Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-10-05

Vi the mIRhttest corporation or a Var
; csfoiit tihat ID, they ought TO bel az,
snat nave they done? They have take
.ae pubic domain, which should hav
oeen the people heritage 70 future sen
efetions, and given three hundred mill
aou acres OF 10 to great. greedy, or.su
ing, so0lless corporations, vhica ar. 10
gay defyine the Territories. States. ant
.ne Governments Itself. There il moth
ing IN history TO equal these inmens.
grants OF the public domain. and /
means the putting Of a most terri6.
agency IN the hands of soulless, grasp
ING never-dyinR monopolIes. The great.
sst danger which the United States i,
threatened With today is the greed OF
these great corporations, which have
osen made powerful by the favoritisu
u congress. Statistics show ih at while
uerinR tne past twenty years the wealth
81 tnis Nation has greatly increased
VIC potlion tnat goes to the po0r nan
anu tne iaoorer has yearly decreased.
40 1nsse corporations and among those
VINO tAtten GU them you find vast. cot
lossal fortunes, raised by the favay;,isn,
OF your agents, who have accepted brides
70 give away this vast area of lands.
suppose You make some person your
agent BY power of attorney TO transs G,
business for you and be accepts a bribe
to give away your property and thus de-
fraud and ruin you? That man ia
branded by all honest, right thinking
people as a thief.
Wnile these favored men are growing
richer: we read that in the United States
oo,Oo laboring men and mechanics
nave been throvn out of employment.
"niie the rich are Rroxing richer, the
poor are turned out to starve.
10 you fancy that even in a country
so ricn In every natural advantage as
our own, mat the poor are going to sob
mit 20 tue adherence of this sort of
tninRi Ne. my fellow citizens. Wher-
ever there Is oppression there is bound
70 be resistance. That time has already
come In Washington Territory.
Inc Northern Pacific Railroad Com
pany u here xith the brazan effrontery
tnat onlv corporations of that kind pos
sess. asking for more. This CORPORA.
ton should stand upon the same plat
form as the poorest man. This con-
pany ~ asking for more Of the publie
land. They call il an extension. Il is
not an extension, for they have never
earned an acre of land west of the Mis-
sour river, and the time has long since
iapsed when they could earn it. Ii is
safe 10 say there Is not an intelligent
man or woman la Washington Terri
tory VINO IS not opposed to further grants
OF public lands tn corporations, or who
would be willing to see Congress make
grant OF land to any corporation. The
tendency OF these grants is to prostitute
legislation. fou all remember how the
entire country was shocked at the ex-
posures made during the investigation
OF the Credit Mobilisr frauds, the ont
CROWN OF the Union Pacific land grant,
ana how men whose names had pre-
yiously been household words. were
olackened aud ruined by conplicity in
these frauds. IL has been the practice
OF the Government TO generously give
one half OF the public lands 20 railroads.
and make amends by charging the
pioneer who comes west 20 hev ont A
home, double price for his little farm.
As said before, the Northern Pacific
Railroad Company is before YOU asking
Tor a land grant. The railroad people
call II renewal of the old grant. They
say they have acted in good faith, and
the lapssd grant should bs continued.
Let rs see. They have held shat grant
from the public for 20 years. Daring
the f1rst tive years not a foot of road
Was built, and NJ this time, after 20
years. the road lacks several hundred
miles of completion.
The Northern Pacific Railroad Com
pany has aevsr complied with a single
condition OF it's charter. and | challenge
contradiction OF this statement. II a
citizen IN taking mp land fails to com
ply with the laws pertaining thereto, he
IS refused the land. Why should not
the same rule be applied to corpora
tons Here comes the Northern Pa
cine Railroad Company, with a grant
larger than the whole OF the New Eng
land States by ten thousand square
miles, and pleads that Ii has acted in
good faith. Was il good faith when il
got up that out-throat land contract,
which reserves to the company from
the settlers everything but the posses
sion of the land, aud that only on GER
tain conditions, which my friend Voor-
bees alluded to at length? There ID not
10 be found. either in England or the
United States, 9 more infamous oon-
tract than this. Ii has not confined
itself TO selling what it had, but has sold
as well what 1t never had, nor never can
legally obtain.
This company has Disseminated in
freight rates by charging less money for
hauling freights greater distance than
they do less distance. For instance,
IL charges as much money for hauling a
ton of freight from st. Paul to Walia |
Waila as 1t does for hauling ton of |
freight from st. Paal to Portland. Ore
gon, and back to Walla Walla. Is that |
specimen OF their good faith One
of the greatest arguments used by cor
~ Ga 81 he -.
inal grant 90 the Northern Pacific Rail. |
road, was that an opposition or COM
peting line should be built, 80 that the |
other transcontinental lines further
south could not overburden the people. |
This sounded fine at the time, but let as |
see how il came out. Did not the agents |
of the company few months ago, after |
they had arranged for through oonnee-
lien to Portland, enter into a contract |
with the Central Pacific road, by which |
the ono line Was to have all the territory
north OF a certain line. aud the other
all the territory south of that line. and
together they agreed to bleed the people |
all they could possibly stand +? II that's
a specimen OF their good faith God
spare us from any more of 10. IL the
Government does not step In and RENE |
dy these evils the American people will
soon DO little better than serfs.
Here the pioneers came long before |
railroads, and hewed eat homes in the
forests, and bpilt M prosperous towns
and ties. and after these pioneers are
gray and bowed With age, this railroad
cSmpAny comes along to relieve them
of their property. In other words, the
Government of the United States has
entered into q contract with the rail |
road company TO tax you st its will. |
The men and women OF Washington |
Territory Gill make great mistake IL
they do not come down on this hydra. |
headed monopoly.
The Republican platform is the most |
monstrous thing ! ever save. II has
been said that the Republican Conven-
ton was composed of conductors and
brakemen from along the line of the
Northern Pacific. and this probably was
the case. barring few respectable peo-
pie from King. Yakima, Clarke and one
or two other counties. but the respect
able delegation from Yakima Was
thrown oat, and the good people from
King came near breaking ~ the con-
yentiou.
Mhsre il this man Armstrong D Why
/ n a. 4 =