, 1869-07-13
Monopoly Of Land by specu:
- 1atOrs,
Construction OF the*Knnsas Pa
cfflc Railroad
Tho Indians.

ct1c Railroad In the Valley OF Ehapm3ng Greek,
one hundred and dftJ Niles west OIL LeaSen-
worth, the Eater rnae In one nlgbtseTepfeen feet
sweeping away al the bridges and all crops
and twelling-houses On the bottom lnnda far
twenty mi1cg. Fifteen persons we're trowucd
whole families In several cases were suddenly
overwhelmed by the hoods In the night, and
drowned LatHe numbers OF cattle we're DESTROY
cd. But the wnters fell ns suddenly as they rose,
nnd On The Tth and 61h iustant nearly oil the
smaller streams had been reduced 10 their usual
dImtnutIsc Size. The Kansas still remained muen
higher than usual The damage to the crops Is
only slight, as comparatively d small extent Of
county Wns overdowed. For two hundred tnilea
along tho Valley Of the Kausas never saR
cropa LOOK Eo1c promising. Com never
looked better II stands n3 high az
q mana shoulders, ana looEs very Tank- and
vigorous. Wheat oatg md potatoes look sple,i-
didly-the wheat harvest already commencing I
have travelled stRce the nTst OF JUNG through
North Cuspl!nn, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware,
New Je1sey, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, In
dlana, illinois, Missouri aud Kausas. Every
where, except In Missouri and Kansas, crops
haye nppearcd very late, and In Illinois Ind In
d!aaa especially there seemed very little prospect
OF good crops With exceptions OF certatn local
itics where gtasshoppers have injured tho Wheat
kanaas and Missouri never had better pros
1ect Of most magnificent crops. Kaua74 Is
most magnificent State; ouly two queltlpns rcu-
der her future doubtful: Ii she peculiarly lable
to drppght9 ard arc gEasahoppctA u permanent
plaguc4' Actual observation Tor thirty years show
that only two droughts hare occurred, and that
the ralpiall IN the eastern ha1f OF tho Statct md
especially along the tine OF largo rivers - abua-
dant AZ to gtnAshoppcrg, thoy Always havo been
connncd 10 locnlitiea, and will DOUBTLESS dlssp-
pear altogether. Kausas Is Indebted to Pomeroy,
OF Kankas- famine lame, for the general impress
alon which exists thnt her roll b subject to drought
more than u ali other caused put together. But
the Senator does not believe In tho urth
Of the character he has given
hia ,nith IN her soil BY acquiring, through. the OPP
portunlrics which famine aud o!llco h1vo given
him, more thnn hundred thousand ncres OF
her best lnndA. The years Of famine 10 tho people
were yenrB Of plenty TO him. IN which he hnrvest-
Cd tho neans by which he, although the most un-
popular man In tho State, has been htle TO fasten
himself Ike the horse-lccch upon her people.
Fore@o5. tho corrupt politicians, and tho rail-
rosI companies have accomplished almost the
total absorption OF the publIc lands Of Kansas,
an1 arc aleklng mp the likelihood Of tho
nasscs n. her people. It Is said that
uor1ce Greeley Is at the head
OF one Of the most Gighntic schemes for moaop-
ollzne the best lands OF Kansas that ever existed
anywhere. The scheme s this: Tho Kansas Pa
clne 1la11oad Company have half the lands Tor
twenty miles In width on each aide Of thrIr road.
"Sas!onA Land Coupauy" hns been organized,
OF which Greeley Ia President, camposdd OF the
Directors and large stockholders of the K. T. II
Il This National Land Company have their
agents everywhere, who act as land agents Of the
railrcad company. Whenever mite OF land Is
sold By the government OF by the company
to an actual settler or improyer, nu
the good l0nds Of the railroad company
In The neighbozhood arc Ct once noted and sold to
the National Land Company at a nominal price,
and withdrawn from the market or put mp to .
higher ngure, thus Ut the same time cheating the
holders OF the Pacific Ratlroad stock, and depriv-
Ing actual settlers Of the choicest lands oasesa
they purchase nj an cxorbltant figure. And 50
they wTap It up.
Very little has been said IN tho public prints
hbopt the management OF the Kansas roctnc
Railroad, or the manner ln which II has
been built. I have something to Bag which
think THE TRIGrhE will be willing should be satd
In Its coinmns. The report Of Nj. 1saao Morris,
rrlatiye TO r1yal road, Is said To hare been sus-
gated by and to be In the Interest OF tho hanaas
Pacific Company. do not pretend to saY wheth-
tr tlia la the case, but I have travelled much on
railroads, aud pretend TO know something nbout
their construction, and, having carefully "talen
notes" OF tho Eansas Pacific Road from Topeka
to Sher,dan, wish to "pr1nr EN-" entirely on
my OWL individual responsibility.
In the nrst place, the +06 mites Of this road al
ready completed have not cost one cent over
5000 pei mile, OF one-haH OF TIE
cash subsidy paid BY the people. In the
second place, the road ls not half built
In substantial manner. No gtadc
hassbeen established anywhere; there arc no cuts
Or n1ls, but the undu.at1ng surface Of the Krnund
Is followed, and, tho consequence Is, Steep short
grades the whole distance wherever tho surface
Is uneven. From Topeka to Ellsworth, 167 miles,
the ground Is level plain, and the ties nrc laid
on the psalnc, a slight ditch dug on either side,
and the dirt thrown between the tics. The
bridges nud cutyerts arc OF the most unsubstan-
uo1 character. From Ellsworth to Sheridan, es9
miles, there ls not cut or MI worthy Of tho
name until within i've miles Of Sheridan; and
there arc many points where the grade Is nearly
or Quite, hundred feet to the mile. At one
rolnt The train ! WIS on, which consisted
Of ten freight cars loadet with bay
and lumber, and two pas scDger coaehes, with lot
exceeding twenty passengers, drawn by large
freight engine, got stalled. The grade at this
point on sharp crrrc vas at least ninety feet to
mile, when. by modetate cut aud I'LL for bali 4
Elile Il could have been reduced 10 forty. There
were many such places as thcs. The road from
Fort Hayes 10 Sheridan Is constant succession Of
curves first to the right ani then 10 the left, when
moderate cuts and Ills, and verY slight grade
Indeed, large sweeps, alternately TO the right aud
left, were constantly made, apparently
with no other object but to H.
crease the number Of mites Of road.
When 1t Is remembered that the cost OF the roall,
The Way 1t Is bu1ls, Is only 900 per nile uud per-
haHs not orer $4,000 per mtc, the subsidy bclug
$4,000, making clear rrodt to the builders Of
f1o,eo0 on every mile built: md when it ia also
Rha&t tkn rf,.i.1
6heri'inn, a noure can easily be scen for mixing
the distance as grcar ns possible. This smart
ldea, tadg1Dg BY the road ITSELF did not get into
The heads OF the Direetots until the road Was
pn,1t TO Ellsworth.
Compare the engineering OF the Omaha Road, OF
which MT. Morris SAYS 60 many. haEd things With
the Kansas Road. From Omaha to Sherman {sutn-
nit Of the black uls} there Is regular asetndiag
gra.e the whole distance, excepting about 10 miles
. distance Of $50 miles: Sherman to Rock Creek,
descending etulc without interruption, distance
50 miles; Rock Greek to Percy. ascending grade,
% miles: Perry to North Platte, descending grade,
10 nuea; North Platte 10 Separation, AEcenIiu&e
90 miles; Separation, for i've miles, descending
E11de, then ascendlug 10 the dtr.de OF tho cont
nenl 20 miles: divide Of the continent 10 Green
River, 1lo miles, descending grade; Green ieyet
10 Aspen. ascending grade, ~ miles; Aspen to
nase Of FrpmontorJ Mountain, 10 miles, descead-
I& ELAuCs L1fASE ~ 24A44A4ts Az
nli!eA- This Is engineering; but there ts no en-
gince1tng On tho kAusas Pacific Road Ono
stretch Of GO miles, another Of 50, Ao-
other Of 10, another OF %, and another Of 140
r1les OF continued ascending or descending grade,
bcx.dca numerous Kho1tet dlstzncea On the OubhA
read, requiring deep and long cuts anI 1Hs, whllo
undertake TO assert Is TACT that In TIC whole
4o5 niles Of The Kansas Pacific Road not Eve &1c-
ccesiye rni1cs Of uninterrupted amending or des-
I4tnt1 "a ~ IN her nm n
the kausaS Pacific Road where only every third
tie has spike. There Is scarcely hny masonry on
the road, OF &ny A4bstAutl2i cuIrerts OK bridges.
Here We hare road costing fsom $1,000 to
sSNo per nile, for which the people have gtytn
more than 80, Coz IN Land, and loaned s16oo1
In cash; and Congress IN IL wisdom has
relcatetithe rfet len Of tha peopleupoo the road
eod allowed frst mortgage boadI to be 1ssred
for f1G,eeo per mile, IN addition 10 the land nnd
sldcras,on Induced Congress 70 do this : What
necessity existed Tot doing II: And what hss
become Of the money obtained for these bonds:
TIE people viii require m answer to these
question: at the hands ot the railroads and1s the
hands Of IonEftss. Let th!s subject tc thoE-
Cughll TentIlated md nrubcd between this and
the meeting OF Congress In December. .,
The country aiunS the line Of the ERnsas
Pacific Railroad. rntll The plalns arc reached, Is
the most beautiful IN the world, Hnd TIE
moEt fertile, aad In spite OF Ill Obstacles Is being
raaidly settled up and Improved Even the p!aus
upon which nolhing but buffalo g.sAs grows, but
Io1 want OF rain would be the garden spot OF the
United States. And il has been noticed that tats
year much more rain has fallen along the line OF
the ralsosd than ever before The GTass - green
er and longer, and come sE1aL experiments In
corn, wheat and vegetable raising have been madc
and with success, except where gr7ssaopper7