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

and the clear feasibility of such An en-
terprise as that whose completion We
this day celebrate. He writes, in 1887:
"My feeble pen would fail me to ex-
patiate on the substantial, tims-endur-
ing glory which would rebound to our
nation should it engage in this stipend
Gus undertaking. DIR. Parker. a dis
tinguished missionary to the Oregon In
dams. who had repeatedly traversed the
route in 1893 to 1895, asserted that there
was no more difficulty in such railroad
than in one between Boston and Albany,
and prophesied that the time was not
distant when tours would be made
across the continent a. they were then
made to Niagara Willis Gaylord Clark
in 1888, in an eloquent exposition of the
subject in leading magazine. assever-
ated that s'ths reader il nov living who
will make a railroad trip across this vast
Continent Frustrated with this feel.
ing, the missionary, Whitman, in 1872
started on a winter journey to Washing.
ton across the Rocky Mountains, tc
awaken the State Department TO the
movements going on. in British inter
ests. TO ALLEVIATE from rs our Oregon
possessions. Under this impulse diplo-
matte negotiations we're pushed and
guided till the treaty of 1876 drsv the
boundary line between the two nations
and terminated the joint possession
Thus, all the early instincts and aspira-
tions for the transcontinental connec-
ton fastened themselves upon thu
northern route. The spread of know
ledge and zeal in the minds and hearts
of our countrymen had to do with this
project and No other.
But the acquisition of California,
the discovery of its till then hidden
gold. the absorption of people and gov.
eminent in the terrible struggles be
tween freedom and slavery for the 90
cupation of our new domain, and, final
| ly, the civil var, aroused new motives
and new arguments which urged ire
sistibly the transcontinental oOnnec-
| ton. bat diverted the first compliance
with the political, military and popular
exIgencies from the Northern to the
Southern and Central routes. Thus,
once more in human affairs, the last
was made first, and the first last. Dur
ing this period, however, the agitations
Of the subject before Congress and in
public meetings by Asa Whitney. the
convention at Chicago in the spring of
l849, and at st. Louis in the fall OF that
year, the vehement and persistent pro-
pagandism of Josiah Perham, all bad
to do with this Northern route, and the
feeling and interest thus awakened and
developed with this object, were, no
doubt, easily transferred to the service
of the other routes, when paramount
motives gave them the precedence. In
1853 Congress made appropriations for
the exploration and survey of all the
proposed routes, and valuable and ad-
equate exposition of the Northern path
way across the mountains was secured.
The survey from the east, under the
charge of Governor Stevens, and from
the west, conducted by Captain Nc
Clellan, met near the point where We
now stand, and these surveys have fur
nished the basis upon which the calcu-
lations and combinations, corporate
and financial, ever afterwards proceed
ed, till the point was reached when
actual construction needed to be pro-
vided for.
On the I'd of July, 1864, the bill fol-
the construction of the Northern Pacif-
ic Railroad was signed by Abraham
Lincoln. The enthusiasm of Perham
which Anticipated a rush of his country
men that would bring, il need be, a
million subscribers for $lC0 of the stock
apiece, induced the insertion of clause
in the Act prohibiting either the issue
of bonds or tho creation of a mortgage
in aid of the construction. This finafl
cial folly, and much time and labor
spent in trying to obtain from Congress
a very moderate aid by the Government
in the shape of guaranty of iuteres,
for a limited period, held the whole en-.
tsrprise in allegiance till, in 1870, the OBJ
noxious section was expunged from the
Act, ana some other beneficial pr0vis-
lens inserted, and the Company tool
the resolution to build the road on the
faith that capital would show in the
enterprise itself, and in the prospective
value of the Government land grant
should the construction be carried
through.
Perham's popular subscription having
proved wholly abortive, his organization
of the Company was transferred to ont
made up in New England in December
1865, of which Governor j. Gregory
Smith, of Vermont, became the Pfesi
dent. The financial agency of the en-
terprise was offered to, and after careful
examination and new survey, accept
cd by the eminent bankers, Jay Cooke
d Co., then in the highest repute from
their wonderful administration of the
immense Treasury transactions in the
issue and distribution of the bonds ol
the United States.
|. The wisdom of the selection of this
eminent financial agency and the i'm
mense enginery at its command were
quickly demonstrated. During tbs
years 1870 and 1871 the Company re-
csived nearly $780, 10000 from the sale
of its bonds conducted by Jay Cooke &
Co., and the money was rapidly ap
piled to the actual building of the road
The source of supply, however, proved
not to be perennial or inexhaustible,a and
the Company was pressed for funds il
the summer of 1872. A change Their
took place in the Pre- ,idency. The finan-
cial outlook for the enterprise became
less and less cncOuraging.tillt this gloom
spread over all our affairs, and the geuer.
al panic of 1873 swallowed up the Com.
pany and its financial agents in the
common insolvency. But this brief pc.
riod Of plenty and prosperity was well
employed. Never was the prudence Of
making hay while the sun shines more
clearly illustrated. In this period the
road was built from the east to the
Missouri river, and on the west between
Columbia River to Puget's Sound. Upor
this firm basis, AZ the pOa sfo Of Ar
chimedes, the skillful engineers of the
company's present prosperity have lifted
the heavy globe from the cataclysm il
which il was engulfed, till nov it blaxes
upon our eyes, "fofus in seipso, feres
aiqae refiiddas."
General Cass succeeded General Smith
as President, and skillfully nursed the
euergi q Of the enterprise during the in.
glorious period of its eclipse. He be-
came its receiver upon the decree OF
bankruptcy in 1875, and. through the
actual cautery foreclosure and sale, the
property became vested in the present
reorganization under the honest, gen.
erous, substantial and successful scheme
Of reconciliation between the disap-
pointed interests Of the past and the
hopeful interests of the future, known
a. the Billings" plan. This eminent
gentleman, who unites the unusual dis
tinctions of credit as q lawyer among
lawyers, and financier among finan
ciers. became Director in the Company
in 1870. and has continued in its man
agemeut ever since, succeeding Mr..
WRIGHT Of PENNSYLVANIA in lS7q and