The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-09-05

ences failed to dislodge this idea from
his mind. His first scheme was for
railroad from the Missouri river to the
bay of San Francisco, and he held
firmly to this route for nearly ten
years, until congress, in chartering the
Union Pacific in 1862, left him and his
project and friends entirely out of the
deal Only then did he turn to the
northern route. He rallied around him
old friends in Boston and Maine and
organized the Peoples Pacific Railroad
company. The amount of stock sub
scribed and paid for was very small.
Perham failed to get a land grant
from congress for this company, and, at
the instance of Thaddeus Stevens, then
the dictatoriaI leader of the Republican
party in the house, new bill was pre-
pared creating by national charter
the Northern Pacific Railway company
and naming as incorporators long
list of Perham's best friends in Maine
and Massachusetts,. This bill finally
PASSED and was signed by President
Lincoln on July 2, 1864. 1t gave no
money subsidy, but 1t gave land
grant of unprecedented and enormous
extent, embracing every alternate sec
ton for twenty miles on both sides
of the road in the states to be traV-
ersed by the line and for forty miles
in the territories. One hundred and
thirty-fiVe persons were named as COM
missioners to organize the company.
The list included the names of many
governors, United States senators and
congressmen, the general of the army
of the United States, U. S. Grant,
few active railroad managers and a
sprinkling of capitalists. The commits
sioners met in September, 1864, at Melo-
deon hall, Boston. Only thlrty-three
of this body were present. Mr.. PerhaH.
81 n
He estimated the cost of the entire
road at $120, 000 900, and was not far cut
of the way.
FIRST EFFORTS TO RAISE MONEY.
The charter required 10000 shares of
stock to be subscribed for before the
complete organization of the company.
Perham thought that most of the
shares would be taken at once, but
there was considerable difficulty eX-
perienced in getting the 10000 taken,
and this amount was only exceeded by
seYenty-five shares. The board OF COM
nisSioners now went out OF existence,
and a board of directors was elected.
The company started with $2,750 in it's
payment of it's stock. This was all that
was ever paid; the other remaining so
per cent was called for six years later,
but the stockholders declined to pay it,
alleging that their services entitled
them to the stock without further pay
ments The board then in control of
the company thereupon confiscated the
whole amount of the original subscrip-
ton. Perham had no further plan for
raising money to commence the con-
str1ction of the road, and the great
enterprise went to sleep for a time, all
efforts to interest New York capitalists
in it having failed.
Col. William S. Roland appeared in
Boston and New York in 1866 in COM
pany with Gov Fuller, Of Utah, and
these two men secured the cooperation
of Hamilton A Hail. a merchant large
ly interested in Canadian trade. Their
plan was to use the Canada system of
roads as far as then constructed west
ward, and to persuade the Canadian
government to extend this system
around the lakes to the Red River of
the North, and then build the Northern
Pacific railroad on to Puget sound.
This. they argued, would make the road