Wilmington daily gazette., 1873-09-23
From the n 7. journal Sf Commerce.
The Northern T@elas sss A'btdFS and

Myseefy. ~-a
When the NOrthefn Paciac nrhsu,p Grst
came up in Congrom, We exposed ~ helAw and
speculative characteK We showed Int the
idea Of such road was IN TIN hrst Placs pre-
mature. There was no immediate need OF It,
and ne necessity for It's existence in the early
future. The country thro0gh which the road
was TO pass was and Is. for the most Of the
route wilderness, VITA % lBriving eellements
dOtting its course, and there was no reasonable
expectation that population would follow the
track Of that enterprise for years to come.
The engineering difficulties 10 be conquered
were enormous, particularly inIscaling the Rocky
Mountains at height Of 5000 feet shove The
sea. There was no such demand for the road
as that which seemed 10 warrant the coDstruc-
tion Of the line to San FraAcisco.' The Union
and Central Pacific supplied all the means OF
intercourse at present wanted between the East
and West, sGnd touched, pr connected Win
cities and towns already built or building, aahd
traversed agricultural and mining districts
comparatively we'll settled up ThotirIe would
come, some day, when a Northern transconti-
mental road would be decided convenience, il
not a necessity but TO force il into existence at
that juncture was a most foolish and perilons
attempt. This is what we have always held,
and time was yipdicated our views, Especially
we were opposed to the YlaSish patronage be-
slowed by government upon the road. In the
case Of the Central and Union Pacific, the
government reserved to itself the nominal right
to take POSSESSION and reimburse itself if the
scheme failed. That afforded plausible ex-
cuse for the money aid which il rendered.
But the national gifts to the Northern Paci-
fic were outright. The government parted
with its ownership Of AZ 00O, 900 acres, or "A,
company executed mortgage to secnre the
payment of bonds not exceeding $4,000 q
mile. We denounced the unprecedented loose
ness of o this transaction ut the time. Il vir-
tually gave to few individuals the absolute
control of a territory Of incalculablo future
value and the leaders in the speculation fat
tered themselves that they would eventually
become the richest men In the wOrld-a delu-
sion now cruelty exploded. The inner hiSt0-
~ OF this extraordinary scheme may some
time be known. Future investigation may
unriddle it but now Is deep mistery. We
only have at present the moral evidence to
make us believe that stocks and bonds and
land grants were freely diStributedamOng mem
oers OF Congress and all persons In positions
OF influence VINO would accept the DrtbeS.--
One thing is certain-the road was never ask
ed Tor by the American people, or any cOnSld-
erable number of them. No public meetings
were held in the great cities to approve OF II,
and to recommend it to Congressional faVOr.
1t was almost universally cried down as apiece
of cOnsummate folly aud unbridled extraVa-
gance. But in defiance of public opinion 1t
was crowded through by the unscTupuleus
means that we have named. The people be-
ing thus disregaTded and defied, took the only
revenge left to them-they refused to buy the
bonds readily and GTeedily, though by one
means and another large amount has ulti-
mately been sold. These securities have been
ADVERTISED extensively and in q mastery man
ner. The agents, Jay Cooke & Co., did all
that mOrtals could do, to bring the merits Of
the bonds before the public, and cOurageOusiy
manifested their own faith in them (so scanti-
ly shared by other bankers) by lending large
ly upon them and this error Of judgement
was the primary cause Of their unfoFtunate
failure,