Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1881-04-07
Agents for the "Teller.'
WILLARD AND THE NORTHERN
PACIFIC.

Dispatches announce that Henry
Willard, president of the O. r. d n
Co., has brought an injunction suit
against the president directors and Ger
tain stock holders Of the Northern
Pacific to restrain them from the iss'l-
ance and transfer of 10000 shares of
their reserved stock to the original
stock holders of the company who
claim to have been entitled to it, I'M
der the arrangement by which the
company was recognized after the fail
ure of Jay Cook. AS near as we can
understand, the pretext for this IN
junction is that full notice was not
given of the purpose to issue this stock.
Willard had very quietly and without
the knowledge of the present manage
ment, bought up s27, 100000 of the
common and preferred stock of the
Northern Pacific after he found he
could not induce the man
agement to believe it good policy to
terminate their road west at Aims
worth and make use of the o. r. Il
Co.'S, road down the Columbia to the
Pacific ocean, and thus not construct
the branch across the Cascade noun
tains. No other prominent object was
sought of Northern Pacific manage
ment than this which was refused, so
far as we can learn. This being re-
fused, Willard then conceived the plan
Of securing if possible, the majority of
the stock of the company quietly, so
that in September next he could elect
a management that would subserve his
wishes, and when he thought he had
this secured he made the announce
ment of the fact and had it telegraphed
to this coast and elsewhere, which
caused large advance in the o. r. e.
N. Co.'S stock, and upon this advance
he showed off about $4,000 of the
stock of his own company, that of the
o. R. Il N. Co., and made by the op-
GRAFTON about 81, 100000 This specu-
lation was heralded as wonderful
feat in stock jobbing and Willard gets
the credit Of being the shrewdest finan
cial operator of the age and throwing
Jay Gould, Keene and Vanderbilt in
the shade. But peradventure it turns
out that the president and other own
ers Of the Northern Pacific had in re.
serve 10000 shares of the stock val
ued at eighteen million dollars to
which they are lawfully entitled un-
der the conditions of the reorganiza-
ton Of the company when the old bond
holders bought the road and which
Willard never took into account in his
financial figuring for the controlling
interest The parties owning and en-.
titled to these shares finding that the
stock of the company was advancing
under the management of President
Billings demanded that this stock
should be issued to them that they
might make such transfers Of it as
would be to their benefit while the
price OF shares was in the advance.
10 this urgent demand the board of
directors were in duty bound to &C,
cede in justice to the owners thereof,
and they did so, although as President
Billings says he had hoped that it
would have remained unissued until
its issue was demanded for further
work on the road. From this state
ment it does appear that the. order for
this issue had nothing to do with the
movements of Willard, but it would
seem that large portion of this issue,
Willard found out was to those persons
who were favorable to the present
management, instead of to those whose
interest in the company had been
transferred to Willard when he ac-
quired the twenty-seven million, and
left him minus the control of the COM
pany. Hence he procures the injunc-
ton temporarily to throw the whole
matter in donht about he ...4,