The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-08-29

tnr VIA 'A''s'Ot suc IOoos u U cSor5 n&u
strsils ned 'hsir means y the nnu a practice
Of pay Ing inte est on he ock as well As the
honda The era Of divlce do now began.
Every six no tbs the Ere stockholders
received . "a ds, me- share Of what %as
termed 'Se .arni gs of the company. This
bad oily gone IN short VII le, however,
before Il q ssn appeared in Wall street to bor-
row n Rty and with en- infatnaton VIII oh
can hardly be conceived, the pablo entirely
overlooked the gross inconsistency between
the simul. ousl, borrowing If mooey and
payment of di,idends, and actually took no less
than SIX millions of convertible bonds. This
WAS again followed at short intsrvals-tne
dividends coptn1sng all the timely fresh
loans in ,be shape of third mortgage bonds, to
the amount OF three millions of dollars.
We had never ceased to alvoc Ate circum-
spection to those who dealt with the Erie Com
paDy, and the fulfiment Of our forebodings
was now al hand. Evil times came, aud in
very few weeks, The stock of the company fell
from eighiy-swo to thirty three. tthen came TO
light That r. was oppressed not ealy by its
public obligations but by cloud eff current
liabilities md that the earnings OF the roaI
were not OILY insufficient to provide dividend
'4na, but fell actually short Of the currsat
expenses. 4 short while ago, it was announced
on the Authority Of the company that its i'm
mediate difficulties bad been overcome by y
loan effected with o banker Gu the Judi
vidual security OF some OF the directors but
this monleDtary relief had no sooner been OBJ
taip,d than fresh negotiations are set on foot,
and it appears that there yet remain curren.
liabilities to still larger amount unprovidcd
Tor. Of course new shave will be the only
resource. Tue future is clear as MONDAY.
Nothing short If miracle can aveyt.a bank
ruptcy in February next, wdcn the income
bonds come due; and even before that,
shorter cut to a catastrophe may be discovered.
The stockholders in the Erie Railroad know
their own interest better than outsiders: but to
US it would seem far the wis3st and souadest
policy to Look the anger fully in the face aud
anticipate events by declaring boldly the true
state CT afflirs. A declaration of insolvency
would be nothing but the bare truth; and while
il could nos injure the credit of the CON aany
more than the rumors now floating through the
street, it would at all events relieve the stock
holders from the enormous tax they are now
paying in the shape of interest at the rate OF
one and two per cent month on money, and
would enable us 10 decide problem yet ua-
solved. viz: whether the Erie Railroad can or
cannot make money by carrying passengers,
mails and freight.
nOOn-sOil. Climate, dc.
According to report from the General Land
Office, the Territory of Nebraska covers an area
Of 342,43S square miles, equal to PIG, 1892
acres Of land. Kansas has an area of 126 2S3
square miles, equal to sO,s2l ,l20 acres of laad.
To large portions Of tbs land the Indian title
has not been extinguished, but enough is open
tor settlement to satisfy the most eager enter
prise for years to come.
Kansas il, comparatively, a narrow belt, bu
in its length it Is sufficiently extensive for ali
practical purposes. Reaching from the westeru
boundary vi Missouri to the backbone of the
Rocky Mountains It runs through twelve
degrees Of longitude. The soil for hundred
and fifty miles or so west Of Missouri is fertile
and, in many localities, extremely rich, al
though The scarcity of timber is rather draw
back than a convenience to the settler. Four
iflhs OF this territory ore desert plains beeom-
ing higher and drier as you advance Is the
Rocky Mountains.
Nebraska extends FROM the fortieth to the
forty ninth parallel Of north latitude, equal to
the distance from New York city to point
about three hundred miles northward in the
heart OF Canada. Its extent east and west Ia
the same az that of Kansas. OF the ji2, 43S
square miles Of the Territory Of Nebraska, We
shall be sgreeao'y disappointed if. upon care
full exploration there shall be more than $4,000
square miles pronounced available for proiita-
bic cultivation. The head waters Of the mighty
Missouri, and its great tributary, the Yellow
Stone, flow down from the mountainous bar
riers which form the western boundary Q. Ne
braska, and the former stream for some two
thousand niles, rolls its wild waters across the
northern half Of the Territory, and along It's
eastern margin but the soil is high and
dry, and cold and timberless. Thinking the
Rocky Mountains, aud among the numerous
aflluents Of the Missouri and the Yellow Stone,
from Fremont's Peak to the British boundary.
there are many charming little Tyrolean val
leys, sweet and green, where the Grow and the
Black Feet Indians hold p ,ssession. But they
are SIX or seven hundred miles from the present
frontiers Of civilization, and inaccessible to
steamboats,. The present chances for emigrants
in Nebraska are as in Kansas, at the eastern
end OF the territory, along the Missouri and its
contiguous tributaries.
The value Of these new Territories is not to be
measured by their superficial area. Two hun
bred miles west Of the Mississippi the whole
of this continent is changed. Itceases
TO be American, as we understand it, and be-
comes Asiatic. First, there are great plains
which sweep southwark from the British boun-