The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1886-04-21
HEARING FROM HAUsBR
The Govrrnor, Securely Cornered
Yields Himself Up to the
Interviewer.
An of-Hand, straightforward Talk on
Railroad and Connecting Topics-Man-
1toba and Northern Pacific Projects
welcome to the Former and
success to the Letter.
Special to the River Press.

Special to the River Press.
HELENA, April Is, 1856.
An interview with Governor Hauser
has been several times attempted since he
returned from the east, but without any
success to speak of until to-day, when one
of the Herald's most persistent and perse-
Eeringg reporters obtained ~ hours con-
versation and the result appears below:
Railroad enterprises and other improve
ment projects connected with them being
topics Of uppermost public interest, were
matters Oh which the reporter sought
enlightenment of the governor views
and the confab was therefore restricted to
that field Of Inquiry. Fairly cornered the
subject for pumping yielded grace.
fully to his fate and with the signal
to fire ahead went straight after his vic
tim In manner like this:
Reporter-There has been great deal
said and published about the N. p. r. r.
Co. and as to the objects and aims of that
and Mr.. Hi1l's companies, would you OBJ
ject, governor, to talking over the subject?
Governor-Not in the least. As to the
real objects and intentions of Hill and the
n. P. r. B. / can only guess. Men who
control properties valued at from two to
three hundred million dollars and are
making moves, so to speak, in the interest
of said properties are not apt to disclose
fully the object of said moves much less to
allow me or any other person not diree-
tor in their many lines to lead Or influence
them to build roads Or do anything against
the general interest Of their companies. e
Hill has decided, and / hope he has, to ex-
tend his system Of railroads nearly eight
hundred miles to Helena at a cost of from,
twenty to thirty aaillions, or If the n. r.
Co. has decided to expend from three to
five millions to extend q branch road TO
Benton and north, and hope they have,
the protests or petitions Of our citizens
would not in my opinion either stop or
hasten them one day.
Rep.-What is your opinion of the Mon
tana Central and the Helena & Benten
roads; which doyou think would be Of the
greatest beneft.to Helena?
Govt wish it distinctly understood that
am i'm favor OF the Montana Central and
hope and believe it will be built. I think
Broadwater deserves great credit for it,
particularly in inducing Hill and others
to invest in Red Mountain mines; but it
should be remembered, in discussing
which of the two roads would be of the
greater advantage, that the Montana Cen
tral is or will be owned and controlled,
nine-tenths Of il, by the nonresident pro-
prietors of the Great Falls City and Water
Power company. This does not or would
not prevent il being ri great benefit TO tHe
territory and to Helena, as the road would
develop the country and have tendency
to open it fully. The Helena e Benton
road. as you know, was surveyed two
years ago by the Rocky Mountain r. r.
company, a Montana organization, and if
constructed it would, 1 presume, be under
Montana organization, but the owner
ship and controlling power in it will be
the N. P. r. r.. co. It is proposed to run
to Bente n, an old settled town, which, {
think, with railroads, has as great a future
as the Great Falls city; doa not know
whether it will be built, but hope it will.
Rep.-Then you are in favor of both
roadside one to the Falls and the other
to Benton?
Gov.-Most assuredly. Their construo-
ton would greatly benefit Montana and
set Helena ahead at least ten years. The
two would cost from three TO four million
dollars, besides distributing from a million
and half to two million dollars among
the people in the construction of the roads
and adding great stimulus to our general
Improvements. Besides the roads would
be taxable to the extent Of from two to
three millions of dollars.
Rep.-If there was only one road to- be
built which would you consider of the.
aaOSb UCaEdiU " iIiC lG1IllO1 y 1iid AIClSIi0ss
and which would Eon build p
Gov.-Of course iii absurd to assume
that I have or could have the power to
decide which should be built; but assum-
ing that had, and assuming that the
Montana Central stops at Great Falls, the
taeFlaiiinas named IN the charter, and the
otler Il Benton, \ am Of the opinion that
the Benton road would be the preferable
one.
RepNhys
Gov. Because the non-resIdent owners
and controllers Of the roads are net builel-
ing them to please the people of the terri
tory or Helena as public benefaetors. They
are just like all other corporations and in
dividnals, looking out for their own inme-
fiate interests, and will run their respec-
tive roads in the interest Of the stockhold-