Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1867-06-13

900 acres Of this land is such as very soon t.
become available to the company, and tha
the entire grant may be reasonably estimated
at value of $l.50 per acre, or round to-
tai of $30,000,000 Third, the general gov.
ernment issues to the company six per cent.
thirty-year bonds at the rate of SIG, 900 pei
mile for the whole distance. For the i5O
miles across the mountains this grant ia
trebled, making it $4s, 200 per mile and fol-
the distance from the termination of this
section to the California line [about 89S
miles] the grant is doubled, making it S32.-
900 per mile. This grant Of bonds amounts
in the aggregate to $4i, ,20s, 600 On these
the government pays the interest, retaining
as a sinking fund to be applied to the repay
ment OF principal and interest, one half the
charges made against II by the company for
| transportation of mails, troops, munitions of
war, ETC., which the company are bound to
carry as low as for individuals, at the same
time giving the government the preference
in such transportation. These bonds form
a second mortgage which il is expected will
be paid up by the time they mature. in SER
vices to the government as above provided
for. All additional guarantee is that the
bonds of the government are to be issued
only on the completion of each section of
twenty miles of the road, and after the COM
missioners appointed by the President have
certified that 1t is thoroughly built and sup
piled with machinery in every respect suit
able to a first class railroad. The company
is permitted by Congress to issue its own
bonds which form first mortgage on the
road, the government bonds being subordi-
nate to them. The former are to be issued
to an equal amount with the latter.
For building the whole length of road then
we see that the company have at their com
mand the following resources t.
United States Bonds. IA, ,20s, 900
First Mortgage Bonds. 44,20S,OO0
Land, 2O,032,000 acres ...... ..30, 100000
s11s, 10000
This is an average Of $40, 900 per mile,
and does not include any expenses for right
of way or material which can be procured
from the country, both Of which form large
items in the cost of railroads generally. Five
million dollars worth of stock also has been
paid in which is not included in the above.
The interest on the bonds is provided for
by the net earnings Of the sections as they
are completed. The business so far as the
road is completed has been constantly in
creasing. On the 305 miles west of Omaha
the receipts for the first two weeks of May
were 81 1000; and as the road pushes out
towards the mining country, both freights
and passengers become plentier, and as there
is no competition for their transportation the
rates are easily kept remunerative, at the
same time presenting very favorable con-
trast to the old prices of freights by teams.
~.
The above facts show how the road is to
be paid for and at the same time the bonds
be made good investment. The argument
for the future expenses and profit of the road
10 ali 1nrr n.1sF
end of the line furnishes us another illus....
ton in this respect. During the months of
August, September and October, 1866 when
there were seventy-three miles of road in
operation east of Sacramento, the gross earn
ing are stated to have been 1858, 236 in gold,
and the expenses of operating the road dur
ing the same time, $6s,sTl, leaving net
profit of 1924, 1865; or at the rate of about
81, 100000 per annum. For local business
prehaps this presents more favorable view
than would be given by the same number q.
miles elsewhere, unless except the eastern
extremity when it shall have reached the
mining country. But the value Of the through
business can hardly be calculated Whether
it shall prove greater or less than the friends
of the road predict, we can have no fears for
the pccuniary success of the enterprise when
we consider the immense resources which
will be developed along the line of this new
highway of travel, through q country teem-
ing with everything which is calculated to
noursh an interest of this kind, except pop
ulation. The records of our shipping offices,
however, show that even now not less than
10000 passengers are carried annually be-
tween the Atlantic ports and San Francisco.
1t is proved further that even greater uum-
Der go overland. From two points on the
Missouri in single year q, 900 teams, with
a large number of emigrants, started ON their
western journey. With two facts for basis
we can begin to appreciate the number of
passengers who will gladly exchange these
long and tedious modes of conveyance for
the quick and comfortable passage by rail.
And when we make an allowance for the in
crease which business, curiosity, or pleasure
seeking will add TO these figures, we can
easily believe that the Pacific Railroad will
develop traffic such as has hitherto been
unknown in the annals of steam transporta-
tion.
The bonds of the Government, as we have
stated above, are paid over as fast as the
road is completed and accepted. The grant
of land becomes vested in the road at the
SAM rate. The company now offer their
own mortgage bonds to the public at ninety
per cent. The interest on these is six per
cent, in gold. They are lien on the prop
erty and franchises of the road to which
even the bonds of the government are sub
ordinate. And while they are practically
secured by the United States and by prop
erty worth more than double their amount,
they are founded on an enterprise in which
the whole country has an interest. and
which cannot fail TO be carried to success
ful completion.
So much concerning the definite route and
actual construction of the great Pacific
Railroad is comparatively fresh. The argl-
ments for its projection have been before the
country nearly score ofyears Some who
labored hard 10 put it in motion do not now
live to the near complete oftheir plans.
But OF all human enterprises of great magni-
Jude, few exhibit such rapid progress.
Legislators who voted for the surveys which
opened the way through painless wilder
ness for the great conqueror of civilization,
are still alive to join legislative excursions,
and accept for the country the work which
they authorized to be begun. The Presi-
dent who first recommended the scheme to
Congress in an annual message is not vet ali
old man, and the capitalists who furnish the
money seem likely to see, what few railroad
builders ever saw before, their money re-
turned to them, before they die. with usury.
And looking back over the few years since
the work really began it seems to have gone
along almost by magic.
BY the end of the year there will remain,
at the present rate of progress, 800 miles OF
the distance to be traversed, and much of
this is through level country which offers
as great facilities for rapid construction as
any yet passed over. The year 1870 is fixed
as the time for the completion Of the work,
and appearances indicate that it may be ac-
in even shorter period. Rec
oning its daily progress by miles, the loco
motive dsta ces the wild animal of the
prairies, and the passengers shoot antelopes
and buffalo from the car window Taking
the two ends of the road together, we see
the rails laid almost as fast as the emigrant
travels with his OK team. Paying out two
thousand miles of Atlantic cable in few
days from the decks of the Great Eastern
was wonder but when we think of it the
the Pacific Railroad is a greater wonder
still. And when the next President takes "
trip to the falls of the Yo Semitic and runs
up to Sitka TO addeess our fellow citizens of
Alaska, returning in week or two to his
duties at Washiu notion we Shnll hpoiu to