New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1866-03-20
THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAIL.
ROAD,

We understand that the House Committee on
the Pacific Railroad have prepared bill, soon
to be reported to Congress, in aid Of railroad
from Lake Superior to Puget Sound. The
Northern Pacific Railroad Company was char.
tered two years ago, with liberal grant OF
public lands; hut, as in these times il is impossi.
BILE to obtain capital for such On enterprise,
based on prospective remuneration from lands
ten or twenty years hence, the Company has
asked for additional Government aid.
The provisions Of the bill are as follows: The
Company arc required to build % miles Of first
class railway and telegraph lines; when the
same shall have been accepted by the Commits
sioners appointed by the President, the interest
Of a fixed amount per mile, at 6 per cent in cur
rency, shall be guaranteed for 20 years by the
Government. The minimum amount per mile
is $4,000; the maximum, $4,000. This is
not gift; the bill provides for the repayment
of all moneys by reserving one-haf of the pro-
ceeds from the sale Of lands held by the Com
pany, also IS per cent Of the gross earnings,
till the Government shall be fully reimbursed.
The capital stock Of the Company is 500, OOo,-
OO0-the amount guaranteed about SGO, 600, 900
Ito be determined by survey. The Company
is forever prohibited from issuing bonds.
The Company receives aid only as the road
progresses, in sections Of Is miles. BY this plan,
the reimbursement commences at once; for the
construction of this line enhances the value Of
the lands, which are now worthless-held by
buffaloes and Indians.
The total liability Of the Government per an.
mum, when the road is completed, will be about
SO, GOO, 900, if no income shall be derived from
the lands granted to the Company. But the
probabilities are that the reimbursement will
nearly keep pace with the liability. by the re-
port of the Commissioner Of Public Lands, we
learn that not far from GOO, 900 acres were taken
up in Minnesota alone last year, mostly along
the lines of railroads now in progress. The min
imum prices fixed by Government on these lands
for 20 miles on each side Of the proposed road is
S2 so per acre. "a
Suppose the Company were to build, in the
next two years, four hundred miles Of road, from
Lake Superior to the Missouri, the Government
guarantee would be tho interest Of $50, 600 per
mle or the interest Of $4,000, 900, which is
$3.50, 900 per annum;, if one-third Of SO many
acres are sold during those two years as have
been sold during the past twelve months, or,
in other words, if 200, 600 acres are sold during
the coming two years, the Government will re.
ceive all it pays In addition to oil Of the bonds
still held by Government, every alternate sec.
lion will have been enhanced 90 so per acre
SO much clear gain to the Treasury.
The Company has recently been reorganized.
Ex-Gov. Smith Of Vermont, manager of the
Vermont and Canada and Vermont Central
lines, is President. Associated with him are
some Of the ablcst railroad managers Of New.
England-tho Hon. Onslow Stearns, President
of the Northern New-Hampshire; Gen. Stark,
Manager Of the Boston and Lowell; tho Hon.
T.. S. Tobey, President Of the new Boston and
Liverpool Steamship Company; d. P. Cheney,
esq, Of Wells Fargo g. Co., and other gentle.
men in this City and the West, who have
come forward to rescue tho charter from
expiring by Limitation, and TO inaugurate
and prosecute the grand enterprise, pro-
vided they are encouraged by the Gov
ernmont. The House Committee has fully