The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1868-05-14

not be done for lees than tb,s. .o,,. -.
oesasi, ~ s%a, mating ma. an aggregate 10 smonnt an
OF $36O,O0O per annum-.n amonnt -.
great a the entire tax paid BY the -, n.o' ~
pie Of my State, IN amount th.t !, pev ."n
Z; years would run up to $1,000. .ooo'm u11 .en
Ihls upon our present crop: but Va
are growing At the rate of 20 per cent
per snoum. In ten years the annual
tax 70 inflicted upon our crops vonId
be equal to 5000, 900, taken right ont
Of tho pockets Of our farming commu.
n'ty, our grain raisers.
Ihe bill came up again in the next
Congress. I heard tn: discussion f
was sustained BY some Of the leading
men in this House; by Nessrs. Alle7
OF Massachusetts, Davis of New Yort
ochoheld Of Pennsylvania, Farouhar Of
1ndiana, and Price Of Iowa The vote
on N the passage Of the bill stood 1Ol to
IS: l voted for the measure. 7 80 ~.
ted because l believed it WIS nv dutv
20 my constituents. I never sunposed
tnat any man would attempt to charge
me With corruption upon such vote as
tnat: 1 knew, Mr.. Speaker, that when
my State aeked for . bridge to tn. .:tI-
Of Winona across that river the GENTLE
man from illinois opposed it. The vote
was soto 81. He spoke against it; he
voted against it The only exception
In which the gentleman has not oppos-
ed bridges here was, believe, the case
OF the bridge at La Crosse, where the
gentleman's brother resides.
Now Mr. Speaker, as to these mil
lions Of dollars Of damages that have
been inflicted by that brid go I can onlv
turn to my distinguished friend from
Iowa, Mr.. Price, ] who is here present.
ana who lives within forty or fifty
N miles Of that bridge, and who tells me
tn tnat from the day We passed that bill
'ne present time he has never he.,d
u one instance where any damage h.s
oeen INFLICTED by that brid ee unon rafts
or ooats or merchandise. So mnch for
that point. Nv '''" lof
l now turn to the Union Pacific rail:
toao resolution. / find that 1 have not
time to read extrasts from the law. 7
will tell the House what it VA, and
leave it tor further dis scussion to prove
whether speak truly Or not. When
tels Congress passed the great Union
Pacific railroad bill, they provided that
whenever the entire line Of the P.oifc
ra!lfoad "a was built; aud it was apparent
'nat l! tne road was yielding ten per cent.
on its capital stock over and above All
expenses, then, and not until then
Congress might have the right to re-.
duce or regulate the tariff Of fares and
charges upon that road. The Union
Pacific railroad is not ye: built: is not
yet constructed. 1t will not be con-
structed probably until the F::rty.Sec-
ooa OF perhaps the Forty-Third Con-
gress meets here.
AND what is the proposition We have
heard 50 much on this floor? Whv.
sir, it is to taxa out of the Forty-Second
and Forty Third Congress that right
which alone belongs to them under
law, aud put it into the hands Of three
Cabinet ministers. What is the ampu-
tatlon? Why, that it is easier to buy
the entire Congress; 10 its both branch
es, than these three men who NAV then
sit in the Cabinet. What right have
we to anticipate the legislation of the
future! What right have We to divest
our Congress Of this right, and do it
before the road is completed, before We
have any evidence that the entire road
will yield ten per cent. over and above
all expenses I voted against it, and I
did so boldly, bearing 20 mans insinu-
ations.
Sir, I believe it to be one OF the spas
modic outbursts ofthe gentleman which
To have witnessed here Congress after
Congress: Why, sir, I can look back
aud recall how et the opening of almost
every Congress the gentleman has got
up here, and If the word was psrlia-
mentary would say-howled against
the railroad communication between
Ne" YORK aud this city; and demand.
ed an airline railroad, splitting the
very heavens with his out-cries. Sud.
denly there came dead calm,
~Apd =. silence. like . poultice came
To heal the wounds Of sounds"
and We heard no more upon the SUBJ
ject until the next Congress met.
But he says voted this because I
held an annual pass over the road. All!
MIR. Speaker, this is almost too much
tor human contempt to reach. An an-
nual pass upon road that I have
never seen over which I have mover
travelled q mile; over which I do not
expect to travel until the great day
when line Of railroad communication
shall extend unbroken from New York
to San Francisco, On that day, stand
ing on the Pacific coast, in sight Of the
Golden Gate, looking back over that
mighty work, Welding in everlasting
marriage the mighticst oceans of the
globe, spanning the continent as Gods
great bow Of promise spans the heaven,
the glory of our nation, the marvel Of
our age, it will then, Mr.. Speaker, be a
consolation to know that that mighty
work has been resisted and opposed by
every distant, loud-vo,ced, bi g.ches,ed.
small l-hesded, bitter-hearted dem,gogue
in all this land.
l now turn to the Sioux City branch
railroad charge. The charge is that I
was false to my constituents, and de-
atroyed their connection With the great
Union Pacific railroad by wipiog out
that baoch. Let me answer that a.
briefly as l may.
When l was in the Thirty Ri ghth
Congress, snd by your kindness, Mr.
Speaker, a member Of the Committee
on tho Pacific Railroad, a proposition