The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-03-24
Pacific Railroads.

The report of the majority Of the Senate
Committee on Pacific Railroads, made on
February 10th, 1869, is an exhaustive argu-
ment Ia favor Of two additional trunk rail
roads 70 the Paoifo-one from Lake Supe-
rior to Pugees Sound; tn other from Little
Rock, in Arkansas, and from the terminus
of the Kansas Pacific railway in Kansas,
by the route Of the thirty fifth parallel, to
San Diego and San Francisco. The report
declares affirmatively that the bill reported
by the majority Of the committee was in
tended to be the fnality Of legislation in
aid Of Pacific railways; that after having
provided substantially two additional trunk
outlets-one for the Northern States and one
for the Southern Ststes--at suitable initial
points, it was intended to stop there all Con-
gresslonai aid, and leave to private enter
prise and State endowment the future con-
struction of branches. The report shows
at length and with q large array of statis-
tics, derived from the experience Of the
influence Of railways in England, France,
Belgium, Holland and the United States. that
they are the greatest of all modern agencies
for the production Of wealth and the deyel-
opment Of trade and commerce. It demon
strates that the import and export trade of
the principal countries in Europe are in
preclse proportion to the development of
their railway systems, respectively; that
the experience of Belgium, France, Austria,
Spain and Italy shows that tax on rail-
way receipts is the best sinking fund thus
far devised for the speedy payment Of ma
honai debts. 1t also shows that two addi.
tional trunk railways to the Pscific are COM
mercially necessary, demonstrating that q
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 intercourse; to pre-
vent the evils Of monopoly; to avoid po-
itical discomfort in the Northern and South
ern sections Of the Union; to bring the
public domain into market; to increase i'm
migration from Europe; to quadruple our
yield Of gold and silver; to save two-thirds
Of the cost Of wagoning supplies to the 1Os
military posts in the Indian country, which
now amounts to about seventeen millions q
year; to reduce by one-half the number Of
troops maintained in the Territories by the
greater mobility the roads will give the
remainder, and to practically end Indian
wars, which the report shows cost the coun-
try during the last campaign about one mill
lion dollars week. The majority Of the
committee urgently recommend aid to the
roads as q measure of immediate and last
ing economy to the government. The report
proves that it is safe for the government to
aid them, without reference to the inoiden-
tai advantages of doing so, by showing from
the accounts Of the Quartermaster's Depart
ment with the Kansas Pacific Railroad that
upon an average use Of 22O miles Of the
road its earnings for work done for the gov
ernment not only paid the interest ON the
bonds advanced to the road and provided the
sinking fund to redeem them, bat brought the
government in debt to the road. The report
opposes grants hereafter of government aid
like that given to the Union Pacific and Gem
trsl Pacific, in bonds directly issued, but
advocates 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 aver
ment that the people demand their constr uo-
ton, and do not, as has been alleged, par
ticipats in, or sympathize with, the recently
raised outcry against Pacific Railway aid.