, 1873-05-08
California Correspondence.
COLUMBIA, Cal, April 13. 1877:


Company" All along from the start
of it. have had more faith in the hen
esty and fair dealing of the aforesaid
Company than in either of its transcon-
tinental predecessors, or in fact of most
of the other railroad corporations of
the country. did think that q better
sort of men were controlling that enter
prise than were managing most of the
other railroads, and ny conclusions
we're, in large part, deduced from ac-
counts gwen Of the said Company and
its operations by the Puget Soend press.
But it now appears, by the accounts
given of its transactions by the same
press, that both the said press and my
self have heretofore held erroneous op-
inions on the premises, and that the N.
p Railroad forms no exception, ON the
score of gobble-and-grab. to the general
rule of proceedings of other railroads,
but that it has as bad an attack of ring
'coT7m as any OF them, or even as that of
the late Congresses Of the United States.
1t is sadly Mobi,iered, according to the
late accounts of Its doings. Like the
Union and Central Pacific, it has an ar
dent desire for gain, and seeks te swol
low up the whole country and is appur-
tenances along its course, in advance of
its construction of the Hallway. A fair
~ and faithfully constructed and oper-
ated railroad from Lake Superior to Pu
get Sound, would contribute largely to
the interest and advancement of the
Sound country. Upon the suppesition
that such road was to E,ade and oper-
ated. spoke OF it in the manner men,
toned at the beginning of this letter.
But it is quite safe to predict, fiom pres
ent indications, that the n p. Company
will play the role of the Union and Cen
trail, by first endeavoring to gobble up
the whole Sound Country and ultimate
ly to monopolize your entire transporta-
ton business, both by land and water.
That's what the Central Pacific has es-
sayed to accomplish in California, and
what it has accomplished as far as our
transportation business is corcerRed.
Instead of benefit, the Central Pacific
Railroad is a curse to this state, and
sincerly hope that Washington Terri
tory will never be afflicted with a siml-
lar concern. The ringworm, alias "Cre-
dit Mobil;er. is an obnoxious conta-
gion and seems most sadly to affiict all,
or nearly all. of the principal business
corporations of the country at the pres
ent period. The truth of the matter is,
that for years the people ofthe country at
arge. through the instrumentalityf of
the Federal Congress, have been nurs-
ing, feeding and raising up a swarm of
greedy and vicious hawks ( in the form
of corporations to peck and tear their
y
opolies in the business transactions of
the country have been created and so
much capital combined, that society has
become seriously contaminated there
by, and the seal of poverty so closely
fastened upon the laboring poor that
they will never be able to break it and
of necessity will be compelled to hew
wood and draw water" for the lords of
combined capital.
Now, Mr.. Editor, just between you
and me, l am going to say am not much
of railroad man mainly for the reason
that: first, railroad companies are the
most beleaguering. tenacious and con-
summate beggars in the land; and sec
ond, when they get their roads in oper-
alton they are not content to mind their
own business and let the affairs of 9th
ers alone. Railroads remedy some in
conveniences. it is true, but they bring
along with them host of evils. They
seriously corrupt the legislation of the
country, and although generally looked
upon as prominent feature of civiliza-
ton, they constitute dangerous sore
upon the body polite and tend to op
preston and immortality aud operate
against liberty and equality. The late
investigations in Congress clearly DEM
onstrate the corrupting influence OF
railroad corporations. To subsidIze
such bands of tcggars and common
plunderers by dividing up among them
the public patrimoiry, ought to consign
the perpetrators of such acts to everlast
ing condemnation, and perhaps it will.
As have few lines left on my sheet
I will fill them with an account of what
1 conceive to be our crop prospects.
Here in the interior at the present time
it is decidedly too dry for the grain and
the feed in the pasture lands to make
much progress, and there are the usual
indications that the wet weather is al
over for the season. If such should
prove true, onr crols in the hay and
grain line will be of but little account,
and l believe that the same result will
be general throughout the State. On
the whole, must say that, at .his date,
our hay and gram prospects are by no
means encouraging.
Very Truly, &C.,
N.UICE FORK.