Northern Pacific Railroad's Columbia River Land Grab

Remaining in our city and extending along down the Columbia River, forty miles in width, the N.P. Company has within the last year laid down its track. It has not as yet been used with any advantage to the public, as business and travel is abundantly furnished by the boats at two cents per mile, while railroad rates of this company here are five or six cents per mile. At first notice the object in such a piece of work is not very apparent; but when we consider the proposition of the corporation to scoop in about 1,000,000 acres of land right here at the city and on both sides of the river, thirty miles in width, it don't seem quite so bad a speculation. The road is cheaply built, evidently with the view of being taken up if baulked in the scheme for the lands. If successful, they have a domain here almost twice the size of Multnomah county, which will realize them, at per acre, millions for an outlay of less than one million. The stakes, five million, are worthy the steel of large gamblers, and clearly furnish a motive for the extraordinary pretensions set up by the corporation and their lawyers. A revolting feature of the scheme is that every acre of this domain is to be made productive by the toil of the comparatively poor settlers, who must bestow not less than one hundred days' work on each acre before it is ready for the plow. If to these hardships you add the payment for his quarter section to the railroad corporation, for that which he should have free, he is subjected to a mild oppression which cannot be thought of but with abhorrence.