Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-09-13

St. Paul Dispatch: 1t is not often
that James j. Hill, railroad king and
amply turned the Ehbire Builder
allows himself to reply to the critis
cisms of others, but he does so this
morning in the signed statement
from him that follows, and Francis
J. Heney, uncoverer of timber frauds
on the Pacific coast, untangler of the
graft snarl of San Francisco, is the
target, into the very center Of which
Mr.. Hills shafts have flown.
Mr.. Hill answers to the statements
of Mr.. Haney, made during the clos
ing moments of the conservation con
gress Thursday, when it was too late
for the chairman of the board Of direc
tors of the Great Northern to make re
ply in kind, was brought about by
the request yesterday afternoon OF the
Pioneer Press of a statement from
Mr.. Hill regarding the matter
There was the fire of combat in Mr.
Hills eye as he wheeled about in his
chair to respond. He called for his
stenographer and dictated a reply tC
Mr.. Haney. 1t follows in full:
Mr.. HiIi's Answer.
I'm this mornings issue Of the Pho
neer Press, Francis ]. Heney Is re-
ported to have made, during the clos
ing hours of the conservation cong
ress, certain statements so recklessly
and maliciously false that they can
not be passed with silent contempt
You will no doubt be glad to give to
the truth as prominent publication as
to the libel.
Mr.. Heney was talking about mat
ters long of public record. 1t was his
business to know, and it is fair to
assume that he did know, the facts
Having wilfully falsified them, the re-
sponsibility rests upon him and his
sponsors. He says:
1--WE gave Mr.. Hill 100000 acres
of land-a strip 1000 miles long, 4O
miles in width through the territories
and 20 miles in width through the
states. This was worth at fair
price $40 per acre
Great Northern Never Got Grant.
This has not rag Of truth to
cover it's nakedness. 1t would not be
true to say, if the government mad
made a grant to the Great Northern,
that it gave the land to Mr.. Hill. But
it did neither. The Great Northern
did not receive a dollar in money or
an acre of land from the federal gov
eminent.
Not only was the Great Northern
built from the western boundary of
Minnesota to the Pacific coast, with
out federal aid, but it brought the right
of way through all the unceded lands,
from the middle of North Dakota to
the eastern slope of the Rocky noun
tains, at a price fixed by a federal
commission. The Great Northern is
the only transcontintental line so
built.
Ignorant or Prevaricator.
1T is probable, from the figures
given, that Mr. Heney was referring
to the land grant made to the North
ern Pacific. But the charter of the
Northern Pacific passed congress and
was signed by President Lincoln in
1864, fifteen years before l was inter
ested in the railroad business and at
a time when I was working for SIS
a month.
IF Mr.. Heney did not know these
facts, public property for nearly fifty
years, what shall the public call a
man who brings to important occas-
sions such incredible ignorance? If
he did know them, what still shorter
and more unpleasant name does he
deserve?
Receives No Salary.
"Mr. Heney says again: 4 don't
hesitate to say that some good citi-
zen like James ]. Hill would have
built the Great Northern on some
such salary as $4,000 year.
Here it seems more probable that
he is simply using the pet weapon
of the coward - innuendo. He does
not assert that Mr.. Hill receives .
salary Of $4,000 a year, which would
be no crime If 1t were true, but makes
a statement which conveys that i'm.