The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1888-05-15

- - - ely q Gpa&zne ~
xxr kipm fnfending an iujuxefre 8
disrour1Esy - yUur risisrns q auy 8
cur subscribers, ~ any ineexSercnc,
With theif interests. I frankly ssin,i
hist - Cur interests and he interest,
o. Jour cit<sens are practically iienti
CAL any good WATSON which can BE- "a
va0ced By cur Subscribers or the risi
sens Of spokane Fails tending 70 shou
that Is would be . diSasivsnfaR< 3,
have rs hui1d The line IN question.
rou6 conciusively show thar II uss
equally against cur interests 70 buili
the road, in which event re would
surely give up al idea Of the Sonssrac-
ton u such & line.
Assuming. uhirh l can scarcely be-
heve. that the citizens Of Spokane
Fails are interested IN having bot one
railroad from Spokane Falls north
wardly. and that they desired 10 he
interested IN such road am au-
thorizcd 10 state that We would be vii
hing TO give every citizen IN Spokane
Falls IN opportunity 10 interest him.
SELF to any extent be might choose ia
such hne Of railway. and 10 reserve
for all such persons their full share Of
any benefit incident Co the conssruc-
tion and operation Of such q line OF
railway. Furthermore. We would
readily Offer 10 the gentlemen COM
posing your company all the benefits
they could possibly derive from build
ing the line independently, consoli-
dating their interests with ours. I
viii even go further than this. and
state that we would much rather the
Spokane & Northern Railroan Com
rany would build the railroad in
question. We would give them every
aid in our power TO facilitate the work
provided you could satisfy US that
your arrangements were such as would
make You NOT only independent of the
Northern Pacific Railroad Company,
but such A. would enable you To az
cord to our company equal facilities
with all other companies in the way of
carrying our freight to and from the
Canadian Pacific railway. As l re-
marked before, in building this line TO
coiville we would do 80 as necessity
only. and not because we thought it u
profitable enterprise. / assume il 10
be fact that neither Spokane Falls
nor Seattle. which are today the larg-
est towns in the Territory, could spare
sufficient capital to build line and
maintain the control Of il. They are
both enterprising and energetic cities,
but they are still too young 10 he great
financial centres, and such citizen or
individual not only requires his capital
To develop his own business, but his
returns, whether in the way Of inter
est, or business profits are so much
greater than he could possibly realize
in the way OF dividends in a railroad
investment, that they will for many
years prefer that the abundant and
cheap capital of the east, which is sat
isfied with small returns. shall enter
into these railroad enterprises.
II am correct in my premises, we
must assume that In ease your COM
pany Is not already more or less iden-
titled with the Northern Pacific rail-
road. the amount of capital you can
raise in Spokane Falls would not be
sufficient TO contrnlit. In other words,
whatever may be the source of your
financial aid. the control of your COM
pany must rest with the persons fur
nishing the bulk OF the capital. Fur
thermore, cannot see how either the
individual subscribers or our COM
pany could safely count upon your
ability to maintain the absolute and
independent control Of the road which
you propose to build.
Sixth.-In answer to your demand
for positive declaration OF our inten-
tons, is it not unfair Of you To ask
such thing in the absence of clear
definition Of your own POSITION IL
Is, perhaps, unfortunate for your ar
gament that such men as ID. c. Cor
bin and yourself, who are recognized
as strong allies aud friends of the
Northern Pacific railroad, are at the
head Of the Spokane Falls Il Northern
railroad, and | would certainly
violate one of the principal points of
railroad ethics by offering you dec
laration OF our intentions under the
circumstances. except To say positive
~ that it i not the intention nor the
desire OF this company TO interfere
with the hopes or pursuits of the eiti-
zens of Spokane Falls, or with their in
terests l am perfectly willing To- rec
ommend that this company refrain
from entering the territory in ques-
ton, in case it can he shown that II is
contrary TO the interests OF all. or a
majority Of your citizens, for US TO pro-
coed in the direction of Colville
OF course should require that the
people express their sentiments direct
~. which they can do, either at a mass
meeting or in some equally efficient
way. You could hardly expect us as
a company to accept the statement of
yourself or any small minority as rep
resenting the sentiment of all your
citizens, unless indeed the persons in
terested in your company should have
formally delegated To them by the cit
liens the authority to represent them
and their opinions.
In closing / wish TO say that ] can
assure you that il is the policy of this
company TO develop the resources of
this Territory. and particularly of Spo-
kane Falls and Seattle; that this com
pany would make as low rates OF
freight as a local organization could
possibly make, and that there is not
the slightest question Of our ability 10
finish the road should we commence
il, and that while We invite the par
ticipation of the citizens We would not
ask dollar from them To build line
To Colville. | am. respectfully yours,
J. X. MCDONALD,
President Seattle, Lake shore Il East