, 1874-06-04
The Northern Pacific Railroad


The Northern Pacific Railroad.
= The notable ignorance of American
affairs displayed by the English press, is
not more marked, while ii is more ex-
cusable, than the ignorance manifested
by the leading journals of the East in
regard to the conditions and affairs of
the Western and Pacific States. We
find frequent exemplifcations of this
fact in the comments Of the Eastern
press upon the Northern Pacific Rail-
road. A late number of the New York
World, one of the most pretentious of
the Eastern journals. in commenting
npon the bill before Congress for aid to
the Northern Pacific Railroad, says:
It is by no N crit of Congress that
Jay Cooke was really the protector Of
continental railway, as we believe him
TO have been, and not merely a stock
jobber and land jobber whose concern
with the Northern Pacific was to sell it
out as soon as Congress had granted
him something to sell. Anyhow it is as
thoroughly proved as the "logic of
events can prove anything that the
Northern Pacific, with all its enormous
land grants and guarantees, cannot get
itself built for the simple reason that it
is not needed"
No statement cf this matter could be
more eminently inaccurate. Mr.. Jay
Cooke was not the protector of this rail
road in any sense; he neither designed
or contributed anything to the project,
and his connection with it was only as
stock-jobber and d-jobber, and the
sole cause of the failure of the project
is, that it was managed and controlled
exclusively in the interest of the stock
jobbers and land -jobbers, of whom Jay
Cooke was the chief, and not for the
reason that it is not needed. 1t is no
demerit of Congress that the concession
was made: if it had been honestly ad
ministered, it would have greatly contri
buted to the national wealth and pros
perity without costing the Government
or the people dollar. But that it was
not SO administered the facts clearly
show.
The Congressional grant was twenty
alternate sections mile, the alternate
sections reser.ed by the Government
being doubled in price, SO that the pub
lie treasury suffered no depletion from
the grant, and the construction of the
road would secure the sale and oecu-
pancy of large domains which otherwise
would remain valueless for years to
come. This grant was not only upon
the shortest practicable line, but thro'
the richest and best belt of country
across the continent. Probably not less
than three-fourths of the railroad lands
would have met ready sale as the road
advanced; none at less-than 81 so,
much at from that figure up to $40, 500,
800 and $1,000 an acre near railroad
stations and in towns created by the
railroad. At the very lowest estimate,
under judicious management the Com
pany could have realized an aggregate
averaging 81 SO an acre. or 1000 a
mile for their entire grant. This would
have fallen very little short of paying
the cost of construction; at most not
more than $4,000 mile, $4,000, 600
for 1000 miles, CT about one half of the
present bonded debt of the Company,
with only quarter of the road built.
Instead of managing the grant for the
benefit Of the road, the Directors have
managed the railroad for the exclusive
benefit of ring formed by themselves.
They formed themselves into Land
Company under an act of incorporation
by. the Maine Legislature. conceded to
this Company all the town sites upon
the line of the road, sent their agents in
advance of the engineers to enter all the
most available lands for the ring prior
to their withdrawal from market for the
benefit of the railroad, thus appropria-
ting to themselves the most valuable
resources of the railroad, and then not
only directing the line and points of
the road for their own benefit, but the |
money realized upon railroad bonds for
the improvement of their own property.
Under such rascally management the
railroad was bound to fail, and the only
wonder is. that editors of ordinary in
tefffgence fail to attribute the failure to
the proper cause.
-Ifthe Northern Pacific Railroad is not
ueeded, no trans-continental railroad Is
needed in this country. To control or
to secure anys considerable portion of
heyAsiafic trade, it is an absolute neces-
sity,ii in view of the construction. at no
distant day, of the Canadian Pacific
railroad, with which neither the Central
nor Southern Pacific can ever success
fully compete.