Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-09-09

rne Probable Cause OF the d. X. d W
Reduction.
Historian

Historian
The Northern Pacific Railrsad ana
tbeO Ran. Co. are at presens enRaReo
in one Of the biggest games OF sion "h
When President Harris was here,
ahont a month ago, he SAID that " was
orohable the o. T. a. n. people would
fasse their entire property 10 his CON
nanv for a term Of ninety nine years,
n a few weeks. Shortly after his re-
,nrn Ia New York it became maniits!
tbat the o. X. & n. managers conciooeo
thew were a little too hssty, ana oeRah
40 sxhibit An unwilliDgDess 20 make the
Ieaaa which bad been leoked upon oS
the N. p. folks as something ALREADY VIZ
sually accomplished. ia.
n r.. IN. stock went up day a'ter
day. and the company. seeing the App,e
c,a,iop and realizing that they held tue
kew 10 the position, did not consomms'e
Amt This time the n. p. concluded
.hat the beat way to force ths game vas
10 show their strength. AccofolntS 40
aa,,t want out that on and after tue ISL
vhs.t vould be carried from all points
ssst Of Wallula junction Ia Duiatn'
N,rueapolis or St. Paul for $o ton,
I'D worla be taken thence 10 LlSerpool
Ss,ha lales and Atlantic route Tor SI.oo
d ton. .,..,,,l.
hlnH The n. p. cannot aud VIII hot
make any such arrangement ior ~
wnoId be ruinous. IL would be TO carry
vh,.at for less than half cent Der tnii
IL whsn sucn men as Vanderbilt,
Eould and Field, who have the shing
down 20 science, say the actual cost 10
their great corporations IN carrying
wheat Is of n cent yer ton per hi1e.
Bot n had It's effect, for the same dat
that the decree Was made paoiic " H.
N. stock began 10 drop. aud counter
move Was necessary.
That counter move We all ace IN sue
rsduot,ou of wages by the y. h. a n. 20.
They simply rais- the Northern Pacinc
folks ky5O 100 better. The moving vi
airs ysur's grain crop eastward Instead
Of westward would greatly curtaii the
q. Ans revenues this fall. aud the
far nrrsump,i.n is that that gas the IN
tsn,i,,n: that the y. Il. & N. people
should be forced Into signing the las
rather than lose 80 much business Inc
latter nov retort by virtually saying
"Go ahead; Garry the eastern Oregon
and Washington wheat eastward ~
loss. We can stand it. whatever We
would have made by the trsihc ~nich
Won take FROM ~ xe will more than N axe
up by cutting of 10 per cent. oil our ~ !,
pensee OF running, amounting W $ooo'oOo
annually"
Anotnsr apparent reason for reducing
The sal res Is the necessity that the ".
X d N. folks are under OF making ta'f
showing of earning ~ percentage on
the amount Of capital invested. inere
In TODAY. probably. one million dollars
invested IN the U. X / N. boats that Is
NO, earning one dollar. TIE Olympian
over on the Sound Is not paying ex'
pepses: the Alaskan IL tied mp at Fort
land. All along the Columbia may toe
found boats idle and "A constant source
Of expense. All these 20 to swell TIE
sum on which interest must accrue. On
the princ,ple that Dollar saved IL two
dollars earned, the y. X. a N. Co. IL re-
trenchinQ in the matter OF salaries
They figure that by cutting down the
wages OF their employees they can effect
a saving that will enable them to declars
a dividend and keep their stock from
depreciatipg in Wall street. In this II
is with them matter of self detense.
IL Is also a question Of judgment. Econ
omy in any business Ia only another
name for good management. Ii 10 be
good management for the D. X. q N. Go.
10 ALLEVIATE the good wishes and active
cooperation Of hundreds of employees,
then what they are doing now Is good
business policy; but human nature ID
human nature the world over, and when
man who has pitched in and studied
his employers interest right along binds
that he 10 cut down and treated as
hireling, he is not likely to exert him
self very much or do more than he
thinks is fair equivalent for the
wages that he is proffered. As the
matter now stands it IL an interesting
neht; the question being who will win.
the Northern Pacific or the y. X. x
N. Go.