The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1869-02-04

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Vol. 20, No. A.
in their possession. Their right un-
der the law to subsidy, terminated at
three hundred and ninety-four miles,
and they have built the road five
miles beyond the. point where their
subsidy ceases by the present law
The company has made no showing
here of the cost Of that four hum
dred ard five miles Of road, as they
could, have done, ~as they ought to
have done-ay, sir, as they would
have done had they presented here
just and equitable claim for this
fifty-four miles additional subsidy
They have the figures, the actual
outlay and expense; and yet, although
II has been charged upon this floor
that the company has received vast
ly more than the road actually cost
them,: and have pocketed the sur
plus, yet Mt one word do we hear
from them on this point, We can
tell nothing Of it from the contracts,
for the contractors are the owners
and controllers of the road, and
they could gague their contracts to
suit the interests of the company.
1t is computed by the Government
engineer, Jesse L. Williams, that
eleven hundred and ten miles of the
Union Pacific road cost an average
of S34, 1924, the.whole route. This in.
cludes the portions OF the road
where the company received So, 900
and $4,000 per mile, the grades be.
ing heavy. 1t is therefore reaso na>
bio to conclude that the four hun.
dred and FIVE miles Of this road tn ro'
Kansas has not actually cost more
than $4,000 per mile, which, l doubt
not, is liberal calculation. How
then, does the account stand?
Amount of cash received
by the company S12,6O6,O0O
alue of lands at 81 25
yper acre 3,l25, 900
sl5.731,0OO
Cost of tour hundred and
five miles of road atS25.
900 per mile lO,O25, 900
Leaving in com. hands S5,706, 900
But putting the cost AS high even
as S28, 900 per mile, and the account
stands thus:
Received by com. cash sl2,GO6, 900
Land. 3,125, 600
sl5,731, 900
Cost of road at S2S,0OO
per mile ll,24O,O0O
Leaving in hands of com. 81, 494 900
of which 81 1850, 900 is in cash, and
S3, 135, 900 in what they call the fin est
lands in America. and rated at the
very low price of 81 % per acre,
many of them actually worth twenty
five to fifty dollars per acre, and
have no doubt the entire lands for
the first four hundred miles average
a value of three dollars per acre.
Now, sir, with this surplus in their
hands, this company by their srokes-
man upon this floor, the gentleman
from Pennsylvania, tells US with ap-
parent candor, to use his own lan>
guage, that this "great highway of
nations" this "great thoroughfsre
between eight hundred million peo-
pie in Asia and two hundred millions
in Europe, has been constructed by
the company and ends nowhere, and
row it wants fifty.four miles of sub
sidy to enable it to finish the road up
to Cheyenne Wells;' that if this is
given tho road will be carried to
Cheyenne Wells, and that by so do
ing we will secure to the Government
three hundred miles from Cheyenne
Wells to Denver without subsidy,
and the reasonable conclusion is that
if this fifty -four miles of subsidy is not
granted this great worlds highway
will fail to connect at Cheyenne
Wells.
Now, sir, almost any American
citizen of reasonable sense .,would
naturally inquire why cannot the
company take this surplus they have
in their hands, over and above what
the four hdAdred and five miles cost
them, and build the fffty-!our miles
with that, and then have enough sur
plus left to give every director in the
road a reasonable competence At
least they will have plenty Of good
lands left, where they can 60 to work
like the mass of our constituents and
earn an honest living, if they cannot
make a living off a read already
built and given to them by the Gov
ernment.
And again, sir, the inquiry natu-
rally suggests itself supposing that
this company had got no surplus of
assets, ifthey can build q road from
Cheyenne Wells to Denver, three
hundred miles, without subsidy, why
can they not build this fifty-iour
miles in the same way? Why must
the failure to get this 1fty-four miles
of subsidy stop this mighty enter
prise?
Sir, they can build it. They have
the money to build it, and they intend
to build it. But 1t would, of course,
be very agreeable on their part to
have gift from the Government Of
$500, 900. It is worth struggling
for.
But, sir, | cannot permit myselfto
fear that the demands of this com.
pany will be complied with in this
respect. Of one thing am certain !:
the toiling millions of the people, the
common people OF the nation, they
who have saved it by their sacrifices
Of treasure and Of blood, and who by
their toll are supporting it, have