that is not much handled by rail.

“We have not yet begun to ship siding and shingles to the East. Further along we may do this. We will load the shingles and siding on barges and bring it to Seattle, and then put it on board the cars. Our remoteness from the railroads militates against us in this branch of the business at present.

“How will the passage of the tariff bill affect the lumber business of Washington?

“I think the operation of the bill will hurt us. Lumber has been put on the free list, when formerly it paid a duty. It will enable the British Columbia lumbermen to compete with us in the same line of business that we are engaged in. For instance, they can ship over the Canadian Pacific into Chicago and be on the same footing as the Washington lumbermen. I have always heard that the Canadian Pacific is very liberal with its shippers. If it hauls the lumber to Chicago for less than our railroads the British Columbia lumberman will have the advantage over his cousin in Washington.

“Seattle, I see, is not only holding her own, but is making advances. Cities seek natural locations, and time has already proven that this city is so favorably situated that she will be in time a great city. There are other cities on the Sound whose locations were forced by private corporations. The growth of these towns stopped as soon as the companies that located them stopped booming and whooping them up. Seattle, however, has had a natural, healthy growth, which comes with the natural increase of trade acquired by reason of her situation. I have always had great faith in this city and now it is firmer than ever.”

The firm to which Mr. Holmes belongs has been in existence for thirty-five years, and he has been connected with it for thirty years.