Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-04-28
TR CONTINENT AL.
Fremont's New Railroad Scheme. Chances
for its Success.
The House Committee Expected to Report
FaVorabIy for Il.

WASHINGTON, April %, 1S70.-If
| the South is cheated out of a South
ern Pacific railway, it viii be through
the Vaccinations OF carpet-baggers
who have failed to secure black mail
/ from the legitimate projectors Of such
an enterprise. When il was an
nounced that Gen. Fremont was COM
/ ing to Washington in the interest OF
| the Memphis and FL PasO road, and
it was further whispered that he was
well supplied with funds, the lobby
rubbed Its hands with great glee and
in Imagination fingered bonds and
/ greenbacks galore. But Gen. Ere
mont would have none of them. He
had neither bonds or greenbacks to
distribute among the lobby; and so
the lobby set 70 work to defeat the
enterprise, of which Gen. Fremont is
the head. Prominent in this dis
reputable business are the Southern
carpet baggers. Bills have been in
trOduced in Congress for building
Southern Pacific railways, which con-
tain either the names Of men Of straw
as cOrpOratOrs, or no cerpOrGtOrS at all.
The object of the introducers and
hackers Of these bills is to SecUrey Mack
mail. Only this, and nothing Es9re.
1t may seem strange that men Who
are supposed to represent Southern
States should endeavOr to defeSt the
only enterprise likely to success
fully construct a road from the
Atlantic to the Pacific, through
Southern territory, but 1t should be
recoIIected that these men really
rPpresent OR{y themselves, and that
their sole aim is to fill their own
pockets. This they generally succeed
IN doing.
A bill is now before both houses of
Congress granting the rigkJT'of way
and other privileges to thl, JOuthern
Trans Continental Railway. This
road embraces the Memphis and FL
Paso and connecting lines to Norfolk,
Va. The Memphis and FL PasO and
Pacific railroad has valid subsisting
charter, intact, Superadded to mU-
nificent land grant, to construct a
railroad through Texas, on the 22d
parallel, to the Rio Grande. A large
amount of money has alread7- ~
spent by the company in s.aung In
Texas and IN purchasing locomotives
and iron rails, some Of which have
/ already reached the line of road in Sc
curing valuable and controlling inter
ests Ia connecting and continuing
railroads west Of the Mississippi, and
also West Of Texas, ana iF the acqui-
sitiOn Of lands in and around the nay
of San Diego for the use and profit Of
the company. Much has been said
concerning the lapse Of land grants
made by the State of Texas 70 this
road, but without authority or fOunda-
ton. The afiidavits of Chief Engineer
Daniel and +. Ii. EppersOn, then its
President, shows the point where
the eastern point Of the road Is located
and the work done on 1t; also the
steps that were taken to secure the
land grant prior to the war, and they
also show that the work Uas resumed
in the summer OF 1866, after the war
was over. 1t IS held by the company
that there was no cause of forfeiture
before the war, and there has been
none since. The interval Of time
caused by the war, when work was
totally ceased, has never been claimed
by the authorities Of Texas as cause
of forfeiture. On this authority the
AlEEl5AdbuAC VI ANAdlo bclosC0 a Ia " Oh
nth of January, 1862, securing the
right of the company and not allow
ing the time Of the continuance OF the
war to be counted against the COM
pany. Although this law was passed
by B "Rebel Legislature" the new
constitution of Texas recognizes it as
valid and binding. Nor is there
anything in the new constitution
which iRpairs the validity Of the
/ coupany's rights under rs charter,
au,4 the subsequent laws re-
latipg to Ii, AL reports to the con-
trary are the work Of the black-malls
and LOBBYISTS who want TO be bought
off: but whom General Fremont does
not consider it profitable or proper to
buy. -n. gr
phe Senate Committee on Pa
cific Railways, to whom the trans
Continental bill was referred, consists
of Messrs. Thurman, of Ohio; Race,
of Arkansas, and Howard, of Michi-
gan. Mr.. Howard is interested in the
Northern Pacific railway schemes, and
Of course adverse to a Southern road.
AIr. Rice, though a carpet -bagger, is
understood to have held aloof from
the 2nti-SOutherR Pacific railway car
ne+-bay ring, while Mr.. Thurman fa-
I-,,rs the Southern trans Continental.
Tb.3 chances for favorable report
froD, the committee are considered
GOOD Mr.. Howard presented yester-
dd9v what is considered to be his indi-
vidual protest against the bill, and not
a minority report from the committee
&c some supposed il TO be.
In the House the trans-Continental
hill il befOre the Committee on Public
Funds, Of which Mr.. Julian, OF Indl,
ana. is chairman. A favorable report
Is expected from the committee. Ihe
friends of the road are confident o.
Getting the bill through both houses.
nttle rirl. daughter Of one john