Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 25.djvu/373

 at Portland. No act of littleness, meanness, oppression, injustice, or dishonor ever stained the escutcheon of his noble career; and he sleeps well on the banks of the Hudson."

This is the man who was to be thrown against Ben Holladay; this is the man who was to reorganize the Oregon and California Company for the bondholders, who was to extend construction of the road and guide not only the affairs of the Oregon and California Company, but of several companies, and who was to bring Oregon railroads into an organized plan, related to the rest of the United States through a transcontinental railway.


 * B. The Work of Villard.

The Oregon and California Company by its failure to pay the interest due, became liable to assumption by the bondholders. This meant the bondholders would have to go through foreclosure proceedings, so rather than do this, it was agreed that a compromise should be made. A compromise contract was drawn whereby the bondholders gained a right to elect three of the directors of the company. Although the directors were to manage the affairs of the company, all financial dealings must be accepted by a financial agent who was to be chosen later. Should the company fail to earn enough to pay the interest on the bonds, Holladay was to supplement with his own funds.

No sooner had Villard left when Holladay began to try to break the contract. He had by the contract personally obligated himself and could not make the payments. Again the question of assuming the road came into prominence, but again the distance between the two parties and the cost of litigation brought compromise so it was agreed that by a small payment Holladay would surrender control of the Oregon and California Railroad and the other companies controlled by him. The bondholders of the Oregon and California Railroad Company