The Montana post., 1868-09-11
THE CENTRAL PACIFIC RAIL.
ROAD.

The San Francisco Tines gives an |
elaborate history and description of it, |
a summary of which appears IN the Salt
Lake Telegraph. We have only space |
in which TO briefly state few points. !
In lS4S Col. Benton introduced a bill in
the United States Senate providing for
the construction of such road as the
one referred to. 1t failed TO pass. N
1S59-60 parties explored the SierrGs tor
a plausible route and the Dormer Lake
Pass was selected as the most favorable.
In 1861 the Central Pacific Railroad
Company of California was organized,
with authority to construct road to
the eastern boundary of the State as
part of the great route. In 1862 Con
gress passed the Pacific Railroad act,
authorizing the construction of a con-
tinuous line of railroad and telegraph
from the Missouri River 10 the Pacific
Ocean. The L. p. r r. was to build
the eastern portion, and the c. p. Il. r.
the western, each company TO extend its
line until junction should be formed
with the other The aid rendered by
the government is thus stated:
Congress, after granting free right of way
TO a strip of land four hundred feet In width
across all government lands, authorized an is
sue of government bonds, amounting In the
aggregate to about half the estimated cost OF
building the road, and further granted to the
company, in absolute gift, ten alternate sec
tions az, 500 acres) per mile, on each side of
the line of the public lands, and the privll-
ege of using coal, iron etc. from the terrific
ries through which the line passes, They
were also entitled to receive, upon the com
pletion of continuous sections of twenty
miles, the bonds of the United States Gov
eminent in the following proportions: be-
tween the Missouri river and the east base OF
the Rocky Mountains, (about go miles, Sl6,-
600 per mile across the Rocky Mountains
l5O miles) 900 per mile; thence across
the Great Basin 600 miles, $32,0 900 per mile;
across the Sierra Nevada Mountains (l5O
miles) $1,000 per mile, and thence TO San
Francisco (about l20 miles) $4,000 per mile
The Government obligated itself to ext:ngulsh
the Indian title to all lands donated to the
Central Pacific Railroad Company, either for
the right of way or to the land granted on
either side of the road. 1t was provided In
the bill "that within two years after the pas
sage of this Act said company shall designate
the general route of its road, as near as may
be, and file map of the same In the Depart
menL of the Interior, whereupon the Secretary
of the Interior shall cause the lands within
fifteen miles of said designated routes, TO be
withdrawn from presumption, private entry
aud sale; and when any portion of said route
shall be finally located, the Secretary of the
Interior shall cause the lands hereupon grant
Cd to be surveyed and set of, as fast as may
be necessary, lor the purposes herein named-
The United states bonds granted to the COM
pany run for thirty years, and draw interest at
the rate of six per cent, payable seml-annu-
L. ft,o and nnl -
twenty-year bonds, which are redeemable after
five years, at the option of the Government,
these cannot be redeemed until the term for
which they were granted, namely, thirty
years, has expired.
In addition to this, the State of Calls
fornia assumed the payment OF the inter
est on one and a half millions of the
company's bonds for twenty years. San
Francisco donated S40O, 600 in her bonds;
Sacramento donated 100000 worth of
her land-and stock subscriptions to the
amount of S4,OOO,OO0 have been res
ceived. Acceptance of conditions was
filed by the G. p. r. r. in December.
1862. The first twenty mile section was
finished in August, 1866. The road is
now being constructed with great activ-
ity, and the race with the q. p. K. r.
has become in the highest degree ex>
citing Our readers can well under
stand the cause for this rivalry when
they remember that the more road each
builds the more lands and bonds it re-
ceives. Charges are made, indeed. that
the spirit of competition has become so
great that the contractors are sighting
their work in a criminal manner. That
this may have been done in some cases,
we have no doubt; but that the road,
taken as a whole, is one of the best
in the country we believe. Certainly, it
cannot complain that it has not received
sufficient aid from the people, and it
should, in return, give them a great
inter-oceanic highway which shall be
worthy of the nation. -..-....-. .r