Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-06-11
DAILY POST. INTElL|GENCER.


.In the name OF logic" asks OUT
axc,..d friend. the Tacoma Ledgs',
" what does upwards OF 2Voo miles %
track in operation mean but Rooa iAi,A'
vbsn the contract simply called Tor the
hn;ldino of this track p The Ledger
rafars 10 the Northern Pacific Railroad
Comnany in the above. II beas the
question. Ne do not know ~ha'
means in the name Of logic, but nave
vsry clear idea of what it means 10 'ne
Mana ot law and justice. OF the Ap
u;lss of railroad above referred TO- Oul
zen miles we're completed on the 10th OF
In,v 1s79-two years after the whole
,oad was to have been finished. The
contract called for many other things
than the building of this track" III
aver an agreement VAS made or con-
tract executed of which time was INC
sssence. il was that between the Norsn-
srn Pacific Railroad and the oni'eo
statss Government. II ever case eh-
istsd in which the very essence OF 'ne
contract WAS shamefully and shame
,esalx violated, it is this. Building tbs
road after the contract was broken was
mo, an exhibition of good faith. Ihou-
oonds Of miles of railroad have been
hn;,t in the same period. involving
GREATER outlay and over regions far 1888
productive, without subsidy or claim OF
snbsidy. They are equally entitieo W
IL with the Northern Pacific.
What" asks the LedgeT, liz the
name of argument does grand Trans
continental line, lacking but lso miles
- oompls,ion, mean but good faitn
when its building was the sole co''d'''o"'
The italics are our own. The Ldger is
,espectfully referred TO the contract
n v;ll be found IN law passed July z
,ssA. and some resolutions passed oJ
Oonorsss in 1869 and 1870. II after read
inc those documents it asserts that she
mere building of track across the COZ
tinent was the sole condition, we shai
despair of it's ability TO comprehend
,,ain statement OF facts. II will ma
wa think. several conditions mentioned
M. the least OF which is that work snai
ma prosecuted from year to year, ane
oompletsd within twelve years, to which
was afterward added another year. Il
oil, nots also tn 1t more than 100 mile
remain to be constructed to complete
its contract, TO wit: the section iron
WaIlula to Portland, and the section
from Puget Sound TO Ainsworth, not
mile of either section of which IL com
pleted and In operation.
"In the name of common sense
saws the Ledger, what does the active
work now going on along this unoom
Melted portion mean but good faith Z
IA means bunoombs, fraud. humbuR
Nothing less. The section OF twenty
five miles westward from Ainswortt
never has been operated as q railroad
When the government inspectors came
out-the gentlemen who said the Puyail
No coal road was all right engine and
car were run out from the main line to
the end of the track, on little excur'
sion. then run back and hauled OH
That was the beginning and Is thus fai
the end of active operations on any
legitimate portion of the Cascade
Branch. Today hand car furnishe.
the only means Of looomotion afforded
bv the Northern Pacific Railroad Com
pany on its Cascade Branch, and the
force employed in " rushing the work
on that much desired section of railroad
could not, unless augmented many fold
complete IL until the middle OF the
twentieth century. Good faith indeed
Now II is alleged that new section Of
twenty. five miles OF road is to be buil'
eastward from South Prairie. Possibly
but what for Ostensibly to extend the
Cascade Division. Really TO perfect it;
title TO the Green River coal fields and
the best timbered sections west of the
Cascade Mountains. Compare the al
legged prosecution Of work on this Gas
cade Branch with the work being dons
by the Jay Gould and .. X. * N. Co
arrangements in railroad building in
Oregon, Idaho and Utah. then say Il
work even now Ia being prosecuted In
good faith.