Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-07-19
ruE SPEECHES.
.ssest Harris aud the 'ha"'er
ar Commerce.


or Commerce.
,alssins is the continuation OF the
,.sedinrs of the Chamber OF Com
meeting on wednesday after
pOOp. had o,,c,ndsd ,bsrs
.nmerous calls for Judge Burke,
,bO arose and said
otn;,1,aa and Mr.. Presi1ient Har-
,noose that the time Mr. Harris
~ s-,1nd among us here Is very short
- 1all therefore say but very few
sno Itrus, that Mr.. Harris will not
selos ,vtbiuo that | shall say as dis
ess e.ss 10 him personally. | merely
eo,o ~ say. speaking to the point TO
ss;rh Mr.. Harris addressed himself
~ that the people OF Seattle diner
ssaa M President Harris IN their view of
.s:sisnd grant question, and we say we
-. ssen 90 far no reason 90 change |
viegs In that respect. We naye |
~ @.,.sd had faith and reiterate the !
s.os an the part of the n +. X. H., |
sSss'a,d To the building OF this Cas- |
- hrsneh across tine mountains.
-. sSs.,ese Il il true that during the last |
cr four years the Northern Pacific |
,aeAa.oad Company has bnilt 1903 miles |
s.s;lroad. For that lAJ miles they |
-. ,eceiyed the mest enornlous grant |
s,srd eyer given to any corporation. |
40 r. A N. Co. during the same Pc
" vitboCt one foot Of land grant, |
l cayinO for their right of way, have |
sss,,octed nearly 7C0 miles of road 1
1.oagb an equally difficult country.
r. ,',ad along the Columbia rIveI,
s.lisye. according to common report, IA
= ditsicnlt. or very near a. difficult, To
..,,s.ruct Al the road across the Cascade
ssasntains. Now this land grant was
ssysn h the Northern Pacific Railroad
snnpauy in 1864, and twenty years
hays elapsed. Ihe very object of that
s,su, vas that the railroad might be a
,,onerr in the way of civilization, blaz-
ne ont track for the settlers, and not
.sitinq I'll! the settlers had opened the
vsv for the railroad. What IL the fact!
va are In this place, speaking today IN
seits of 1900 people. The people have
hs their own energy, enterprise and
If lfyeliarce turned the wilderness into
fruitful fields and gardens, and built up
his Hourishing city without the aid of
any railroad except such AS they built
themselves. The Government first gave
gs1 acres 10 settlers, but that was
thought to be too much. and so the
oaantity was cut down l60 acres; but no
snount Ia too much tn give to COM
usny that promises to build railroad,
no matter whether 1t does ID or not.
NJ No. nf mi
today. Mr.. Harris. Your company has
received certain lands in this Territory,
and you have made contracts for the
sale Of some OF those lands. Those con
tracts are the most atrecious, the most
,illsnous instruments ever diawa up In
this country for tue conveyance OF
land. The holders of land under such
contracts would be in a 81 ate OF base Ser
yl1de. la an evil hoHr the Govern
nent ntlodQed a great power in the North
an Pacific Railroad Company. and m
night have been expected, this power
kas been hagrantly abused. We have
built our towns and cities, and devel-
oped the country; we are building our |
evn railroads., and after all this IL done |
dong comes the Northern Paoihc Rail |
road Company and demands 10 give |
them more than half the country. For |
xhal5 Broken promisesI Foe retard- |
Ing the growth of the country by hold
ING in bondagep Mr.. Harris ls fair
minded man, and will observe and IN
dsniand that the vast injury produced
bJ the centralizing of land il much |
greater ia mining country than In "A
farming section. la AN agricultural
a
Opoly OF farming land, bat the grasp OF
monopoly 10 frmer and more injurious
10 coal aud iron, and believe that the
Northern Pacific ia the only corpora
tion TO which grant of mineral land
has been given.
Mr. Harris--Every land grant In the
uaited States 10 railroads has granted |
coal and iron.
Judge Burke-I was under the impres-
SION that the Central Pacific did not |
include coal and iron, bat so much the |
greater Is the misfortune TO the coun
ty because the corporations can hold |
them, and holding in this case the odd |
sections they are able TO control the |
even sections, hut they are masters of |
aI We contend that In justice to the |
people OF Washington Territory. this
land grant which has not been earned
am speaking of that now--the land
grants which have not been earned
ought to be forfeited. / am not pre-
pared 10 say one way or the other as TO
ihe roads that have been actually con
Hructed. That is not up today. | am
speaking OF the land lying in the line of
NE road that has not been constructed
ID the last twenty years; that land
ought 10 be forfeited. In regard to che
twenty i've miles down here, suppose
lhas the President is perfectly familiar
WIN the reports of his predecessors,
shich show that this twenty five miles
sa coal road. will say that have
used great deal of freedom in ex
pressing these views, Mr.. President
nNFls, because feel that ! express the |
nsss OF ninety out of one hundred !
q the citizens OF SEATTLE in regard TO |
ast land grant, and yeur company can |
mse no aetien that will ia any way
aasot this question or alter these views. |
ihefe rs another thing. The people |
y seattle think they have some ground |
eompiaint at the treatment received |
" tnem at the hands Of the Northern |
racine Railroad Company. They have
aesef received any favors from that |
"mpaay, and they have never expected |
say. All We want is fair play. As a |
ampie illustration of the childish hos |
Iy SHOWN by the company to Seattle, |
vi. VII refer You 10 the course of the |
Iapany when, about q year ago. an |
a'uon of the Northern Pacidc folders |
~, establishments was Published, in |
n nason Seattle was spoken of rs the |
Sasen City OF Puee, Sound. The
ssas s. corporation was instantly |
a ,fea t. its lowest depths. |
~ promptly thu whole edition |
ss as suppressed, and peace and quiet
- ieiened once moro through the
saao'is ,.sis OF the company. Today your
49, ns !. are run 80 as to cause this city
- ~ sne sravsling public coming here as
s ssa inconvenienee as possible. You
sil s,'.1il uid not come here on regular
- whyy Because il you had come
.ue regular train YOU would have
neaed here at o'clock IN the night.
- little road between here and Ia.
ses ss ~ = run In precisely the same way
,.sa ~ more freight comts over your
hso 70 TINS city than 10 any other on
= ~ NJ cound-yes, perhaps more than
sn,ssu - sne Others put together. We are
ss,s entitled TO fair treatment As
49,. ossore, l do not want anything l
- oc taken as a personal discourtesy
si.naeat Harris. | merely state IN
~ aa'u, direct and ndstraightforward man.
Iust what We think IN regard 90
- matters. Understand me, | have
sssRun 10 tell you the serious con-