The Corvallis Gazette

THE NORTHERN PACIFIC.

We call our readers' special attention to the extract we print below from the New York World of Aug. 24th. It would be a strange, but not an impossible, turn for affairs to take if the great Mr. Villard were to prove another instance of the engineer hoist with his own petard," for, clearly, great as he is he is not powerful enough to change, by becoming its owner, the essential character of the property he bought. If the eighteen millions of stock in Mr. Billings' hands was tainted and fraudulent and so Mr. Villard swore it was. it could not become clean and honest by his handling it. and if by buying fraudulent stock and then voting on it Mr. Villard become the moving spirit and master of the Northern Pacific no wonder that the suits were stopped, the whole business hushed up, the accusing counsel silenced, and the very press itself gagged, for there was the wherewithal to do it. The plunder truly was great, the moving cause a mighty one. Bearing in mind the strong probability that in some form or other Congress will have to adjudicate in these affairs we would again impress on the Benton county members of the Oregon Legislature their sacred duty to avoid the smallest chance of sending to congress a Senator who may be run, or "controlled' by Mr Villard, the Northern Pacific, the O. R. & N. C. or any other railroad magnate or corporation. The New York World of last Aug. 24th comments as follows :

In April, 1881, The World reported two injunction suits as pending before Judge Speir and Judge Blatchford in behalf of Mr. Henry Villard--one against Secretary Windom and his associate directors of the Northern Pacific Railway Company, and the other against Mr. Fredrick Billings and his associates of the same company. These suits were brought to prevent the issue of eighteen million of alleged fraudulent stock and the doing of a large number of other alleged fraudulent acts. A most pungent attack was made by Mr. Emott (who held the brief of Mr. Villards attorneys) on these alleged frauds during an argument in which he did not spare the defendants. Then came Mr. Shipman, doing battle for the defendants with great ingenuity and force, and Mr. Joseph Choate followed with a very plain-spoken arraignment of Mr. Billings and his colleagues. The report of the controversy filled several columns of The World. All this was in a State court. As to the suit in the Federal court, no arguments on the merits have ever been heard. Nor in either suit has the press since been called upon to report further progress. Why not? Because pending the decision Mr. Villard and Mr. Billings appear to have settled the controversy by Mr. Villard's becoming the purchaser in whole or in part of this issue of common stock alleged by him to be fraudulent. The quiet possession of this stock would give Mr. Villard and those who acted with him the control of the Northern Pacific road. Clearly, therefore, the question becomes interesting. Was there a fraud? On the hearing before Judge Speir Mr. Villard's affidavit was read in support of an injunction in which he swore that the stock proposed to be issued to the extent of eighteen millions of dollars was a fraud both upon the company and the public, and that if issued and distributed to Mr. Billings and his associates it would be without consideration, as the company was not to receive a single dollar for it. and that in addition to this the company, as then reorganized, had no power to issue these eighteen millions of common stock, whether any consideration was paid for it to the company or not. Under the settlement what seems to have happened? Mr. Villard under the settlement became interested in the control. and the public eventually became the purchasers of stock which Mr. Villard had previously satisfied himself, up to what lawyers call the oath-point." was fraudulent. Who owns the tainted stock now? Who has profited by its distribution? Must there not have been another and a very, very "blind pool" in the transaction? Possibly it may occur to our esteemed contemporary the Commercial Advertiser to unite with The World in asking why the proper committee of the Stock Exchange looks with indifference if not with complacency on the circulation of such tainted stock. There may be a divinity that doth hedge the disreputable stock transactions of a Governor, but what divinity hedges Mr. Villard?