Griggs courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., Dak. [N.D.]) 1885-1902, 1902-01-02

own property In the northwest and.
elsewhere. Out Of this desire has grown
the Northern Securities Company. It be-
came necessary in order to prevent the
Northern Pacific from passing under the
control Of the Union Pacific interests and
with 1t the joint control Of the Burling-
ton. to pay on the $75.0oo0o0 Of Northern
Pacific preferred. The enormous amount
OF cash required for this purpose from q
comparatively small number Of men
made it necessary for them to act togeth-
er in q large and permanent manner.
through the medium OF a corporation, and
the Northern Securities Company afford
ed them the means of accomplishing this
object without the necessity of asking a
separate company to finance the transact
tions for tht Northern Pacific; while, at
the same time, the credit Of the North
ern Securities Company would be much
stronger. as 1t would also hold credit
able amount Of Great Northern and other
securities.
The Northern Securities Company is or
ganized to deal in high-class securities,
to hold the same for the benefit of its
shareholders and to advance the inter-
ests Of the corporations whose securities
1t owns. Its powers do not include the
operation of railroads, banking, mining
nor the buying or selling Of securities oD
properties for others on commissions; It
is purely an investment company and the
object Of its creation is simply to enable
those who hold its stock to continue their
respective interests in association togeth-
er and to prevent such interests from
being scattered by death or otherwise:
to provide against such attacks as had
been made upon the Northern Pacific by
rival and competing interest whose
main line was hundreds Of miles from
the northwest and whose only object in
buying control Of the Northern Pacific
was to benefit their southern properties
by restraining the growth Of the country
between Lake Superior and Puget Sound
and by turning away from the northern
lines the Oriental traffic which must fol-
low. placing on the Pacific ocean Of the
largest ships Of the world.
The foregoing Is brief and absolutely
correct statement of the whole subject and
Its truth can easily be verified by tho
state OF Minnesota or any other state or
person having suf1cient interest to inves-
tigate the facts which are all matters of
record.
Nov, as to the effect of what has been
done upon the public interests Of the
country; let me ask few questions which
want every candid and honest man to
answer for himself.
did the Union Pacific people, with
their railway lines extending from Omaha
and New Orleans to California and Ore
gon. through the several states in the
middle west and south, purchase a ma
jority of the stock of the Northern Pa
cidc Company for the purpose Of aiding
that company. and increasing the growth
and prosperity Of the northern country,
or was 1t for the purpose of restricting
such growth and aiding the development.
OF their enormous interests hundreds Of
miles to the south?
did they purchase the Northern Ia
cific and it's interests in the Bu:Angton
Tor the purpose Of building up the Asiatic
trade between the northern zone lying
from st. Paul and Minneapolis to the
Pacific coast, or in order to control the
Oriental trade for their own southern
railway lines through their own seaports,
over their own ships?
I'm defeating their control of the North
ern Pacific and retaining in the hands Of
those who had built it up and with it the
entire northwest. did we injure or benefit
the people of the northwest?
Did !, by inducing my friends to hold
their Northern Pacific common stock and
act Jointly with Messrs Morgan & Co..
when this stock was selling at $500 to
$1,000 share, thus preventing the Union
Pacific from controlling the northwest,
injure or benefit every interest. agricul-
tural. business and otherwise of the en-
tire country between Lake Superior and
the Pacific ocean?
Had we sold our 100000 of North
ern Pacific even at $500 a share, amount
Ing to $60.000,000. or nearly. forty millions
more than its present value. and trans
ferred to the Union Pacific control of the
entire country between Canada and Mex
leo, what law of Minnesota would we
have violated? Could we not legally have
put the money in our pockets and let the
country learn what 1t was to be domi-
mated by parallel and competing rail-
road?
why did Governor Van SAINT sit still
from May until November while a ma
jority Of the stock Of the Northern Pa
cif1c company was controlled by a par
allel and competing railway company in
clear opposition, until myself and friends
have, by our efforts and with our own
money, relieved the northwest, not as a
rival parallel or competing railway. but
doing what we clearly have the right to
do as individuals or working together for
greater permanency and security as q
financial scorporation?
I HAS there ever been case in the his
tory Of this country when men have
dropped their money profit and stood as
firmly by the interests Of the commune
ties which had grown up with their own
and largely by their own efforts and capt.
tai?
"The public is interester in having a
good railway service and at fair and rea-
sonable rates. The past is gone and
speaks for itself; can speak for the fu-
ture, and I have no hesitation whatever
in saying that the increased volume Of
traffic. both through and local, will enable
the companies to reduce their rates in
proportion to the volume of such traffic
and that in the near future the public
will have chance to see for itself this
future of what have said. The devel-
opment Of the country will increase with
the greater increase in population be.