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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 11, 2015)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2015 China, Astoria and the nation that didn’t happen G overnors and their Asian “trade mis- sions” are widely believed to be beguil- ing vacations at public or corporate expense: A photo circulating this week of ex-Gov. -RKQ .LW]KDEHU DQG ¿DQFpH &\OYLD +D\HV YLVLWLQJ7LDQMLQ&KLQDLQSOD\VRQWKLV suspicion. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee just returned from a nine-day trip to Japan and South Ko- rea, partly spent promot- ing controversial coal terminals in Longview and Bellingham. The Seattle Times’ Jon Tal- ton observed, “So do we beat on, boats against the current of climate change, for a few quick bucks? The ‘greenest governor’ will have to square that.” Matt So it has always been Winters with U.S.-Asian rela- tions: Lusting for the exotic, while avidly selling them whatever they want for as much as we can get. Flying west across the dateline somehow discom- bobulates ethical compasses. A nearly century-old ad for the Pacific 0DLO6WHDPVKLS&RLOOXVWUDWHVWKHOXVWSDUW of this slippery moral equation: “Longing for that feeling of utter release, of abso- lute freedom, which comes with travel in strange lands and fascinatingly ‘different’ civilizations? ... Petty restraints and inhi- bitions disappear as by magic, even be- fore the mysterious, gay, alluring East is reached.” Though the ad features a demure Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber and girlfriend Cylvia Hayes visiting China in 2011. white woman in a deckchair, the kind of pleasures implied at the far end of the voy- age are patently more to do with Anaïs Nin than Edith Wharton. T Andy Wong/Associated Press The China Trade KRXJK , SRNH IXQ DW RXU 3DFL¿F 1RUWK- west politicians and their curious affec- tion for Asian junkets, they tread in famous footsteps — or sail in famous wakes. Our coast’s economic fate has been closely bound XS ZLWK &KLQD DQG -DSDQ VLQFH RXU QDWLRQ¶V earliest days. $PHULFDQV EHFDPH NQRZQ LQ &KLQD DV WKH³1HZ3HRSOH´ZKHQ&DSW6DPXHO6KDZ RSHQHG&DQWRQWR86WUDGHLQ,QLWLDOO\ exporting ice and apples, it took quite a while for us make more than a scratch in the Asian marketplace, including India. $DUWLFOHLQAsia magazine, “When 1HZ (QJODQG VDLOHG WR &KLQD´ E\ KLVWRUL- ans Marjorie and Sydney Greenbie, reports that “Thoreau, watching Irishmen cut ice from Walden Pond for the India market, was pleased with the thought that, while he was drinking deep of Indian philosophy from the SDJHVRIWKH9HGDVWKH+LQGXP\VWLFVZRXOG be drinking iced drafts from his own pond. Thus, he said, was the sacred water of the Ganges mixed with the liquid of New En- gland hills.” $ NH\ ¿JXUH LQ H[SDQGLQJ WKH 86&KL- na exports far beyond ice was John Ledyard. &ORVH IULHQG RI 7KRPDV -HIIHUVRQ EXVLQHVV partner with John Paul Jones and — most im- portantly for Astoria history — a British ma- ULQHRQ&DSW-DPHV&RRN¶V3DFLI- ic exploration, Ledyard is said to have been WKH ¿UVW $PHULFDQ FLWL]HQ WR YLVLW WKH :HVW &RDVW5HWXUQLQJIURPWKH&RRNH[SHGLWLRQ Ledyard ignited a new industry by telling 1HZ(QJODQGHUVWKDWWKH&KLQHVHZHUHFUD]\ about the furs he and his shipmates initially DFTXLUHG IURP 3DFL¿F 1RUWKZHVW ,QGLDQV WR use as mattresses. $W-HIIHUVRQ¶VVXJJHVWLRQLQ/HG\- ard set out from London with the intention of UHDFKLQJ$PHULFD¶V3DFL¿F&RDVWYLD5XVVLD DQGWKH%HULQJ6WUDLW+HZDVWKHQPHDQWWR document the virgin country between Oregon Astoria wasn’t to be just a fur-trading outpost, but the capital of a separate country. T Matt Winters/Collection A steamship ad from the “Roaring 20s” features an innocent-looking tourist, but ad copy farther down the page promotes the libertine delights of the exotic Far East. and Virginia, nearly two decades before Lew- LVDQG&ODUN%XWRQRUGHUVRI(PSUHVV&DWK- erine the Great, he was arrested in Siberia and is largely forgotten by history. Later, during his presidential adminis- tration, another of Jefferson’s unsuccessful schemes — a self-imposed embargo on inter- national commerce — bankrupted my distant ancestor Ira Winter and many other Americans whose livelihoods depended on trade. But the embargo spurred John Jacob Astor to under- take what the Greenbies call “the most enter- WDLQLQJKRD[DQGWKHPRVWPDJQL¿FHQWSURMHFW for political and commercial expansion de- vised in that age” — the founding of Astoria. Astor’s hoax — designed to break the embargo — consisted of convincing Jeffer- VRQ WKDW ³$ &KLQHVH RI¿FLDO ZLWK DQ DJHG father at home, had come over to America RQDVKLSEHORQJLQJWR$VWRU5HJDUGOHVVRI expense, courtesy demanded that he (Astor) should see this personage to the very gates RI&DQWRQ´7KHSUHVLGHQWJDYHKLVFRQVHQW DQGRQ$XJ$VWRU¶VVKLSWKH%HDYHU sailed from New York. “Almost before the Beaver was out of sight, the press caught on to the joke. The mandarin was none other WKDQDYDJUDQW&KLQHVHZKRKDGEHHQSLFNHG up in the park.” The Beaver not only took WKLV JHQWOHPDQ WR &DQWRQ EXW ¿UVW YLVLWHG the prospective site of Astoria. The round- WULSUHVXOWHGLQDSUR¿WRIEDFNLQ 0DQKDWWDQ RU URXJKO\ PLOOLRQ LQ dollars. New nation’s capital KLV QDWXUDOO\ LQÀDPHG $VWRU¶V SDVVLRQ for easy money and big dreams. In fact, according to the Greenbies, Astoria wasn’t to be just a fur-trading outpost, but the capital of a separate country, established with U.S. cooperation. “It was to be a grand political experiment, WKH IRXQGLQJ RQ WKH 3DFL¿F &RDVW RI D QHZ nation, who, as Jefferson said, ‘should spread themselves through the whole length of that coast, covering it with free and independent Americans, unconnected with us by ties of blood and interest, and enjoying, like us, the rights of self-government.’ This new state was to be supported by and to monopolize WKHWUDGHZLWK&KLQD´WKH*UHHQELHVZURWH 7KH:DURILQWHUYHQHGPRPHQWXP was lost, and Astoria is the colorful little city LWLVWRGD\UDWKHUWKDQD:HVW&RDVWFRUROODU\ WR:DVKLQJWRQ'&DQGDPLJKW\SROLWLFDO and economic metropolis in partnership with &KLQD But history twists and turns. Who knows? Maybe Astoria’s real glory years are yet to come. — M.S.W. Open forum Warrenton’s legacy T o Warrenton readers, and the War- UHQWRQ&LW\&RPPLVVLRQUH2UHJRQ LNG: This is a project that is larger than anything any public agency has ever handled in this region. Our small cities are not staffed to deal with the questions or the monitoring that is before us. :DUUHQWRQLVQRZD¿VKLQJYLOODJH surrounded by nature, and comfortable for a range of families and lifestyle choices. Approval of this project will change that forever, and invite further industrial construction. The mooring basin, where thou- VDQGVRISHRSOHFRPHWRHQMR\¿VKLQJ will be inalterably changed, as tankers and their safety escorts, both entering and exiting, block the use of the river approximately two-thirds of the year. &RPPHUFLDO ¿VKLQJ ÀHHWV ZLOO EH VH- verely limited by this major change. +RPH YDOXHV ZLOO EH UHGXFHG DQG people will be unable to sell, due to the presence of this terminal with compro- PLVHGDLUTXDOLW\QRLVHOLJKWDQGWUDI¿F /HXFDGLD &RUS LV RIIHULQJ OLWWOH WR mitigate the impacts on both state and local streets. Improvements are pretty PXFKOLPLWHGWR+DUERU$YHQXHZKLFK will be virtually impassable for two to three years. Where are the offers to deal ZLWKWKHGDQJHUVRI¿UHH[SORVLRQVDQG increased police demands? They dan- gle the promise of millions of dollars in taxes, hoping that we can be bought off. The pipleine construction will last up to three years, with an estimated DGGLWLRQDO DGGLWLRQDO WUXFNV DQG PRUHYDQVRUVPDOOWUXFNV7KHLP- pact is grossly understated. We already NQRZWKDWWUDI¿FKDVEDFNHGXSUHSHDW- edly all summer, both to the south and to the north. That most jobs will be for outside workers is acknowledged by the prom- ise to bring workers in from outside the area in vans and buses, and by the active support from Portland labor XQLRQV:KHUHZLOORYHUZRUNHUV be housed, and what will they do after hours? Will there be training for local workers? Experts in air-quality analysis have said that this proposed plant would be second only to the Boardman Power plant in terms of air pollution in the state of Oregon. This will affect all of us. 1R PXQLFLSDO ¿UH GHSDUWPHQW FDQ EH VHW XS WR PDQDJH WKH NLQG RI ¿UHV VHHQDW6DQ%UXQR&DOLI,WZRXOGWDNH hours to days to assemble the expert emergency personnel and equipment QHHGHG7RP+RUQLQJRXUH[SHUWJHRO- ogist, calls this the “worst possible site” RQWKHULYHUDQGRQWKH2UHJRQ&RDVW 7KHUH DUH UHDVRQV WKDW &DOLIRUQLD ZLOO not accept any new LNG terminals. You may dismiss the testimony of us Astoria residents. But think about what you are contemplating for your own community, which will no longer be the place you enjoy. That will be this commission’s legacy, if you con- tinue to proceed with this project. -$10,7&+(// Astoria Davis makes a point I have been thinking about the clerk Kim Davis, a Democrat by the way, who would not issue marriage licens- es to same sex couples. There are a lot of people in the buzz who are saying you must obey the law no matter what, while others accuse her of grandstand- LQJ DQG JUDEELQJ KHU ³ PLQXWHV RI fame.” The fact is, she makes a very good point that I believe is being ignored. Laws are made by legislation, passed E\UHSUHVHQWDWLYHVRIWKHSHRSOH5HI- erendums bypass the legislative pro- cedure when people agree on law by the vote. What doesn’t have the right to write law is a court. The court can only sit in judgment over the laws al- UHDG\SDVVHG&LW\FOHUNVIROORZVWDW- XWHVWKDWKDYHEHHQFRGL¿HG7KLVKRZ the system is set up, but not the way it has functioned of late. If judges have the right to write the laws and sit in judgment over their laws, we are a public being ruled by judges. It doesn’t matter if we are ruled by people with crowns on their heads, or judges sitting in black robes, they are acting as absolute monarchs, kings and queens. This violates everything this nation is about. In America, the government doesn’t rule its people, the people rule their government. JIM JENKINS Astoria Think twice I want to have Astorians note the FRPPHQWVRI$VWRULD3RUW&RPPLV- VLRQHU%LOO+XQVLQJHUEHIRUHWKH2UH- gon Department of Fish and Wildlife &RPPLVVLRQ PHHWLQJ LQ 6HDVLGH RQ 6HSW+XQVLQJHUVDLGWKDWVSRUW¿VK- HUPHQDQG¿VKLQJJXLGHVDUHFDXVLQJ a problem in Astoria because they are plugging boat ramps and port facili- ties, including marina dock space at the boat basins. ,V +XQVLQJHU VD\LQJ KH GRHV QRW want the economic stimulus that the ¿VKHUPHQSURYLGHWR$VWRULD"0D\EH he ought to talk to his constituents ¿UVW DERXW WKLV" 7KLQN DERXW DOO WKH jobs, housing rentals, restaurants, and service industries that might lose business in August if it were not for WKH¿VKHUPHQ³FORJJLQJXS´SRUWID- cilities. I would call these “happy prob- lems” that many communities would love to have. Maybe Astorians might like to think about voting for +XQVLQJHULQWKHQH[WHOHFWLRQ" %/$,1($&./(< +LOOVERUR STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher • LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager • CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager • DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager Founded in 1873