, 1870-04-20
WANTED-A RAILROAD BRIDGE

0Oo'@~+ A'AAlS 41VWpdFcNt IN most
earnest and reptoncii4:: tone, beru.es Chi
cago for the failure to have a railroad
bridge built across the Missouri River at
that point. It represents the great loss of
time, the constant failure to make connec.
tons, caused by the t.anafer Of passengers
aud baggage in omnibuses and ferry boats,
1t a1so represents the additional cost To
shippers OF the expense Of having the
freight cars delayed until their contents
can be moved frum one side Of the river to
the other by transfer company, which has
evidently large and profitable Job on
hand. Tho Nonpare;1 states that the
construction Of the bridge waa commenced
last season but, after setting two piers,
work Was discontinued, under tho pratanoo
that there was lack Of money, and moth
ing has been done SINCE. The coat of
transferring freight across the river exceeds
$50 per car, and the NonpareH says that
ut this time, there nre over 900 loaded
freight cara, standing on the tracks of the
various roads, on the east side of the river.
waiting until the slow process of transfer
ing their loads to the Union Pscifc Rail
way ahnll be effected. The troubles and
ve1ations which attend tho transfer Of pas
sengefs and baggage are continuous, and it
is no unusual thing to see through passen-
gers standing for an hour On the east side
whiting to be transferred, only to find, ut
last, TINT the train on the other side has
left, We agree with the Council Bluffs pa-
per that this thing is all wrong, and that
there is disregard Of public rights and
comforts somewhere, that deserves the ss-
verest reprobation. We agree also that, ns
necessary part OF the road upon which
the national bounty has been 10 extensively
lavished, the bridge ought to have
been completed before this time, and
that longer delay IN constructing it will
justify Congress- in imposing some penalty
upon those who arc culpable, for it is true,
we believe, that the initial point of the
Union Pacific Railway is at Council Bluffs
But we fail to SEQ how Chicago is in any
special manner responsible for the failure
of the company to build bridge, or for
the consequences of the omission. It is
true that Chicago is interested in having
tho cheapest and speediest transit possible
for freight and passengers, and that tho de-
lays and charges at Council Bluffs and
Ctnaha arc IN obstruction, hut Chicago has
no control over the Union Pacific Railway,
That company has, by law, the right to
cross to the castt- lie Of the river, and thus
'' 4opoly Of the transfer business.
It has Ii, right to build the bridge, and it
ia its duty to do so, and we suppose that il
the attention Of the government could be
secured to the matter, could ho compelled
to do 60. The company is in default in
the payment Of interest on its subsidy
bonds, and We presume TINT very feeble
attempt to force the payment of thia in
terest would cauEe the officers Of the road
10 do anything TINT its charter requires it
to do, whether it be to build bridge OF to
do anything elsa
There il another way, however, of get
ting over the Missouri River which shippers
to and from Chicago might find ndvan-
tageous- BY shipping freight cia the
Sioux City 4 Pacific Railway, the cars ARE
carried across the river, without breaking
bulk, at the town of Blair, Nebraska,
and, by uniting with the Union Pacific at
Fremont, save some forty miles Of dis
tance and avoid Council Bluffs and Omaha,
and the delays and e1tortions which the
Nonparr1 asserts are usual at that csoss-
ing. We suppose that freight can be sent
by that route, if the statements of the
Nonparti| be true, more chesply and e1-