, 1881-04-09
RAILROAD RACKET.
Distribution of $4,000. 900 Com.
mon Stock Of the Northern
Pac;fc to the Proprietory
How thc Sly Old Nan Laughed as the Iiltle
Fish when he Attempted 90
swallow the whale.

swallow the whale.
The Chicago TiE,ss is giving us the true
inwariness of the present railruad I'M
broglio between Willard It al and the
North Pacific So far We have heard the
usual one side Of the question through
the OrsgoAida Readers of the STATES
MAN will be interested in the following:
PHILApELPHIA, March 2l.-The bro
kers and Third street generally We're as
tounded early this morning TO discover
that the Nurlhern Pacific railroad had
resolved To hand over 10 the proper
owners IN, 900 shares, representing S2v,-
OO0, 900 worth Of stock Of that company.
The lucky few who received the notice
of the treasurer and their stock In their
mornings mail were not less surprised
than the street, ii they were more grati-
fed. They risKed their money years ago,
held their securities while they sold at
l2l cents on the dollar, and at last reapea
a rich harvest at the most unexpected
time In March, 1870, when Jay Cooke
determined TO build the Northern Pacific
railroad he called about him few gen
tlemen and asked them to pat up 50 ,OOO,-
900 cash to begin the work. The amount
was divided INTO one hundred interests,
afterward known as Proprietary interests,
and was allotted on the following con
ditions: The cwner Of each interest Was
required To put up 600, for which he
received so, 900 IN the first bonds issued
by the company, and right to between
eight and nine hundred shares Of the
common stock on the completion OF the
road, or sooner, IN the discretion Of the
directors of the company Some Of the
interests were divided, So that tlrre
we're at least five hundred original sub
scribers One vr two persons took as
much as FIVE interests, but by Tar the
larger number were held by several per-
sons. Last week the directors deter
mined to use their discretion in the mat
ter, and send the stock ont to the per-
sons entitled to it. On Saturday an
official circular was issued from the conf
pany's Office in New York, notifying the
proprietary interests of this determine
ton, and announcing that the common
stock had been transferred to them on
the books Of the company. All holders
Of Northern Pacific securities have al
WAYS known that the total amount OF the
common stock was S49, ,OOO, 600, Of which
but 500, 600, 600 had been issued up to
last Saturday. The exact condition un-
der which the balance Of the $50 ,0OO, 900
in stock was held, has not been known TO
EVERYONE, and If has never been published
until to-day. As has been said, the
original intention Was not to hand over
to the owners the stock until the road
WAS complete, and those entitled 10 1t
were greatly surprised at the action OF
the board in anticipating that period. 1t
is said that very little Of the stock will be
put upon the market, as most Of 1t goes
INTO the hands of persons who have great
confidence in the future OF the road
The general impression is that the putting
out OF the stock hits the Oregon party
n ,r,,ttv severe blow same tnn months
ago, a number Of gentlemen. among them
Henry Willard, George NJ. Pullman, and
others, CouutCtcu WIN thS OANooA
gation company, "went into Northern
Pacific. They gave out that they IN
tended to buy up a controlling interest
in the road, and proposed to take the
concern into their own hands at The
election in Sept mber- They bought
heavily, and The price Of common shares
rose from - to 81 under their large pur-
chases. The preferred shares also adj
vanced sharply 1t was believed by the
controlling parties of the Northern Pa
cific that the real objective point OF the
Oregon party was, not to get control,
which was regarded as impossible, but
that they wanted to make little money
and endeavor to force the Northern
Pacific to use the property of the Oregon
Navigation company, on the Paclhc
Coast, for the terminus Of that road, and
otherwise benefit the Navigation cont
psny. When the reports came thick and
fast of the immense interest that was
being acquired in Northern Pacific by
the Navigation company, the sly Old
capitalists Of the former laid back IN their
easy chairs and laughed at the idea OF
the smaller animal swallowing the Larger