, 1884-01-12
Wizards Management

Ii appears 10 be lac; that Henry
Willard has positively resigned the pfesi-
deny Of the Northern Pacific railroad.
and that his predecessor, Frederick Bl
lings, is To be re- installed in the position
THIS is, Of course, due 20 the recent de-
cline in the price OF the Willard stocks,
whose holders got frightened when their
pockets were touched by the fluctuations
of the stock exchange, and led them to
demand the resignation Of the great
railroad magnaie. There would have
been IN this proceeding nothing of par
ticular interest to the public-it would
have been simply a corporation matter
but for the villslnous Misrepresentation
to which Henry Willard has been sub
jected since his retirement He Is tie
best abused man in America since Horace
Greedy ran for the Presidency. Not con
tent with ousting him from the North
ern Pacific his former friends accuse him
of treachery and dishonesty, and attrib-
ute to him the recent decline IN North
EN- Pacific securities.
But the sober sense of the people at
large will not endorse all the hard things
that are said against Willard by those
whose pocket books have been affected
by the furry IN stocks. What Willard
has done is matter Of history HIS re-
Cord can be easily traced step by step
and the discerning public who have
watched the development Of his policy
can never be brought 10 believe that the
STAN of dishonesty or treachery to his
trusts clIngs to his name. lie was hrst
brought into national prominence by the
purchase and reorganization Of the old
Oregon Steam Navigation Company, and
through the famous blind pool he sue
ceeded in securing controlling interest
in the Northern Pacific railroad, and
thus effected a consolidation of the var
ious transportation systems Of the north
west These systems, while nominaliy
independent of each other, were prac-
ticallY one corporation. and were all, even
to the Northern Pacific, more or less
tributary to the Oregon Railway and
Navigation Co. It appeared 10 the pub
lie to be Wizards policy to make the tail
way the dog in this respect. The credit
of tie o. X. & \. Co. WAS used to en-
dorse loans for the construction of the
Northern Pacific, and the stock of these
companies formed the bulk OF the Ore
gon Transcontinental Cos securities.
Mr.. Willard introduced into the North
ern Pacific enterprise, more showy, but
at the same time more aggressive poll
cy. He inaugurated a policy of con-
struction that led to the completion ct
the road decade ahead of all anticipa-
tions, and made the nne-horse easy 90
ng old fogies Of the Billings stamp gasf
for breath in their ast"nishmsnt at the
way the work Of construction was rushed
through 70 completion. Under the Bill
Iinrs and former administrations, the
NnrIher1 Plciic Wa1 dormant prop
erty which appeared To have no definite
views, even in its inside management, of
where Il was goins 10 begin or end Its
efforts at construction at tha. time were
spasmodic and were manly devoted to
warding off attacks upon It's land grant
at the opening Of each session OF Con
gress. With the advent of Willard all
this was changed and in A short time its
rails girded the continent Partly through
his knowledge of and faith IN the conn
try and partly through his aggressive
personality, the Northern Pacific lOomed
up before the public eye as great factor
in National Development The inaugu-
ration Of this policy naturally entailed
the expenditure Of vas. sums Of money.
Ii was unavoidable that there should be
more or less waste, but without this dis
play of energy and expenditure Of money
the road would not now be Completed.
If Henry Willard had not completed
his great undertaking there might have
been cause for charging him with treach-
cry and dishonesty, but when it is re-
membered that the read IS now an ac-
complished fact it will be readily seen
that the charges cannot be maintained.
Every loan made during his administra-
ton has been applied to its legitimate
purpase-the work Of construction, and
it comes with very bad grace for stock
holders to countenance these idle charges
against Willard after he has completed
the road and placed IT On footing where
it is in position to Justify all expecta-
tons as dividend producer The devel-
opment Of the country in me next FIVE
years will so enhance the value of its
enormous land grant that it. revenue
from this source alone will be sufficient
10 meet its liabilities as they mature,
while the increased volume OF traffic ard
the reduction of operating expenses VIII
be ample enough TO rejoice the stock
holders. 1. is credltable to Willard that
the sense of the community 50 fully en-
dorses his management of the great Gu
terprise He fixed his mind upon the
completion Of the read and devised the
methods fer raising the necessary funds,
and after accomplishing the work set
himself 10 the tass Of operating the line
at the minimum expense. While he has
sometimes been unfortunate In his choice
of personal advisers whose prejudices
have been enlisted against this cJmmnni-
ty, he has, in other respects, been loyal
TO his projects, faithful 10 his friends and
has stood To his pledges in manner
which not only exhibited his faith and
confidence in this country, but which has
marked him as the one man Eh0 has