The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1881-03-03
VANCOUVER INDEPENDENT.
THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 1851.

when we read in the Oregonidn the
assertion that Mr.. Henry Willard had
succeeded in capturing controlling
interest in the Northern Pacific Rail-
road. Nor were we alone to feel bad
about it. Every body outside of Port
land and the owners and managers of
the o. r. & n. Co. must have felt as
we did. We asked ourselves whether
this result was to be the outcome of the
princely gift of the public domain by
the nation to the Northern Pacific;
whether the vast grant of public lands
to this company, designed to afford fa-
cilities to commerce, to develop the
wonderful resources of the coast, was
to be converted into an engine for
making its agricultural, industrial,
mining and commercial interests mere
branches of revenue to swell the gains
of monopoly; whether, in fact, the
gift made for the benefit of the people
was to be used as means for the per-
pies oppression.
That the o. r. & n. Co. has been
full of enterprise; that it has, to some
extent, been of great benefit to the set
Element of both Oregon and Washing
ton Territory by maintaining COM
munication between the eastern and
western sections as we'll as with the
ocean, we cheerfully acknowledge; but
we object, especially as Washington
ians, to Portland being made the me-
tropolis for the whole northwestern
territory; at present, every move as
well as every newspaper article, seem
to be made with this object in view.
All the salmon fisheries when men
toned in Portland papers, are credited
to Oregon, whether located on the
Washington shore or not; it is the
same with the lumber cut on the north
shore or with the wheat that comes
down the Columbia, the larger por-
ton of which, although the produce Of
this Territory, is nevertheless credited
to Portland trade and Oregon produce
ton. 1t is easy to perceive that the
aim of the o. r. & n. Co. is to mOnop-
Ollie the trade of all this vast territory
and, if possible, to prevent the devel-
opment of that large city, now in the
womb of the future, which is certain
to be born on. the shores of Puget Sound
"A city not only sure to be born there,
but destined to eclipse in size and
rapid growth both Portland and San
Francisco itself. Now, therefore, our
hopes for cheap transportation and for
the development of our Territory, de-
pend upon the successful completion
Of the Northern Pacific, which will be
q check upon the natural tendency to
exhorbitant charges of the rival COM
pany. Competition is the life oftrade.
We would deem that a sad day indeed
for the best interests of this coast, in
which these great rival enterprises
should combine and pool their issues.
We were grieved as we'll as surprised
when we saw the article in the Ore
gOnidn which asserted that Mr.. Viii
lard had succeed in purchasing a con-
trolling interest in such vast and rich
corporation as the Northern Pacific,
which having already expended about
40 millions of dollars, has at its COM
mand another like sum in ready
money, in the hands of syndicate
composed of some half dozen of the
strongest banking houses in the civil
lized world. We could not believe
that the greater might be contained
in the less and, in spite of the asser-
tions of the OregoniGn, we did not
credit the story-we had pretty we'll
made up our mind that the whole
thing was stock jobbing report de-
signed for the purpose of raising the
selling price of o. r. & n. Co.'s stock
to enable some parties to unload their
shares at profit; let US say en- PEASANT
that the scheme has succeeded.
Among other reasons for our disbe-
lief WAS the fact that we gave Freder-
lex Billings, the Vermont President
of the Northern Pacific Railroad,
credit for too much energy and sagac-
ity to believe the story that he mad
fallen such an easy victim to the tao
tics and manipulations Of man who
does not command a quarter of his
capital or resources. And now comes
the New Tacoma Ledger, whose edi-
tor was likewise .skeptical, and who