Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-04-06
DAILY PoST.Is1ttuGEAcER.


There was meeting held in our
neiphboring city of Tacoma last THURS
day evening. Several resolutions xere
adopted opposing forfeiture # the IN
earned land grant to the Noith.rn IA
citic Railroad Company. The secoud
resolution ia as follows:
Reso',ed, That the resolutions hilo
memorials which IN sev-rPl instance
hay. gone to Congress IN irFYf % ~
forfeiture of the said grant, were R'o'-
instrumentation of facts hey 57''r
that this land grast - b"idlhR Itou
honest settlement millions "I 4c4ts ..
Japd. AID represent ~ t"n"Ief7 'nH'
the people are crying out III pAo.S9'
against an alleged robbery OF the puoiie
domain. We denOuHce thls the"fs ~
unsupporfed by facts We H's =, "
the building of the Northern f-eihc
Railroad has opened up To seti. ."-,it
thousand times area oil ts 1fhn
GRANT. We assert that nine ten'ns %
the region bordering on Inc ,ts1sut
diyisiou-that portion against ~uich
the sIinRs Of oppOsItion nave peeh
mainly directed-will never be inhAbis
ed nv man. will never be useful Tor sst-
tI.ment. unless developed by the bniio
inc of the Northern Pacific Railroad
When assertions are made 1t Is emf
nsutly proper that they be supported ny
facts. II is alleged that the several res
olutions and memorials in favor OF Tor
feiture which have been sent to Con
Oress are untruthful, that they are gross
misreprese nations. This resolution as
serts that the building Of the Northern
Pacific Railroad has opened up to settle
m.nt a thousand timer he drsa If IT.
iou.d grant.
When this question OF forfeiture was
before Congress in 1882, majority OF
the House Judiciary Committee, to
whom it Was referred, Submitted some
6Qnres prepared by the Auditor OF
railroad accounts. From theee 1t ap-
pears that the total length of the main
stem and branches Of the Northern Pa
oi6o Railroad then constructed and
projected was 24jO miles, to which II
vas claimed there attached land grant
Of 1880, 600 acres. II il asserted by
this resolution as fact. that the building
of the Northern Pacific Railroad has
opened to settlement 1900 times this
area. or. in other words, 1920, oO,Oc'
acres. This is quite An extensive region
of country to be open d up by one rail
road, as We shall presently see. Can II
be possible that the building Of Thu
railroad has aided in settling up til,
Moon?
Figures like facts are stubborn things
The total landed area of the Earth
surface is 52,0OO,0O0 square miles, Of
1880 0OO, 900 acres, less than three
ffths the area alleged in this remarka
bic resolution to have been "openeC
up." Has the Northern Pacific Rail
road opened the whole Earth to settle
mont What have the other railroad
been doing prior to and pending its con
structiou? Where have the population
Of the world resided during the pas
600 years? The area of North Americ
10 100000 square miles. or 5,S2i,cOO,OC
acres. Has this bene6oent mopopol
"opened up" the whole Of North Amer
car What have the 10000 miles O
other railroads been doing! The are
of the public lands Of the United State
in 1882 was-surveyed, s3) ,Ga, iS0 acres
unsurveyed, 994, 272,G22 acres; tota
1894 ,907. 102 acres. or about per cent
Of the area alleged by this Tacon
meeting TO have been opened up to set
Element by the construction of this vi
completed railroad.
We have published these figures I
show how absurdly and grossly peopl
allow themselves to err in adopting res
olutions alleging assumed facts.
Let us go little further. The are
Of public lands, surveyed and unsnI
veyed, in the States and Territorie
through which the Nortt ern Paciii
Railroad is built and projected, was i
1882 as follows: