New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-06-12
CONGRESS.
The Steamboat Bill FafIed-NavigatiOn
Laws Unchanged.

The Steamboat Bill Fafled-NaVigatiOn
Laws UnchaBged.
WASHINGTON, June 1I.-In the Senate
Yesterday Mr.. Blair moved to take up the
report Of the committee of conference on
the steamboat bill.
Mr.. Conlkling gave notice that if the bill
should be taken up he would speak at least
two hours against it.
Messrs. Blair and Morton urged the i'm
pOrtance Of passing the bill this session.
The motion to take it up was lost-yeas %,
nays 25; and so the steamboat DILL failed in
the Senate. ..-....
A failure in the House of the bill allowing
tug and freight boats to carry additional
steam, was reported yesterday. The navi-
cation laws, therefore, remain unchanged.
The House Committee on Pacific Railroads
made report yesterday under the resOlu-
tion of February l3 to investigate and re-
port upon the actual condition of the
Northern Pacific Railroad Company. The
statement is vOluminOus, embracing all the
evidence advanced before the committee.
The following is brief synopsis:
There were no charges of any kind what
ever against the management of the COM
pany, and in order to meet the suggestions
made in any communications and referred to
the committee or any of its members, as well
as questions of a general character, the
committee put interrogatOries to the COM
pany, which were answered under oath.
The range of the inquiry was designed to
cover the actual condition of the Northern
Pacific Railroad Company, and to be ex-
haustive. The evidence shows that no di-
rector, officer or engineer of the company
is pecuniarily interested in the construction
of the road.
Thus far the road has been constructed
by contractors, to whom the work was pub
Hcly let after competitive bidding, and the
cleanness of the directors and management
of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company
in this regard extends to the administra-
ton of its lands. Not a rod of the land
grant given to the company has been sold,
given or promised to a director, or any eX-
ecutive officer In like manner it is shown
that no director, nor any other officer of
the company, is or has been beDefcially in
terested in the purchase of iron equipment
for the road. The construction of the road
has progressed as rapidly as prudent inan-
cial management and the permanent inter-
est of the work permitted.
The work throughout is shown to be of
the best quality; the iron used is all of
American manufacture, from American
ores, There will be in operation at the end
of this wear 5l7 miles of the main road
Surveys of the best lines across the conti-
nent have been made, exclusive of that now
completed. There is under construction,
east and west of the Rocky mountains,
equal to 1881 miles of road. The company
has examined, plated and classified, of its
lands in Minnesota and Washington Terri
tory, /, ,578, 900 acres. -Four million two hun
dred and fOrty-one thousand and six hun
dred dollars worth of stock has been issued,
representing AZ, ,4l6 shares, held by 174 diff
ferent share-owners, whose names are given.
The committee find that the company
offers to its boAdholders several elements
of security, and they reeite these, con-
cludings by the statement that from recent
thorough and careful surveys leave no
room for doubt that the cOmpany's lands
agricultural, mineral and timber-are of
excellent average quality, and with the
road built through them, they will possess
a cash value which will surely provide for
the payment of the bonds for which they
are now mOrtgaged.