The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1893-06-16
THE CHARACTER OF j. j. HILL.

To no man is Great Falls so deeply in
debted as to j. j. Hill, the now famous
builder of the Great Northern railway.
1t was through the prompt and timely
completion of his road that the building
of a city here was made a possibility, and
the enterprise was carried forward with
the fact plainly in view that it could not
be made a paying investment for several
years. 1t takes a prophet to see such
the rough and to mold them into finished
r%ealiti-s $.
All our wealth of coal, the facilities
supplied by the great water power, the
rich ore deposits OF Neihart and Barker,
and pretty much all else that render the
building of cities possible must have
lain dormant for years but for the far
seeing confidence and accurate judg-
ment of the man who gave this region of
boundless natural resources the most
important of all boons-transportation
facilities.
During the last few days this wonder
full genius, who has built several thou
sand miles of railroad without one dollar
of government aid, has been the subject
of a popular demonstration such as has
never been made in honor of any other
private citizen of this or any other coun-
try. This may sound extravagant, but
we challenge a parallel. We know what
he has done for this city, and for the en-
tire northwest, and those of US who do
not know the man are prone to ask what
manner of man he is. The question
could not be more fully answered than
by the following comment by a st. Paul
paper:
Mr.. Hill has undoubtedly a Just pride
in what he has accomplished. But it is
well known that any parade of his per-
sonalty such as necessarily involved in
the celebration of the completion of the
Great Northern and the public desire to
do honor 10 it, ITS builder, is very dis
tasteful to him He tried to dissuade
the citizens of st. Paul from going on
with the contemplated celebration, and
even went SO far as to offer to donate a
considerable sum for the erection of a
public library building if they would
abandon the project and devote the
amount il would cost to the same pur-
pose. We are aware that in this sketch of
his life and character We have occasion
ally ~transgressed the limits Of that
reserve which ne would have imposed
and have intrudcd into the domain of
his private affairs to a greater extent
than he would have approved. But
these trcsrasscs upOn bis preserves are
among the privileges Of the press, which
are incident to an occasion Of which.
against his will, lie i, tue central .igurc.
ii j. unuer & sort of implied obligation
IT, satisfy. in some degree. even at the
cost Cf son i~mpcrtincnce, the pardon
able curiosity Of the public in regard to
ii man So cOnspicuously identified with
public affairs Of momcntuus Importance
to every citizen Of the northwest. and TO
be thus put upon public exhibition is
one Of the penalties he must pay for
having earned their gratitude and
proved his title to their admiration.
That is j. j. Ilill-the man who would
gladly pay ii good price to save himself
from IA public parade. a man of action.
and pot a poser-a man OF ACHIEVEMENTS
and not Of p%retenses. Only such a char
acter could have been made the recipient
Of such .honors, and only such "A mar
could have received a letter like the fol-
lowing from the President of tine Re-.
public:
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
W~AeHINGToN, May 10Th, 1893 \