Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1869-02-11
Gigantic Railway Jobs In Cen.
gress.

Gigantic Railway Jobs in Cen.
gress.
Mr.. Pratt, the Senator elect, in his adj
.iress to tho Legislature. acknowledging
his obligations for the honor conferred
upon him. expressed some excellent senti-
msn,s that are applicable TO the existing
condition Of public ai'sirs. Referring to
the demands of the people 10 the present
slicsreies Of the country, lie said, among
other things "Th,y demand that oil
schemes ofin,ernal improvement and cor
pora,s enterprises, however plausible they
may aeen, hich look 10 the Gevernmest 1
for aid BY way Of subsidies. b postponed.
whrs this mountain Of debt continues TO
cast lie shadow over the nation We
think this sentiment will find cordial
approval among the people generally.
The success Of the Union Pacific Railroad |
Company in obtaining the guarantees or
cred, OF the general Government for
enough to construct that road as II is being
constructed, 50 as to leave a large profit
besides for their contractors, has organized
several rings" to obtain similar uid fr IN
tue Govern uent. which, i! granted. would
add to out present enormous Indebtedness
the sun Of about Ave hundred millions Of
dollars Washington correspondence
thus caume'a,c the gigantic railroad Jobs
nos before Congress. which are being
presgcd with all the vigor and appliances
that experienced lobbyists and jobbers SO
yell understand. Hs says, and W hope
the reader will carefully consider the pros
jecss that have been artfnlly aud plausibly
presented TO Congress for i,s approval
I've bills aioes-ths Northern Pacific.
advocated By Mr. Weldon. Of Minnesota,
ard tho Atlantic and Pacific. known a.
the ,mnibus bill, and sald to be support
"a by strong ring" Of Southern men,
hers ani Senators include about 5.010
mises Of railway aud territorial grants Of
land in the aggregate larger than the
State Of New York. lu addition to these
immense land grants, which they claim
- be possessed Of already. these Political
engineers aim at getting. 40 distinctly
Get forth in their respective bills, the
guarantee Of the United States for o40, 0OO
mile making . gross amount Of $780,
10000. Bssides these modest spplica-
tiens there are from = dozen to rwenty
other "striker" bills, the authors Of
which ain At getting - show" in
with the big. would BE- monopolists,
by mesns Of few hackers in Congress.
Ons Of these 10 worthy Of mention NJ
claiming consideration on the ground Of
merit. This il . project known IS The
Atlantic and Caiifsrnia railread, the pro.
Jscters Of which propose an extreme South
orr line near the thirty second parallel Of
north latitude. Mr.. Barrett, Of New York
York. Ksntnckisn BY birth. is at the
head OF tais nice little speculation His
father made lusay hit in tebascs at the
comSpencement OF the var, and realized q
fortune. which his enterprising son has
inhsriied. But he wisely does not promise
10 spend his patrimony for tho benefit of
the poor Southerncrs for whom he enter
tains such benevolent Intentions, but is
willing to use his influence with Uncle |
Sam. His co-iabcrates, and. II IL said, his |
mentor IN this beneficial scheme for de |
veAloping the National resources" ~ \
Mr., ora General Rust, who is running
the machine" here. The plan embraces, |
according 10 the map. numerous branches
and connrctions,' by which these gentle
men spread themselves" over n large part
OF Texas aud the Southern Territories and
States. What their lines foot up to in
miles, il isnot easy to determine. but the
sum total can not he less than 1000. This
schemc, at $50, 900 a mile, will call for an
other &l00, 000, 900, making, with the 9th.
sr two schemes, 300, 900 900.
These bills are pressed upon Congress
With A. much psr'inaci,y as though the
country Was FREQ from debt, unhurdened
With taxation, and rolling in wealth. A
railroad project involving the credit OF the
Governmsnt 10 the extent Of two hundred
millions is regarded by tho lobbyists -
no extraordinary affair, and the means for
carrying il through Congress are discus.
sod with a. much calculat,ou and ccolness
as though the mrjerity Of that body were
marketable commodities. The same Ger
respondent tells us how these enormoas
jobs are pu, through tie National Leg
i~,aiuse, and thu profits divided lie
saGs
ar course enormous Inducements in
e.ccs-shich is all 10 be free Of call, OF
any kinl--and hnds AMI contracts arr
he'd out t. members and Senator's to sup
PIT these grand pr cts fer national de-
velcpmenta aud for paying the ational deb,
for IL IT argued that the trueway for pays
ing the national debt is TO borrow three Or
four hundred millions more, and lend the
same to those disintsres.ed lobbyists, who
know BY rule Of three exactly how it will
wsrk ont. Tho resolution passed by the
House tho ether day to declare that Il is
inex2edient to make any further grants Of
bcuis or credits In all of ra iroads. and
Senator brakes to the - ne effect, intro
duced in tho Senate Yesterday and referred
10 the Committee on Pacific Railroads. in>
e'sad Of discouragins these benifcens gen
tlemcn, il, is said, has favored their plans,
They know know exactly where their ia
Dor 81 love" can best be expended. The
vote in the house stood 80 to 81. The "
ere checked or - al, righ,," end some
twenty or mere abssntsss set down the
Same category. "Ncw," say the knowing
ones. AL 10 have to do is to deal with
twenty mers-osly twenty -and " shall
put our bills through the House With
rash." In the Senate they claim 10 stand
O~ssSs s~~' - essS aAVuUve V0S t0vtc UTe
come people here Who "don't sec it," New.
se-hs!ess. the amount of"log rolling" and
bargaining and trading going on exceeds
anything ever before heard u. Those lob.
byists talk Of millions 20 their predecessors
before the dslugs (the war; used to talk Of
thousands-but then the millions esner-
ally mean stock whom members are Ito be
taken care Of"
rhsre Il scarcely . claim or job Of any
kind presented to Congress that has not
usmSsrs Of Congress within tho ''rings"
upon one side or the other. There hsa
been fierce contest over tho Mr.. Garrihan
case, involving the title to quicksilver
mi,ss in California. valued from ten to
dtsssn millions Of dollars. which the Senate
has finally decided in his favor. This was
IA. job, and the successful parties could
bleed freely for the prize. We ars informed
that the ''rings" upon the opposing sides
included members Of Congress who, Of
course. would be governed in their votes
By their interests.
No matter how much or how earnestly