Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-10-09
DAILY poST-lNTElLIGEhcER.


month by a representative of the st.
pan, piou,er Press. As the P'o"ssT
press enjoys the confidence OF the
Northern Pacific management ana az
dently advocates the interests OF tha'
company on all occasions. the state
ments made by Mr.. Cakes must oe
taken as correctly reported, aud In 'he
,.,nys ~ a semi official announcement
~ the intentions of his company. Inc
yanortsd interview is quite lengthy.
Among other things Mr.. Cakes ssid' re-
ferine to the Cascade Branch;
Under the terms of its charter, IN
order 10 keep good faith with the gov
synneut. il is the duty Of the Northern
Pacific TO complete its Cascade branen,
and this will be performed whether 'he
Oregon Railway aud Navigation DC
leased or not. In the interest OF econ
orrv the work upon this branch II now
nroorsssino slowly, and will be COM
pleted within two years. shouid DC
neceasary, however, 10 compete 'ne
branch earlier, it could be nnisheo Ia
one year.
There are two points in the foregoing
to which we invite attention Inc nrss
ia that ia order to keep good faith with
the Government the Cascade Branch
must be built, and will be whether or
not the Northern Pacific obtains lease
of the Oregon Railway and Navigati"n
Company's road. To the untutored
mind of one no. officially connected
with the Northern Pacific the assertion
or intimation that at this late day it u
possible for that company TO keep Ja'th
with the government or the people IN
respect to construction or completion OF
its Cascade Branch, is positively bewil-
dering. That company agreed TO com
plete this section of its railroad on or
before the fourth day Of July, 1877.
When that time arrived the west end OF
the completed section of It's main line
save the isolated portion from haiama
to Taooma-was about 400 miles from
Puget Sound. Now, seven years after
ward, 10 keep good faith Mr.. Cakes
saws that it is necessary TO complete the
Cascade Branch. This positive elimina-
ton Of the element OF time In the mat
ter of construction of this road Is one
of the most remarkable instances on
record of the railroad method Of con-
STRUNG the stipulations and conditions
of a charter. IL Is almost Sublime IN
its audacity. Il IL no wonder that all
she little Drained and hungry pocketed
fellows who ride on the brake beams of
political railr trains fall down and
worship ucn gall.
But Mr.. Cakes goes further. He says
that in the interest Of economy work on
the Cascade Branch Is progressing
slowly, and will be- completed within
tiOo gears. bat that should it be neces-
sary it csuld be finished tctthiH one year.
There ia decided conflict between this
official and his superior officer, Presi-
dent Harris. who declared here before
the Chamber of Commerce that 1t would
require at least tiso years to build the
two mile tunnel, work upon which has
not yet been begun. However, Mr..
Cakes probably knows more about rail
road building than Mr.. Harris.
Well, IL We are 10 believe Mr. Cakes,
trains will be running over the Cascade
branch in two years. Everybody will
be glad to know this. But just here is
1t not pertinent TO inquire under what
pretense OF law or Justice, any man
not a railroad ofiicial-be he candidate
or not-can advocate giving away
100000 acres OF public lands TO the
Northern Pacific for building that SEQ
ton OF railroad. The Republican Ter
ritoriai Convention declared itself in
favor Of FORGETTING unearned land
grants, and that for the sole purpose of
securing prompt construction of the
Cascade branch, did il consent 10 an
extension Of three years time TO the
Northern Pacific. II the advocates Of
conditional forfeiture were honest-and
We do not intend TO convey contrary
intimation-the only reason that they
favored an extension of time was TO Sc
cure prompt building OF the Cascade
branch. They argued that II the grant
was forfeited the road would not be
built by the Northern Pacific, and that
years would elapse before another com
pany would construct line of railroad
over the mountains. There was no
pretense by the conditional forfeiture
men that the Northern Pacific was en-
titled either legally or equitably to this
portion of its unoarned grant. Their
position was based purely on selfish
policy.
Now, that this reason-selfish thought
1t was-no longer exists, now that the
Cascade branch is in any event to be
constructed, with or without lease Of
the Walluls- Portland line, what differ
ence is there between the conditional
and unconditional forfeiture Republic.
oanss What reason exists for non ad-
vocacy Of absolute. promps and unoon-
ditional forfeiture. win some advocate.
some supporter OF the conditional for
feiiure planks of the Republican Terri
toriai Convention give one good and
sufficient reason for adhering TO the
position therein enunciated. win
some conditional forfeiture man
kindly tell as Why the Republican party
of Washington Territory should, In this
year OF grace, 1884. urge Congress TO
give the Northern Paeiic Railroad Com
pany an area Of land larger than tina,
embraced In either Maryland. Massa.
chusetts. New Hampshire. New Jersey,
or Vermont. an amount considerably
excesding the combined area Of Con-
neeticnt, Delaware. Rhode Island and
the District OF Columbia, for building
2Somiles OF standard gage railroad with
borrowed money! VIII Mr.. Armstrong,
the Republican nominee. please sx.
plain 10 his Republican friends. how
such subsidy can be justified ar an