Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1873-12-13
It was then that this idea of sendin:

COillnlSSlOu VI cApcltS, ociCC.Cu W
German capitalists, to examine into and
report upon the affairs of the Northern
Pacific Railroad enterprise took place.
1t was very good idea, and the result
| attending it would have been good
enough had it not been for the facts
which I have now to relate. The whole
expense of this commission was assumed
by Jay Cooke & Co. The expense was
very iarge-some, at least, of the Com
missioners were paid FL 900 and all
their expenses from the moment OF their
departure until their return-and by q
singular fatality the same idea of daz-
cling the eyes OF these gentlemen was
pract:ced upon them in America. They
sailed for New York; they arrived there;
they were entertained, feasted, lionized;
they went over the line of the road,
some further than others; they saw
what they were sent to see; they re-
turned; and they made their report. I
may here state, in parenthesis, that the
expense of all this business, paid by Jay
Cooke & Co., were finally and not with
out bitter complaints reimbursed to
them by the Northern Pacific Railroad
Company.
The Commissioners were Herr Folsch,
an engineer; DR.. Haas, Herr Breitsch-
vert, journalist; and Herr Den Tex,
Secretary of the Board OF Trade of Am
sterdam. The Union Bank of Vienna
an institution against which I have moth
ing to say except that in certain respects
it is more speculative concern than it
might be-chose the first two named
gentlemen; DR.. Knapp, of Berlin, selec-
ted the others. The reports of Folsch
and Haas having been published in
America, need say nothing of them;
you will have judged for yourself to
what extent they are favorable and to
what extent they are unfavorable to the
enterprise. The report of Herr Brett
schwert, which has not yet been pub
lished, was unqualified in favor of the
company, and was strong argument
in support of the negotiation which it
proposed. The Union Bank of Vienna
at least did not regard the reports of its
two agents as being of character
which should prevent them from enter
ing into the negotiation Of a great loan,
and becoming the principle promoters
of it in Europe. But they did regard
them as levers by which they might ex-
act from Messrs. Jay Cooke Il Co.. very
favorable terms for themselves in such
a negotiation. They sent some of their
officers to London to arrange with Jay
Cooke & Co.'S representative there the
conditions for the floating Of a great
loan for the Northern Pacific Company
in Germany, of which loan they were to
he managers; and when the unfair
character of these conditions was point
ed out, they replied that if they were
not accepted. the reports of Messrs.
Folsch and Haas should be published,
and that their publication would pre-
vent any loan whatever being obtained
by the Northern Pacific Company in
Europe. + believe that at this time
Messrs. Jay Cooke & Co. we're ignorant
of the realcharacter of these reports; they
had not seen them, although they be-
longed to them; and the language cf
the agents of the Union Bank Of Vienna
was such as might lead them to sup
pose that the reports were wholly con-
demnatory of the road, instead OF being
what they are. But with great deal
Of sagacity, they seem to have reasoned
with themselves that if the reports were
as condemnatory of the. road as the
Union Bank wished to make it appear,
that bank, as an honest institution,
would not wish to undertake to float a
loan for the road; while on the other
hand, If the Union Bank were not an
honest institution, the less they had to
do with it the better. There was moth
ing more heard about these reports,
i publicly, until the summer OF 1879,
when the Northern Pacific Company
brought out a small loan in London-a
loan, I believe Of about f2, ,000, 900
Meanwhile, however, various copies of
the reports got themselves into circula-
ton. But when the email loan to
which I have referred was brought out
in London, q, paragraph appeared in
| the city article Of The Times limiting at
the existence of the unfavorable and
suppressed reports of these Commis-
sioners. This paragraph somewhat in
ljured, but did not, ! believe, prevent
| the partial, success Of the loan. The
mistake Of the agents Of the Northern
Pacific seems to have been that they
did not insist on the publication Of these
reports as soon as they obtained them.
The unknown is always the magnificent;
there is nothing in the reports when
they are read that need alarm any friend
OF the road, but the attempt of the
Union Bank to use them in the way 1
have described and the neglect of Jay
Cooke 4 Co., to publish them, gave
them an air of mystery and Of impor-
tance. t.'..'..'.'
q Snow in portions of Wisconsin
is two feet deep, and the sleighing is
fine. At Green Bay the snow is foot
deep and more, and sleighs are run
ming lively. In Oshkosh thesnow in
drifts is three feet deep.