The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1879-01-30
LETTER FROM NEW YORK.

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To THE EDITOR OF THE NEW NoErHwEsr:
The large hall Of the Concordia assem-
bly, rooms was fairly packed this after
noon by the socialists and their friends,
who had assembled to welcome Henry
Ecks, Florian Paul, Jacob Wennen and
5. Friedman, four German socialists
who had been expelled from Germany
for taking an active part in the social
istic movement in that country. There
was fair sprinkling Of women i'm the
audience, all of whom showed their
sympathy for the exiles by wearing red
silk bows and ribbons in their hats and
bOnnets. A large red flag hung over
the entrance to the hall. Robert Bar
tholemOe was elected chairman, and
John Ritter, agent Of the German sec
tion in this city, introduced the exiles,
who were received with great cheering.
Winnen, who appeared to be the most
intelligent Of the men, delivered an ad-
dress, in which he gave long account
of the tyranny practiced upon the work
ingmen in Germany. He did not deny
that they were revolutionists, but they
had never sought bloody revolution,
preferriug resolution TO be achieved by
the ballot and not by the bullet. They
had always, he said, advised their party
10 he law-abiding citizens, aud on the
very day when they left Germany, when
multitude Of people gathered to see
them of, they issued a proclamation
asking their friends not to do anything
that would call for the interference of
the police. OF the f0rty-six socialists
expelled from Germany, the speaker
said two were members Of the German
Parliament. They intended, he said, to
return to Berlin on the re-assembling Of
Parliament, aud take their seats at the
risk Of being arrested.
1t has been freely stated here within
a week that the Northern Pacific Rail-
road Company has concluded a contract
to grade, tie aud lay with steel one hund-
red miles Of that road west from Bismark,
at a cost of 5000 per mile. This, it is
also claimed, is the cheapest contract yet
taken from a railroad in the United
States. Singular is the coincidence that
the railroad, which in 1873, by the col
lapse Of its prOmpters, brought on the
panic, should in five years have recov-
cred enough confidence in its territorial
grant and enough carefulness in its d.
rectOry 10 resume its continental pur-
poses and start westward again on the
line of the Upper Missouri. Have we
reached the end Of the dog days There
is another coincidence. When Jay
Cooke & Co. failed in Philadelphia, the
members of that firm imputed some
strong personal or rival opposition to
the house Of Drexel & Co. Circulars
had been issued anonymously, money
articles in newspapers given a bias, and
satire called into request 10 prejudice
the Northern Pacific enterprise as pre-
posterous. Bankers can hate like poets
and women.
ID lhe course Of four or five years, the
DIeAels turned out TO be heavy lenders
oil money to the Poppenhusens and
Others proprietors of one Of the oldas,
anu most conservative railroads in the
EAsI' Ihere seemed to be a wide dif-
ference in the degree Of risk. The ronr an,
Island railroad had almost ,be 49,, <
oily oi fertile and populons island q,
which was one city Of bolf III, -,
people. The Northern Pacia. I,-i,.,.,
ran through a country wltbon, -
towns than such as the railroad o..,,
create. Yet both parties We're won-,
up within five years Of each other. rrl,-
Poppenhusens were close and penuri.
Gus German people who had risen from
humble position to be proprietors O
Goodyear patents, and were reported Z
be worth S6,OO0,O00 when they broke o.
the Long Island Railroad for mere bag
atelle, just as the Cookies, in want of Oc
.eupati0a, made the Northern Pacii
toaa ? Rroteas. To-day. the Drexels, a
-'id-hoiders. axe e. I'd 70 own tbe lon