, 1866-03-20
The Illinois Central Railroad and the
Government


On the passage by the House Of the Army
Appropriation bill, on motion Of Representa-
| tive Washburne, provision WAS inserted
| providing that 10 money should be paid to
| the Illinois Central Railroad for transporting
! troops or munitions OF war, nnd directing the
! Attorney General to commence proceedings
1 for the recovery of what money has hereto
fore been paid to the company by the Gov.
crnment. The reason assigned for this ac-
tion is the following provision in the bill
granting to the company every alteruate sec
] tion Of land within Ilitccn miles OF the road
| VIZ: that It should forever remain .spublic
| highway for the use Of tho Government of the
United State, lfec Of tolls or charge, for the
\ the United States."
When the war broke out the War Depart
mcut construed this ptoVialon to mean that
| the Government had the right to Use the
roadway free OF charge, but It did not require
the company to furnish cars. fuel and men to
! run the trains and In order to arrange the
matter justly md equitahly, made contract
with the company that the Government
should pny two thirds the usaal rates for the
! nso o. it's cars, &c. It Is now proposed to
make the company refund that amount.
Now We haee 10 sympathy for the Illinois
Central Railroad Company. for by their IN
| inst and e1orbilant rates Of freight and fare,
| anu BY tie impudence md overbearing Of its
| employees, It has forfeited whateycr Of SYM
! people, and If there wns any legal way wncre-
| BY It could be made 10 act Justly with the
people, we would use our Influence to the
utmost for the accomplishment Of that end,
yet We arc opposed to compelling the road
to refund the money paid by tie Govern
ment, for several reasons.
| 1st. We do not believe that the amount can
| be recovered from the Company by sui, as
I the courts will hold the same opinion rs the
| Government did in 1861.
I'd. All roads TINT have received lands from
| the Government have the same provisions con-
! tained in the grant to the Central, and It
T0nld be unjust to single out that road, and
! let the balance 60 free.
I'd The Government 4as paid the road S.
COO, ,0G0 since the war Eom1nenced. OF this
amount per cent hns been paid into the
treasury Of the State Of Illinois. Il the Com
pany afe compelled to refund this money tho
State will have to pay back S5t0,O00. Are the
1 tax payers willing to do this?
4th- The amount OF land received from the
Government wns 2,5o0, coo acres, which WAS
worth 81 Is per acre. By tho building Of the
road the balance Of the land was sold at z. 80
per acre, quicker than It could have been had
| the road not been built. 80 that the Govern
1nent lost nothing By giving the lnnd to the
Company, and during the war the Company,
in the reduction Of freight, more than paid the
Government for the land at 81 Is per acre.
Would It be Just to require the Company to
=
strucsion OF the Inv, and thus give the COM
pany IN excnse for advancing feights still
iurthers Il the Company has to refund the
people viii have to pay the amount, Tor It
will be added to the price Of freights.
| From the Bloomington Pantaersph.J
1 When we first learned that the amendment
! had been before Congress, We wrote psivate
letter to the member from thIs district, tell
| ing him Of our approval Of his vote in oppoaf-
ton, for although We are bitterly opposed to
all railroad nonopolies, md especially to
sonic Of the charges and tariffs Of the Illinois
| Central, We do not sec how In Justice and
/ equity the amendment can be sustained, and
| We wish to raise our voice In protestatfon
| agninst the wrong. seyen per cent Of the
5,SO, GOO to be paid back according to
the amendment, has been paid from the
treasury of our State. Tits, If We are
correct, makes nearly FLOOD to be returned
by the State In case the amendment passes
and the Company is compelled to refund. THIS
| ia DO argument against the measure II it be
| right and Just, neither Is the fact TINT the
| company will be so sadly crippled By It that
1t will either be compelled to 80 into bank
luptcy or raise It's rates Of freight, but taken
together, these iacts are reasons for public
I sympathy With a. corporation that, say what
| you will, has benefited the people ofthls Sec
| uou OF the State more thnn any one nstitu-
tion that can he pointed out.
| The Voice Of New Hampahlre- The
Late Election.
From the Concord Democrat 15.I
The voice Of New Hampshlrel IS heard clear
| ly pronouncing upon the great issue Of the
hour, Make haste slowly In the work Of Re-
construction, do it thoroughly. botch 1t not
By compromise with ain, and let 1t rest upon
| the sure basis Of eternal Right" This Is the
| voice Of New Hampshile. She Is radical aud
| radically right. :.
The canvass was quiet but thoughtful
| one; there Vas no campaigning storm oF ex-
| element; mud the result Is a]l the more sig
nif1cant Of tho abiding faith Of the popular
| heart in the great progressive principles
which find their embodiment in the Republi-
| can party. The majority gained under these
! circumstances shows that party, II but true
! to itself, to possess q permanent strength
which may well be deemed invineible.
We need here only glance at the gratifying
details Of the result. The returns already il
clearly indicate that COY. SDyth Is reelected
by the handsome majority IF 5000. AIa}.
sayage Is elected railrond Commissioner by
the same figures. Four, aud possibly all 1--WE
o. the Councillors are Republicans, as arc,
also, nine, nt least, of the twelve senators.
The House OF Representatives will have q
Republican majority Of about one hundred.
The Republicans also carry seven of the ten
counties, leaving only to the Copperheads,
Belknap, Carroll md Coos. as usual. In fine,
the victory Is complete and sweeping.
~ 6H NY