The Virginia enterprise., 1907-10-11
CONCERNING Mr.. Jas. j. NIL.

| CONCERNING Mr.. Jas. j. NIL.
Me-. William E. Csetis Thinks liia,
Sound.
William Is. Curtis, writing to his
paper, the Chicago Record Herald,
from Hibbing, Minnesota, has the
following of, interest:
One of the largest business tran.
sactions that ever occurred between
human beings, and one of the most
profitable contracts that was ever
made in the history of mankind,
was when Jas. J. Hill leased the
5000 acres OF iron ore lands belong
ing to the Great Northern railroad
to the United States Steel corpora.
(tion. Mr.. Hill bought these lands
for about $5,O0O,M0. He sold the
mineral rights for royalty on all
the ore that is taken out, starting
at Is cents a ton and advancing
each year at the rate of 2112 cents,a
ton until it finally reaches 81 a ton
after ten years. The lowest estim-
ate of the ore in the property coy-
cred by this lease is 5OOO0O,OO0 tons,
and some experts have put the
total as high as 1,OOOOOO,OOO tons.
The royalties upon the products of
these mines, which are a part of
the present and future income of
the stockholders of the Great Nor.
thern railway, will therefore amount
to not less than $500 600. and may
reach as high as $l,000;O00,O0o, with.
out the slightest cost or risk, All
the stockholders have to do is to
stand still and take the money.
have never seen any allusion to
this transaction in the muck-rakers'
magazines or in any of the numer-
Gus publications concerning the
conduct of corporations or railway
kings. James J. Hill has had his
share of newspaper criticism and
abuse, and if he had stolen a mine
from the Great Northern railway
volumes would have been printed
about it. Mr.. Kellogg, who is con-
Quoting the prosecution of the
Standard Oil company for the ad.
ministration, drew all the papers in
the case and acted as Mr.. Hills
legal adviser, so that he is perhaps
more familiar than any other man
with the facts; and if the president
or any muck.raker will take the
trouble to question Mr.. Kellogg he
can learn the particulars of this ex.
traordinary transactions:
I. That Mr.. Hill purchased the
lands in his own name, with his
own money and assumed all the
risk.
2. That he carried them in his
own name and at his own risk until
it was demonstrated that the invest
ment was safe and would be profit
able, and
3. When the enormous value of
the purchase was demonstrated he
conveyed the entire property and
the prospective profits to the stock.
holders of the Great Northern rail-
way.
Such transactions should not be
ignored, particularly at this time,
when the selfishness and dishonesty
OF railway management are made
80 much of.
The royalties are now about ST..
100000 year, and they will continue
to increase until they will probably
reach installments of from seven to
ten million dollars a year. And all
this from an original investment
that did not exceed $5,O00O00.
In addition to this royalty the
Great Northern railway will receive
revenue of 80 cents a ton for the
transportation of all this ore, which,
if the output is 5O0O00O0O tons, the
minimum estimate, will amount to
100000 for freights in addition
to the royalty.
The. ore is there and it must be
mined and hauled away. The Great
Northern railway has a contract to
haul it. 1t also has contract for
a royalty of dollor a ton, more or
less, for the mining rights, and
nothing can prevent the realization
of these contracts unless the world
comes to an end.
| The most remarkable feature OF
this extraordinary transaction ie
that JAS. J. Hill, the party OF the
first part, might have made it a per.
sonai matter. All of this presen,
and prospective wealth might have
been his; it might have been kept
for himself and his family if he had
desired to have 1t that way, but II
he ever had such a temptation no.
body suspected it.. He ordered the
deeds to the land made out in favor
of the Great Northern Railway com.
pany.
"The man on the Box" in this ri.
gantic transaction was D. n. Phil.
bin, now general superintendent OF