The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1871-04-29
THE swINDLE OF THE AGE
TIVE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD.

ces, Progress and Business of the
Northern Pacific Railroad. Accustom-
ed, as we have been of late, to refer
to the unblushing rascaIity Of Congress
in giving the peoples pstrimony to
railroad and other corporations, and to
warn our readers of the inevitable con-
sequences, we confess we rise from q
perusal Of this pamphlet with feeling
of mi-admiration for the audacity Of
the men who could sanction such q
swindle, on the same principle, that
everybody feels a contempt for the
thief who steals dollar or a bushel oil
coal, and quasi-respect for the thief
on the grand-proportion-scale.
:, That the public may the better ap-
preciate the magnitude and villany Of
the ROBBERY we propose to allow the
officers Of the company to tell their own
story in their own way. The following
is their statement:
The charter grants the Company for each
mile Of track 20 alternate sections Of public
land (64O acres to the section) on each side Of
the line of the road in the terri.ories and to ten
alternate sections on each side Of she line in the
States, through which il runs This is eqaiva-
lent 20 Is, 500 acres per mile through the ter
ritories, and IL, $40 acres per mile through the
States, or an average Of nearly $4,000 acres per
mile along the entire length Of the road The
grant is the same for the chartered branch oil
the road as for the trunk line. 1t grants to the
| Compsny he right Of way for the road and tel
/ egrs,,h lac through the public domain, TO the
! sstz.a. u zee feet IN width each side of the
track, and all necessary ground for station
buildings, workshops, depots, machine-shops
switches, side-tracks, turntables, and water
stations II grants TO the Company the righ
to take from the public domain adjacent to the
line Of the road, earth, stone, and timber fol
construction. II, owing TO prescription, settle
ment under the Homestead Lsw,or other cause
the Company cannot get within the above lin
its, the quantity Of land per mile to which it il
entitled by its charter, il may make up the de-
6eiency anywhere within twenty miles beyonS
either boundary Of its land grant The provi
sion renders 1t absolutely certain that the Com
pany will receive the full amount Of land
granted.
The amount Of land granted 70 the Northern
Pacific Railroad by its charter, original and n
amended. exceeds Fifty Millions (5O, Ooo, eo0) o
acres. This superb estate IL larger BY 1900
square miles than the six New England States
or Is large as Ohio and Indiana combined
There is room in il for ten States as large .
Massachusetts,, each Of them with a soil, eli
mate, and resources Of coal, timber, ores, o
metals, and perpetual water power, altogeths
superior TO those upon which Massachusetts, hal
become populous, rich, refined, and POLITICAL.
powerful Tue grant is nearly seven times .
large as Belgium, or more than three and . hal
times a. large as Holland.
An average Of %, 900 acres per mile
for distance Of over 1000 miles vii
certainly do for beginning. But WI
are further informed that this Averages
| Of $4,000 gives them a grand Total o
SO, 600, 900 acres, q territory out o
which 625, 900 eighty acre farms cal
be CARRIED, which at the small averag'
Of S persons to family would furnish
homes to s,125, 900 actual settlers; o.
district peopled at the same ratio q
Holland or Belgium are-and it is GER
tainly as fsrtile-would sustain popu
Iation of 20, 900, 0oO-nore than hal
the present population of the entire
country!
IIkYes, 1T says some wise acrs7-tha
is only one-sided view Of sbs question
How mssy acres of this grant are com
papatively worthless Let us see
The pamphlet further says, in reference
to the fertility of the soil:
| or the quality of these lands it b enough h
say that they lie 10 the richest portion Of tina
| fertile New North west described In smother par
Of this circular. or the Compsny's Ten Million
| Acres in Montana, Gen. Potts, present Governor
Of that Territory, says: ''The Northern Pacific
Railroad viii open up the richest county il
agricultural and mineral resources on the Amer
| lean Continent, and II the people East and n
Europe could see the rich land grant the eoas
has, Ihe Company's bonds would nos pemaia ID
market 30 dsya" Gov Stevens who repeatedly
passed over the route, estimates that fully four
| ffths Of the Northern Pacific Railroad grant ia
good for cultivation or-graxiag. vhiie much o
the remainder 10 in the mountain bah, and h
covered with valuable timber or SLED with ths
precious metals With the Road built throus
the midst of these lands, what 10 their money
value. The lands Of the Union Pacific thus f4f
sold have averaged a. - per acre; the schoO
lands Of Minnesota % 80 per acre: the lands Of
the Illinois Central Railroad grant, I'll 90 pei
acre. At even the average of a 90 pse acre
the lands of the Northern Pacific Railroad viii
oay for its construction and equipment and
leave the road free from debt. and ene-nalf the
lands unlncumbsred in the Company's psssss-
sion. AT only u so per acre, Government price
these lands viii build and % ulp the road, leave
Eve million dollars In the Company Treasury.
"At only $3.50 per acre. Govern
ment price, these lands will build and
equip the road, leave it free Of debt.
and place swptss Of ts'eSty foe Ssidss.
dollars in the company treasury" teiis
the whole tale. To the objection that
unless the subsidy had been granted,
the business of the road, would not
warrant, its construction the fol-
lowing facts, again presented by the
officers, are the best reply:
The Northern Pacific Railroad will have no
rival for the carrying trade Of the New North
wess. Other roads across the continent will