Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-09-09

treasury at once compelled and attract
ed immense investments IN vell-found-
ed enterprises of industry and trade IN
country which. emerged but nfteen
years from a civil var-whose sacrifices
of able bodied producers and OF accu-
INFLATED wealth had never been eQualed
appalled, its creditors by paying Its
debts, and impoverished its lenders by
the reduction Of interest they submitted
70 to escape the payment Of the pTinsi-
pal. Just and well tried confidence IN
the character, NO less than IN the ablli-
ty of the sponsors for the ultimate out
come of the outlay-f mean of the emil
nent men who have conducted and are
conducting the affairs of this company
has formed the controlling, the un-
failing, the indispensable element IN
that faith among men which has sup
piled the means for this completed
structure. To you, Mr.. Willard, and to
you, Governor Smith, TO you. Mr.. Bill
lings, and all the other presidents, pres
emf or absent-to you. and all others
who have felt your arms lean on them
for support, this day crowns your
labors, and we, your fellow-citizens.
and these foreign guests. applaud your
triumph.
cannot stay your train TO unfold the
manifold qualities in the management
of this enterprise. which deserve illus
tration, but may insist for a moment
upon few principal traits. / cannot
discover that there has ever been en-
grated upon this enterprise any con-
struction company to suck the prosperl-
ty That belongs to the original growth.
do not perceive that excessive rates,
either of interest for money or OF pay
ment for labor or materials for want OF
money, have imposed upon the enter
prise burdens disproPortionate to the
values which its debentures or its stock
fairly represent. do not find any just
ground for complaint in political or
popular estimate that the United States
has burdened its revenues With subsi-
dies which. for the public interest, were
unnecessary or excessive, for from the
beginning to the end the enterprise has
not received q dollar from the public
funds. find no fair ground for cavil
at the land grants of the Government
along the route, as improvident or show
ing no adequate return of value either
t. the Treasury or expectant settlers on
the pus lic domain. Even if We look at
the Government in the mere light OF
private proprietor, who will not himself
incur the expense and the risks of open
ing communication between his unpeo-
pied wilderness and the land seeking
population, We find the Government,
without dollar of outlay, made more
than whole for the lands it has parted
with by the enhanced selling value of
its wide domain. But when We consid-
or that the future settlers on the Com
pany's lands, as we'll as in the reserved
public lands, forever contribute to the
tax paying wealth of the people, and
the strength and power of the nation,
We see that there is no sensible analogy
between the interest of private person
in the ownership of land and that of
the Government as an administrator,
for the general welfare of the public
domain. And, finally. the settlers. who
will follow your track, and at once find
their frugal means and their farm pro-
ducts at no disadvantage frsm distance
or isolation from market, but on a level
with all the world, will easily under
stand that, but for the wise iberality of
the Government in this matter of rail-
road communication, either the lands
would have remained inaccessible to
agricultural settlers, or would not have
been worth their acceptance, as gift,
with bounty besides.
The Northern Pacific railroad thus
completed has, Mr.. President, through
your seasonable and successful connec-
ton of its system with the we'll develop
ed and fully operating scheme of the
Oregon Railway and Navigation system
by the firm ties of justice and interest,
been secured against vicissitudes and
disasters to which, with less prudence
and less good fortune, it might have
been exposed. It is not, then, merely
upon the continuous track that you
have just established, but also upon the
united and impregnable chain of travel
and traffic between the Pacific and the
Atlantic coasts. that your Company to-
day looks with satisfaction and your
guests offer their congratulations.
Mr.. President and gentlemen, the
magnitude and rapidity of the recent
strides in our country's progress in ma
terial development, dwarf and belittle
the steps in our advancement which We
used to consider with complacency and
admiration. Less than forty years ago,
| as lately as the year 1847, in the little
State of New Hampshire. the energy of
its people, allied with the wealth of
Boston, had pushed their Northern
Railroad over the ridge of highlands
which divide the narrow bottom lands
of the Merrimac from the wider valley
of the Connecticut. The opening of this
section of the road, from Franklin te
Grafton, was an occasion of great exul-
tation, and distinguished company of
the solid men of Boston had come up
from that city, in a forenoon, to meet
the gathered citizens of New Hampshire
in a grand celebration. The road trav.
ersed the farm of Mr.. Webster, and he
took part in the pride and pomp of the
occasion. Magnifying, as an orator
should, the greatness of this triumph
over the obstacles which nature had in
terposed, and over time and space, and
p,rtraying the advantages which were
70 flow from it, with out the least sense
of hyperbole. he exclaims, Fellow citi-
zens. can We without wonder consider
where We are and what has brought as
hero p How vast all the dimensions
and proportions of the completed enter
prise We now applaud, seem by the side
Of the achievement which the great ora
tor and statesman of our country thus
proudly c0mmemorated, to these sober
minded New Englanders, as wonder
This last achievement of the intelligence
ulkO ouotky VI JUL pOORho CittuDo OVoI
the lofty range of mountains which d.
vides the waters Of the continent be-
tween the two great oceans Of the world.
It binds together by one more indissolu-
BILE bond the destinies Of a great
people who look from the windows of
their habitation upon the horses of the
sun as they rise from the stormy
waves of the Atlantic, and again
when they quench their Ere in the
smooth waters Of the Pacific. 1t
forms one more portage for the water
borne commerce which plies be-
tween Europe and Asia. It brings new
fields to tillaRe adequate to feed tens of
millions, under whose healthful and
happy toll their seed time and harvest
shall never fail, and tens of millions
more. less fortunate, who crowd the
workshops and the factories. the cities
and the mines of Europe and America
- - - Ind vwsl HI A.