The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1876-02-17

A MEMORIAL TO THE COUNCIL AND HoUsE OF
sENBLY or MONTANA:
! The undersigned respectfully represent
| that they are the agents Of the Northern Pa
| cifc Railroad Company, duly accredited TO
appear before your Honorable Body in behalf
| of said railroad company, to confer with YOU
upon measures needful for the extension OF
said railroad into your Territory, and to exc
| cute any such contract therefor as may be
mutually agreed upon.
| That the said Northern Pacific Railroad is
now constructed from Duluth, on Lake Supe-
rior, to Bismarck, on the Upper Missouri, a
distance of about $50 miles and is also con
structed from Tacoma, on Puget Sound, to
! kalams, on the Columbia River a distance of
| about 10 miles. That said Eastern and
| Western divisions, aggrcgating about 55O
! miles of railroad, are successfully operated,
each OF them paying considerably more than
ru ming expenses.
! The said Northern Pacific Railroad Com
! pany has lately been reorgsnized by fore
| closure Of it's mortgage, and agreements of
! parties in interest SO that it stands to-day
| free from bonded debt, and with no liabili-
ties except a small floating debt not exceed,
| ing half million dollars, secured bv cOllat-
eral, and being rapidly extingui5hed. Its
uninCumbered property consists of $50 miles
! of tirstcass railroad, thoroughly equipped
with about 90 locomotives aud 500 cars,
that earned the past year more than one hun
dred thousand dollars over running expenses,
and land grant now amounting to more
than six million acres OF land, earned and
remaining unsold. The charter of the road
also secures to it abont Il, 800 additional!
acres of land for every mile of road hereafter
constructed. Probably there is not to day
another railroad of any magnitude in the
country so free from debt, or where a tithe
OF so much property lies comparatively dor
mant, through lack of more complete devel-
opment.
Your memorialists further respectfully rep
resent that the interests of your great Ter
rtory are identical with ours. and that the
extension of the Northern Pacific Railroa d
INTO your interior mining districts is the one
thing absolutely essential for your future de
| velOpment. We state our case thus strongly
| because ours is the only direct route between
the East and the West; the only transcont-
mental line to pass within your borders, and
the only frst-class route in contemplation.
Any and all others can be but branches to
the line nearly five hundred miles due south
of you, to reach which, you must travel
nearly five hundred miles out of your way,
and then be subject TO a monopoly of rates,
that has been, and continues to be, com
planned of as exhOrbitant.
We are credibly informed, and have statis-
tics prepared by your own citizens, showing
that you are e1pending a million of dol ars
per annum for teaming your freight to and
from the Union Pacific Railroad That your
goods are freighted to you at an average cost
of one hundred and twenty dollars per ton
by rail and team and twenty cents per pound
by express. Taat your stage fare averages
sixty dollars per passenger, each way. That
your transportation facilities, even at these
enormous rates, are so inadequate to your
wants, that you have to-day more rich ores
out of the mines and living in sacks on storage
(much of it held for advances at from IL 10
u per cent. per rmonth) than can be hauled
away during the coming season While
these disabilities embarrass the working of
your richest ores, they completely embargo
the mining of such of your second class
ores as, In more accessible parts of the
country, would be considered Of incalculable
value. In consequence, out of many thou
sand gold and silver veins recorded in your
fo' i'Ao NouHtiSo, Soul ptIdlltclI Ith are uON
worked at all
Our railroad, extended into the heart of
this rich mineral region, or to within an
easy distance, would develop and bring out
your dormant wealth, to an incalculable ex-
tent. Your development and growth would
be more rapid and startling tlan has been
known IN the history of this or any other
country.
On the other hand, such connection with
you, and the consequent development Of
business, would place one thousand miles of
our road between thus point and the great
interior lakes, in immediate paying condition.
ana secure an early connection with the Pa
cihc coast.
With interests ms i5a7t'csr. md equally
vast, " . d. e vo.r' .sas.. cooperation in
ne eEo.I or al .tr.. advance. Our
road nov ws,nrn &c 80 eI aud sixty
miles ct your eastern oo-Ce' TIE line OF
construction to ths. Poin. ard thence up the