, 1866-03-14
THE 1LLINOlS CENTRAL 3
Il, CASE.
Its Relations to Land Grant Rail-
roads in other States.

Its Relations to Land Grant Rail-
roads in other States.
Remarks Of Senator Wilson, Of Massa.
chusetas-
When the question Of the payment II the
Illinois Central Railroad for Government ssr-
vice YVES before the Senate, On the 1Stk d
February, 1865, Senator Wilson, Of Massachu-
sets, opposed the proposition Of the House
OF Representatives, on the ground that 1t
would operate to retard the construction Of
The land grant roads In other States, by sus-
| pending law suits over them, and destroying
or irnpairing their credit to the extent of the
amount Of service they have rendered to the
Government. We copy hts remarks from the
Congressional G7o5e Of last session:
MI WILSON, am disposed ~ strike out
tatiyes, and to put aoshing In It's place. lam
dispoeed to do 50 for this sinple reason: I
think Il It Is understood that the Government
Of the Cpitea States Intends to require these
railroads to perform these duties, and make
them 40 compensation. the tendency will 10
to break down ali tie: sn,all and new land
finished. The Illinois Central Railroad can
stand this legislation; tut Iapprehend this
reservation In Congress, ttiaG we are to de-
mand thk work, aud pay Eothmg for It, VII
prevent the Eosds in aiicl1;g7ul Iowa, Mime
sofa, Knnsas,r and other PORTIONS Of the couu-
TRY, that have received land grants, and are
not yet completed, the roads' tdat are IN the
market for means to finish thsnni, from being
finished. to the injury Of those. STAKES, md to
the injury Of tho whole country.
This matter. Of laad grants, think stands
something In this. way: hold khxt-the pub
lie lands Of the United States, eathongh pur-
chased by the Government ofthe country, are
for the benefit Of the people who rte IN those
take up those lands, and cultivate them; and
am always disposed, N the management of
the lubljc laudst to act upon that idea- The
benefit the old States receive from the pub
lie lands arises from their settlement, opening
markets for what they produce, md haFing
the new lands raise agricultural products for
their benefit.
Mr. HENDRIo6s-The secator will anew ne
to suggest to him that'the Government niso
receives double the price for the reseryeases-
tions.
Mr.. W1LsoS-Certainly. Acting upon TINT
theory, hnye ever been. In favor of innd
grants to railroads fbr: the purpose Of deyel-
oping that portion Of our common country
We usually make these grants where tho
lands are really Of no value to rs, lands that
NEE lar HWHY lEu1u tuE I1ftka AI4A 1EQM Luz
lines Of travel lands that are difficult to
reach or bring into market. We make q
grant to railway to run through these vast
spaces Of territory. We double the price OF
what We reserve. We give away one-haT Of
our land to railway, and VIC double the
price Of the balance, and we sell it much
faster than nc should five had made no grant
at all.
lii. CowAN-I will ask the honorable Sen
Rtor whether that Is not an. asgument In the
case Of making contract; but here Is u con-
tract already made. Take the Illinois Cen
t1al Railroad, Tor instance. She has carried,
SOY +, ,W0, 600 worth for the Government OF
QUO Of surplus lands given her as q consider
alton Tor TINT very carriage, snegest whether,
after the war Is over, It would not be far that
she should account for It.
alr. wilson, will come to that In mo-
ment. Take the case of this great Illinois
Central Railroad. We made grant TO them
OF large amount Of land. I think we had
nine million acres of land there when We
made the grant. We granted to them some
thing oyer two millions. Within VERY short
time we were enabled to bring the balance OF
our lands into market, when, but for that
grant, we should not have sold them for
years. and we have received the benefit arising
}nnus Tor vastly more than they would have
sold for IL they Ind not made that grant to
the State Of Illinois for this railroad. 1t was
great thing for the State Of: Illinois. It was
a geat thing for the Government Of the
United States; and 1t vas for the benefit Of
them both. In using these lands to bu1Id that
railroad, We have ADDED millions upon nil
lions to the productive wealth Of the country
and to property IN the State Of Illinois, and
the Federal Government and the whole. coun-
try have received the benefit. hold tha. the
grant to the State of Illinois was one Of the
best acts this Government ever made. It
was for the benefit Of Illinois and Of every Sec
lion of the country and Of. the Government Of
the United States.
Since that time We have mude grants IN
Michigan, IN Wisconsin, I think, tn Iowa,
Minnesota, and Kansas. We have something
like fifteen railroads in the country to which
we have made these land grants but those
pantcs as the grant to the State OF Illinois.
[ Many Of these roads are not completed; they
| are IN the market for the means to finish
their roads and this very proposttion made
here IN Congress has tendency to prevent
persons ioaning their money or Investing:
dcrstood that the FederaI ttuvrrn1nsnt In
| tends to exact ont of those roads the money
| paid to them during the var for doing this
sort ofwork, II will prevent the investment
Of money In them and the finishing Of the
| roads. .,..
S1r. CowASI ask the senator which pro-
| position would be most likely to affect the
| credit OF these roads, the proposition to pay
| this money under protest, rs Is done by the
Secretary, accompanied With the threat OF IN
action to recover the money back, or the pro-
! viso as propose to modify 1t, which simply
saves the right Of both parties, and leaves The
! question for future adjustment when the
equities can BE- better known than now
| Mr.. WnsoS-I will tell the Senator pre-.
cise'y what believe equity demands Of rs ia
do. do not choose TO stop here aud 9nihble
over the point-1 do not apply that term to
we should use the roat-bed, the right Of way,
by our own cars or our own employees to dc
| TITS work, or whether It meant that We should
require these corporations to do the work fol
the Government. do not wish to dwell upon
that point. There are differences Of opinion
the country eay that It means one thing and
some say It means the other. l take It that
when we made tins bargain 1t WIS expected
by the whole country that these railroads
/ would carry orr munitions of war and ouI
| troops; and II the army had remained as we
for our indian wars and other matters, think
they would have pertormed tho work and moth
Ing wonld hare been said about It, and they
! never would hare made anS charge against
/ the Government. But, SIR, We made The
grant. and what do We uow haves This
gigantic rebellion requiring these roads to dc
a work that will entirely rni. aud destroy
every one of them, unless It be the n.inoL
Central Railroad, II we require them to do il
they they bad I'D better throw up their lands to
day than undertake to do this work Tor moth
Ing and It i moi tur the interest Of the cotn
try to check the finishing Of these roads, o.
rebellion broke out the Secretary Of Wa
made an arrangement with the railroad com
| panies Of the couHtry, to perform work fo
the Government Mt two-thirds Of the price
they charged the people Of tie country. Tha
is to say, the rate was fixed in 1851, when th'
railroads were doing work cheaper than thel
are now, at two cents mic for passengcra
That was supposed to be a fair arrangement
with the railroads Of the country, and the,
| agreed to do the Government work for jus
about twoth1rts OF their ordinary chRrgea
| Then the Department made mn arrangement
luetion for the Government Of THIRTY -thre
and a third per cent, from These rates. Th
lnnd grant railroads therefore do the work 70
thf.ty-three and third per cent less thu
the other railroads Of the country, md the.
do It at two-thirtls of their or6inaFy charges
The Illinois Central Railroad last year did th
Government work tor hall q million dollar
less than the other railroads Of the country
which were not land grant roads, perfozme
the same kind Of work.
Now, Sir, believe this arrangement to b
based upon Justice, and T. iair and honest III
rangement for the interest Of the land-gr
roads, Tor the interest Of the new States, fc
the interest Of the Government, for the inte
est OF the country. believe It Is based upo
equity and justice. Whatever provision n
may put INTO this bill, or any other bill,
have no idea that we are going to get th
money back agafn. We had better not delud
ourselyes.with any such idea If the none
Ia once paid to these companies, they will n
doubt Keep It.. As the arrangement whic
has been mads Is 4 Just one, based upon fal
consideration Of the case In yfaw Of The g7ea
burdens which VIC have put upon these road
which they did not. expect, when we mad
the grants, and as the grants were made fo
the benefit of the new States, for the bened
Of all the people East ana West, for the intel
| ests OF the nation, and have added hundred
Of millions OF dollars to the wealth Of tn
country; and as 1t Is for our Interest to hav
these roads finished, and to deal fairly an
Justly With them IN view Of the burdens pE
upon them by this war, 1 think We La
better stand By the arrangement made b