Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1873-06-28
OLYMPIA SArElnAY H2hNISG. jrNE IS. 1873.
THE TERMINUS.

great NOItutiH t,titt iIhIAI'"~ l'''NS
passed from our midst, and with them
has gone the fond dtlEsiyr tia; Nc had
spotted the little joker of the terminus;
for, it is said, they fully rerutliatcd the
idea that said company was under any
obligation to build branch road into
Olympia Many good oi,izon WHO
but yesterday was roveling in visions
of wealth to flow from his reserved lots
in this vast municipality, has forever
abandoned the idea of a coach-and-siX
IRON that source, and quietly taken his
place in that countless throng which,
since Adam, has been marching down
the slopes Of time 10 the tune of " Sold
and got your money!!
That there has been swearing about
the breach of contract by the railroad
Company, and talk about suits for
damages and "makinG them sweat for
It." and all that sort Of thing, cannot
be denied, and who has ever heard Of
first-class sell that didn't Grille" the
victims little at first. But getting an
cry will never get us even and is GER
tainly foolish, as the victimized Gcner
ally conclude, after they have examined
their Notifications ard found the hole
where the enemy got in upon them.
The simple rural Jake, who rants about
the deception and bad faith practiced
by the thimble-riggcr and his cappcrs,
who have done for him, gets but little
sympathy from the crowd, which is not
interested; nor have we right to ex-
pect sympathy, for if we are victimizcd
in what we call our contract with the
Northern Pacific Railroad Company, it
is for the the reason that we were SO
excited and crodulous in regard to the
representations about the little joker
called Terminus, that we made no pro-
vision for the possible contingency that
it might not he under the cup we were
betting on when the game was up.
Prudent men who bargain for some
thing that is to be done in the future,
generally provide safeguards for their
own protection in case of breach, well
knowing that it will not do to assume,
as business maxim, that contractors
will voluntarily fulfill contracts that
turn out to be disadvantageous to them
selves, whatever may be the moral OBJ
legation. In very wide class of con-
tracts, in matters of daily transaction,
it is not necessary to introduce special
provisions for damages, as usage and
law provide all the safeguards that are
necessary in case of breach; but the
law recognizes direct and immediate
damages only, and unhappily for us the
damages we claim to have suffered, on
account of the reputation of this con-
tract by the Northern Pacific Railroad,
ore altogether consequential, and result
ing so remotely that it would be diff
cult, if not impossible to give them q
money valuation. And then again, be.
fore commencing our suits, it will be
well to remember that no action will lay
against the company for saying through
its agents that it does not consider
there is any binding contract upon its
part to build branch road into Olym.
pia, for even if they are bound by what
we consider the contract, there can be
no breach of it until 1875, and by that
time, We venture to say, that so far from
being disposed to sue for damages, oul
people will see abundant cause to be
thankful that they have been relieved
from the feverish state of excitement
and uncertainty that has proved so fatal
to all healthy industry and stable en-.
terprise since the public mind was first
poisoned with the idea that fortunes
could be made by selling town lots in
nameless additions to nothing, to the
throng Of emigrants who were to rush
IN from all parts Of the world with
pockets full Of money, to secure foot
ing in the terminus and future CONNER
eial emporium of the world.
The emigrant, when he comes, finds
to his disgust, things quite different
from what he expected. Instead of {
vigorous and growing country, full o.
enterprise and improvements, offering
employment and inviting him to labor
he is interviewed by land agents and
owners of new additions, who bore hin
TO purchase town lots in the wilderness
that were never trod by the foot of man
at prices that would not be bad for lots
in Chicago. The sooner we are relieved
from this kind of humbuooery the better