The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1889-09-18

the line of a Subsidized road. from n.
land grant. The railroad compsnv
endeayored to make all the non~v /.
could out nj the sale OF It's lands. IL
laid out town site Just beyond the
present site of an already Organized
municipality. ana endeayored IN hui1a
ap new city 10 its own pr,ssit
Ii also made rates for passenger and
freight traffic favorable TO the towns
OF Its own creation and discriminating
against those that had been in exis-
tenee before its arrival, This was an.
douhtesily bad policy. bat il Was
hardly an unnatural one. II was not
pursued, either. 20 any considerable
extent. Though il bore heavily mon
few communities, il by no means
Justified the widespread popular re-
sentiment which was awakened in
Washington. The feeling for
or against the railroad entered
into politics, into business. really
into social life. The man who per-
mlsted himself 10 he branded as a
friend of the Northern Pacific could
not run for public office. and was with
the greatest difficulty elected To the
position of ve.tryman. The larger.
minded and turther-sighted peopie
were inclined IA overlook the sinS of
the railroad, knowing aS they did.
that the state depended absolutely up.
on the Northern Pacific and its sue
cess for every element of prosperity.
They suggested compromises:
they sought to alay public
feeling: they made themselves a
go-between and sought tn
smooth over the rufiied feathers OF the
offended pcpulaee ON the one hand.
and Ia draw IN the menacing horns OF
the railroad on the other. This, of
course. was the right policy. and after
term of years il has succeeded. The
railroad is to-day on much better
terms With the people than il was,
and the constitutional convention.
which has lust adjourned nj OLYMPIA.
engaging in open conflict with the
corporations.
The great railroad problem along all
the subsidized routes concerns tax.
alton. Under their charters lands
granted To railroad corporations are
exempted from territorial taxation.
Many people saw this is unjust; SO
soon as we buy the lands of the rail-
iNAu VIC ait t1ASV AtE tutiu, Why
should this corporation be spared
burdens which we must bearf shall
undertake Ia furnish no other answer
10 this question than may he con-
tanned in the suggestion that ire
mendous commercial chances were
taken by the people who furnished
the capital wherewith TO build these
roads. They SINK hundreds Of mil
lions before they realized penny,
and they are realizing only PENNIES
today. They have made the West
pretty much all that il IL, and they
are entitled To make some money.
Washington's population today
must he close upon 10000. Its inter
ests are widely diversified. IL Is a
producing state in every sense of the
term. Its land yields minerals, grain,
building stones, coal, and all the crude
materials with which mechanical arts,
SO far as the needs of this country are
concerned, have occasion To deal.
These crude materials are
being worked up into form
anc fabric by these people themselves.
They are, in the largest sense possi-
bic To their numbers. AN exporting
people. Their situation on the coast
gives them perhaps the best and sur
est business opportunity enjoyed by
any OF the four new states-a fact
which no one realizes more than they
them selves