, 1888-05-24
MR.. NEWHERY,s REPLY.

THE PRESIDENT or THE SPOKANE NORTHERN
MAKES SOME SPIRITED REMARKS UPON rHE
RAILROAD SITUATION.
EpIroR REvIEw-The publicity which
Mr.. j. X. Mcdonald has seen III to give his
reply to my letter to him OF the sth inst.
com pcls me to also seek the medium of the
press for some additional remarks upon
the subject alluded to in these letters
| The evident purpose of Mr.. McDonald's
letter Is to mislead and prejudice the pub
lie against the Spokane Falls g. Northern
Railway company and all connected with
1t. No other construction can be put upon
his letter. Mr. Mcdonald starts out in his
letter by stating "that you claim the exclu-
sive right to build a line of railway
through the country between Spokane Falls
anu Colville." Nothing in my letter could
by any sound mind be construed into such
q staten ent. Mr.. McDonald's next inslnu-
alton, which Is in fact carried oil through
his very lengthy epistle. that no organiza-
ton originating In Spokane Falls could
possibly carry out an enterprise OF this
kind, owing to lack OF capital, comes
with q very bad grace from the head of
the Seattle & Lake Shore Railroad,
the citizens Of this city having just sub
scribed an amount of money to the Seattle
road, which am led to believe Is greater
than Seattle itself has subscribed to this
same enterprise. did not write to Mr..
Mcdonald letter with the evident precon-
ceived intention of publishing IL Tor effect.
/ simply asked him whether or not 1t was
the intention of his company to use the
money we subscribed for u road to the Big
Bend, In obstructiDg and interfering with
our proposed road to Colville. My reasons
were not stated in extenso, because l did
not deem IL necessary. Engineers employed
on the work of the Seattle road west OF this
city were taken off that work and sent
north to survey line and prejudice the
people against the Spokane Falls u North
ern railway company. Reports came in to
me OF the sneering remarks made by the
engineers 0i the Seattle road to settlers
along the line tending to make trouble for
us in right of way matters and in all prob
ability these very engineers are 10 be paid
out OF our subscr ptions. This Is what we
objected to. and We sti II object As Mr.. Nc
Donald and his advisors will discover later
on. The insinuatiOns regarding the Spo
kane Falls & Northern railway company
being Northern Pacific enterprise Is
worthy only of the author of Mr.. McDon-
AIDS letter. This report eminates from and
has been circulated by certain individuals
who are simply hoping to kill off the pres
ent organization OF the Spokane Falls &
Northern railway company, and has not
particle Of truth in it. The reference to my
personal relations with the Northern Paci-
tic railroad was entirely uncallel for. but |
will state for Mr.. McDonald's information
that | have had business relations with
various departments OF the Northern Paci-
tic railroad Tor five years past and am
proud to say, retain the good
will and respect Of every ofiici-
al OF that road - aud ii was
with sincere regret that l withdraw from
nay official connection with the two branches
OF the N. l.. operated from this city. |
would like 10 ask MIR. Mcdonald to tell the
people of Spokane Falls who does control
the Seattle, Lake Shore Il Eastern R'y Co.
He states IL is impossible for Seattle or
Spokane Falls to build and control any
railroad. Let him also tell US what AS ur-
ance we have that the Seattle road will not
pass into the hands of the Northern Pacific
or the Union Pacific or the Manitoba. l
would like also to ask Mr. Mcdonald from
whom he obtained the information that
the country between Spokane Falls and the
Colum bia river on the north was so barren
OF resources that it would be years
before n railway built through would
even pay operating expenses. This is
certainly news to the people of Spokane
Falls and of the COlvile valley.
Mr.. Mcdonald gays, 'you scarcely have
the right to plead the interests of the city
or the citizens at large as reason why we
should not enter the territory in question"
III there is single sentence in my letter
that can be so distorted as to imply that l
made any such plea, / fail to find it, My
letter was written entirely in the interest
of the Spokane Falls u Northern Railway
company and no one else, and nothing in
it can be construed otherwise Ii Mr.. Nc
Donald and his advisers had made public
their intention of occupying the field north
of this city prior to soliciting subscriptions,
the gentlemen whose money is in the
Spokane Falls Il Northern Railway
company would not have subscribed dol
lar towards the Seattle, Lake Shors IL East
ern Railway company. Those subscrip-
tions have been obtained under an entire
nlisapprehension of the uses to which this
money so subscribed was to be put. Mr..
Mr.. Mcdonald says he has no knowledge
whatever as to the ability of the Spokane
Falls Il Northern Railway to build its line.
Have any ofthe subscribers to the Seattle,
Lake Shore Il Eastern any knowledge
OF the ability Of that company to
build its line even with the aid Spokane
Falls is lending, or rather giving2 did not
ask for any assistance from Mr.. Mcdonald,
| cast no siurs upon the financial ability OF
his company, but he has seen tit to rush in
to print with letter intended to belittle
| and insult the Spokane Falls members Of
the organization, known as the Spokane
Falls Il Western Railway company. With q
subsidy of $l75,O,0; (the subscription to
the stock of the Seattle, Lake Shore & East.
ern Railway company Is nothing more nor
less than a subsidy. / will furnish guar
antee, that shall be satisfactory to all con-
cerned, to build line to the Columbia
river on the north at once, and to maintain
II as an independent road.
l regret exceedingly that Mr.. Mcdonald
| is being so badly advised. His personal
| statement to the reporter is all right, but
| his letter does not bear out his statements-
| quite the contrary. He should have read
| the letter over more carefully,
when he would doubtless have OBJ
tanned different impression of
its interest. We have no desire to
| interfere IA any manner with any other
| road building To Colviile. Such road is