, 1884-04-05
An TSWISE MOVE.


\ special Gi patch to the TriJaUe
from 81 ok me FALL, W. T., gives
some very imf Ortant information as
to the feeling Of the business men Of
that and other towns Of that region
concerning the recent advance in
freight rates 10 thhSc points by the
Northern Pacific Railroad Company.
There can be no doubt of the serious
character Of thesituation to the bust
ness Of the places named, and of the
decided hardship it puts upon the
wholesale merchants and manufac-
turers of Minneapolis and st. Paul.
An advance of the freight rates be-
tween Minneapolis and Spokane
Falls to figure exactly equal to the
rate between New York and Spokane
is at once an absurdity and an injus-
tice, concerning which there can be
only astonishmcntand emphatic pro-
test on the part of the entire North
west. 1t is not easily understands
bic how the Northern Pacific Com
pany could have thought it to its own
interest to attempt ruinOus discrim-
inatiOn Of this character against the
very Territory through which its
lines are built and upon which it must
depend for its business, to say moth
ing Of the charges of gross unfairness
as to its business methods which it
would be compelled to bear at the
hands Of reasonable business men
everywhere. The cities of Minneap-
oils and st. Paul are certainly con-
siderable elements in the develop
ment of the Northern Pacific system,
and they would be so even if the
Northern Pacific railroad extended
much farther toward the east than it
does. Occupying, as they do, prac-
tically terminal positions on the line,
they become of still greater impOr-
tance to the business of the road. .
New York City cannot develop the |
Northwest, nor can she furnish with |
the promptness desired and cheap
ness essential the sum total of the !.
supplies needed in the eprosecution of !
that great work. Neither can Boston, |
nor Pittsburg, nor st. Louis. They |
are all too far distant from the coun- |
try itself to safely maintain those |
close commercial relations, involving |
the usual business credits and accom- |
modations, and they can never be
legitimate exclusive centers for the .
trade of the great Northwest. That
trade, or the bulk of it at least, be-
longs in Minneapolis, and its natural
tendency in this direction is well il
lhstrated by statements of certain
wholesalers and manufacturers in
this city who state that their bust
ness from the farther Northwestern
Territories in January, February and
the first half of March of this year
has been for these months respect.
lively so, 20 and 80 per cent. greater
llltiu II WIS lOT lllG Sdlllt lnOulllS Ol J.
1888. 1t cannot continue to increase
in this or in any other proportion if
the new rates are to stand, and their
general effect upon the entire north
western business, west of Bismarck,
at least, cannot be otherwise than
paralytic. Such a state of affairs
must also bring its disadvantages and
its losses to the Northern Pacific road
itself and secure for it the i'll will of
a very large business community
which ought to be and wants to be
its constituent and its friend. There
seems, in fact, to be necessity for no
argument as to the unwisdom of this
move on the part of the new mana
gers of the road. The action should
be recOnsidered and rescinded--and
that, too, at the very earliest posi-
ble date.