Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1885-10-14
DAILY POST.INTELLleeNcEn


A meU Der OF the 6oCtina lDprsve
msnt Company, a. lately reported In
Washington dispatch. sisted that The
Interior Departmeut has been informed
that the company has never eonfniiieo
any timber depredstions. that only
snail smsunt of timber bad been cut
on the line OF the Northern Pacific Bail
road, and that the company stood rsasy
10 reimborse the Govsrnpent for the
wood thus taken" On the evening fhsi
the aforesaid member Of the Montana
Improvemept Company made this state
nsnt, the Com missioner Of the Gsnsral
Land OfBee gave to tie psbIie The re-
port of speoial timber Aeen; Haley on
the same subject. The report states
tha. the Mortan Improvement Com
pany has committed eBornoas timber
depsedations, that 10 IL Indebted 10 tbs
Government 10 9 large sun, and that BE-
was hampered 10 performing bis ofhciai
duties by the officers Of the Montans
Improvement Conpsnv. "vho appeared
10 expect an investigation and we're for
tifyiue thsif position" IL farther states
that "the company had agents slons
the line sndsavorisR 70 sopprsss the
facts !" that the " oompsDy IL an an
sorupalous corporation that will leave
nothing undone 10 carry its poiot;" and
that be foond that " no reliance what
ever oauld be placed on the statements
made BY offisers Of the Montana I'm
provsmsnt Company" There seems 10
be discrepancy between the statement
of the member of the company" and
the report Of Agent Haley. 0ne 10
forced irrssissibiy 10 the eonelasion
that the msnbsr lied. He would prob
ably not hsve made his statement had
he known that the report vas about 10
be made pablo. or possibly be imagined
that the report would be Of different
tenor. relying upon the Montana end Of
the company TO silence Agent Haley 10
the same manner that government ON
sials have been silsoosd In tbs past.
The story Of the "nsmbss Of the Mon
tana Improvement Company" might
have been good enough one 10 tell in
Washington II the report bad net been
made public, but ID would sevsr do 10
tell anywhere west Of the Missoari river.
even II the report Of Agent Haley had
never been dreamed OF. A lie 20 palps
bic would be received With shouts Of do
Fisien II IL we're uttered In the North
west. where every man, woman and
child knows hov shamelsssiy. how
boldly, hov dehantiy the Northern Pa
sidc Railroad asd iss corporate Deputies
have seized upon the lands Of the gov
srpment and ous government timber
right and left.
The Montana Improvement Company
10 corporation better known esss Of
ths Cascade mountains than IL Ia on
the Coast. Il is one OF the subsidiary
organizations Of the Northern Pacific
Company. with which 10 IL connected In
much the same manner NJ the Tacoma
Land Company. The operation OF form.
Ina such a company 10 q simple one.
When crowd Of jobbers who are ION
the inside" think they see n chance 10
make some money by using the North
ern Pacific Railroad az q tool. thew
form a company with an enormous
amount Of stock, which represents al
most nothing. One-half Of this IL then
transferred TO the Northern Pacific
Company. the other half being divided
among those who are In the scheme. In
this way whatever money Ia made can
be secured by the schemers, while the
other stockholders Of the Northern Pa
cide receive none Of the benefits. IL
does everythine-sells town lots. outs
timber. saws boards. prints newspapers.
builds houses lis . veritable jack of.all |
trades. For instance, the Montana In
provement Company was organized
with 100000 Of stock. One million
dollars of tsis stock was transferred TO
ths railroad company, which In return
agreed TO withdraw all OF iss THAT h, the
Conveniently timber lands from sale or
disposal, and TO give the improvement
Company the exclusive right 10 cot
timber on snsh lands. Under this No
farioaa agreement the precious part
ners vent 20 work, cutting timber
~hsrsvss they chose and robbine the
0ossfnment whsnevef they say any
thing worth stealing. The business
went on uninssrrupsedly and prosper
ousiy until Commissioner sparks real.
issd its mature. He ~ once tsok meas.
urss 10 bring the guilty parties TO
justice and 10 maks them sarrsnder
their plundsr. whsreupsn every railroad
nsvspspes In The kofthvsss beess
10 howi about . bisv NJ sAs b1siness
interests Of the eonntsy. True sucas b,
u does interfers With thief . busisess
70 clap him In Jail. and M doubt The
poor barRlar feels drcadfully hurt vhsn
he h compelled 10 restore The vaiuablss
which he has carried away from Mr..
Riohmas's hooss ~ great sxpsnditurs
Of time and labor. No do1bt 10 req
soas that Mr.. Riehman's spoons and
watches asd valuable vases never would
have been placed on the market. never
would have been dragged FROM their
places 10 Mr.. RioAman's slosss. never
voald have bean Of uss 10 anybody, "
hs had not climbed through Mr.. Rich
mans window. at imminens danger
Of falling aud breaking his neck. ear
ried them away. and brought them 10
the people Who wanted them. To Mr..
Dar.iars viev. the policeman Who col
iars him and takss posssssioa Of his
piander b IN snsmy Of society and Is
interfering Seriously with the basin>n
prospssisy Of The community. Mr..
Burglar. however. does nos esn any
nsvspapers through WATCH hs can uake
his views public, while the Montana
tmproysment Compsav ana Ia mr~ns