Year: 1873

IOcdtlOu are III eutiIe uuIMOuy Win the
character of the place selected; one is
the father of the Land Ring-the Credit
Mobilier of the N. P. r. Co.-inteht
only on land grabbing; the other Presi
dent of transportation monopoly OIL
the Columbia river, whose whcle busi-
ness interests are hostile to any ccm.
mercial city on Puget Sound. These
men made the location solely in the in.
terest of private speculation, to dispose
Of the town-site property under the
prestige of the railroad terminus, and
then abandon the miserable swindle
and repeat the same game at some Other
point where the Land Ring has lands to
dispose of. A more infamous fraud was
never attempted by any combination OF
black-legs and sharpers.


The TERMINUs.-Th confirmation of
the action of the Terminus Commissio11-
ers by the Board Of Directors of the
Northern Pacific Railroad, is conclusive
of the fact that the Railroad Directors
and the Land Ring are as identical in
interest as were the Directors of the
Union Pacific and the Credit Mobilier"
the protests of Gen. Cass and several of
the Directors to the contrary notwith-
standing, This location of the terminu
of the road upon the Pacific end of the
route at point which has been reported
against as utterly impractieable by all
engineering authorities, settles the ques-
ton beyond peradventure that the Di-
rectors of the Company have abandoned
all intention or expectation Of complet.
ing the road according to the terms of
their charter, and now use their position
only for speculative purposes to make
the most money in the shortest time
possible, and then abandon the project.
They very well know that not another
dollar can be raised upon the bonds of
the Company when the fact has become
notorious that it is under the control of
an inside ring as greedy and unscrupu-
lous as the Credit Mobilier of infamous
notoriety.


The exchequer is exhausted; the Com
pany is bankrupt; not mile of road on
the eastern division is row under con-
tract or in the course of construction.
The contractor upon this end has not
received dollar upon his estimates for
months past, and merchants and farm
ers who have furnished supplies are
clamoring in vain for their money. The
contractor has now gone east to raise
money to complete his contract, and in
the mean time has been compelled to
reduce his force more than one-half in
men and teams from the failure of the
Company to pay. The iron has not
been provided to lay the track into Ia
coma, and the probabilities are that the
Company will forfeit their grant upon
the forty miles which their chartsr calls
for this year.


We know that an attempt will be made
at the next session of Congress to get
the Government to endorse the bonds
of the Company and extend the time for
the completion Of the road; but this at
tempt will only provoke an investigation
which will show corruption and faith
lessness in the administration of the af-
fairs of the Company fully equal to
those exposed in the Credit Mobilier in
vest1gations and in view of the past the
country is not in a frame of mind to
tolerate action by their Congressman
endorsing any mora such corrupt prac~
tees.


These facts only prove the neces-
sity for immediate and prompt action by
the people to secure for themselves rail-
road facilities of which they have been
deprived by the selfshness and dishon-
esty of the managers of the Northern
Pacific Railroad. We have now no
hope from that quarter, for at least years
to come, and the vast interests of East
ern Washington can only be served
through the Seattle and Walla Walla
Railroad.