Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1869-04-07
synopsis of Report of Senate Committee
g. on Pacific Railroads. 4r

The report of the majority of the Sen
ate Committee on Pacific Railroads is an
exhaustive argument in favor of two adj
ditional trunk railroads to the Pacific
enc from Lake Superior to Puget's
Sound; the other from Little Rock, in
Arkansas, and from the terminus of the
Kansas Pacific railway in Kansas, by the
route of the thirty-ffth parallel, to San
Diego and San Francisco. The report
declares afirmatiyely that the bill report
ed by the majority of the committee was
intended to be the fnality of legislation
in aid of Pacific railways; that after hav-
ing provided substantially two additional
trunk outlets-one for the Northern States
and one for the Southern States--at suit
able initial points, it was intended to stop
there all Congressional aid, and leave TO
private enterprise and State endowment
the future construction of branches. The
report shows at length, and with large
array of statistics, derived from the ex-
perience of the influence of railways in
England. France, Belgium, Holland, and
the United Ltates, that they are the great
est Of all modern agencies for the produc-
ton of wealth and the development of
trade and commerce. 1t demonstrates that
the import and export trade of the princi-
pal countries in Europe are in precise pro-
portion to the developments of their rail
way systems, respectively; that the ex-
periencc of Belgium, France, Austria,
Spain, and Italy, shows that tax on rail-
way receipts is the best sinking fund thus
far devised for th speedy payment of
national debt. It also shows that two adj
ditional trunk railways to the Pacific are
commercially necessary, demonstrating
that single line cannot do the work that
will be thrown upon it; that additional
lines, free from obstruction by snow, are
| needed to maintain uninterrupted utter
course to prevent the evils Of mono
poly to avoid political discomfort in the
Northern and Southern sections of the
Union; to bring the public domain into
market; to increase immigration from
| Europe to quadruple our yield Of gold
and silver to save two thirds of the cost
Of wagoning supplies to The 109 military
posts in the Indian country, which now
amounts to about seventeen millions
year; to reduce by one-h half the number
of troops maintained in the territories by
the greater mobility the roads will give
the remainder, and to practically end In
dian wars, which the report shows cost
the country during the last campaign
ABOUT one million dollars week. The
majority Of the committee urgently re.
commend aid to the roads as measure
of immediate and lasting economy to the
Government. The report proves that it
is safe for the Govern ment to aid them,
without reference to the incidental advan-
tages Of doing SO, by showing from the ae-
counts of the Quartermaster's Department
with tie Kansas Pacific Railroad that up
on an average use Of 220 mil es Of the
road its eanings for work done for the
| Government not only paid the interest on
the bonds advanced 70 the road and pro
| vided the sinking fund to redeem them,
but brought the Government in debt to
the road. The report opposes grants
/ hereafter OF Government aid like that
! given to the Union Pacific and Central
Pacific, in bonds directly issued, but ad-
vocates q guarantee Of the interest Of the
mortgage bonds of the two additional
trunk Pacific roads, to be issued to de-
fined and limited extent It declares
that they are military, commercial, and
political necessities, and concludes with
the averment that the people demand
their construction, and do net, as has been
alleged, participate in, or sympathize
with, the recently raised outcry against
! Pacific Railway aid