The New York herald., 1873-10-28


Pay for II Twice Over.
Few enterprises are as well known to the
people as tho Transcontinental Buchu Pacific
Railway. Have we not heard of it in public
speeches, In declarations from the press, in
Congress, in elaborate and dazzling advertise
ments? Do we not remember what an impor-
tant part 1t formed in the political campaigns
of 1885, and how the discreet Buchanan wrote
letter for use In California in favor of the
road, which, by reason of the mails-there
being no tale-telling telegraphs- not be
read in the South, where people were opposed
to Pacific railways, until after tho electiona
And do we not recall the verses, the celebra-
tions, the visions of Oriental trade that came
over the enthusiastic press when the silver
spike clinched the last tie that bound the two
oceans togetherP Why repeat the eloquence
of those noisy days? Here It lies fiat and
dead, on the old yellow HERALD pages-no
more life in it now than in the champagne
which foamed and sparkled at the celebration
feasts.
The railway as q national undertaking was,
of course, q noble thing to do And if it had
been honestly done for the good Of the people,
andas q military or political necessity, no one
would have objected But the achievements
and experiments of the road after the Buchu
Ring went into it are what now particularly
concern US. The Buchu mind, never swayed
q moment from the due consideration of bust
ness by eloquence or champagne or patriotic
considerations, discovered that there was
way to induce Congress to pay once for rail-
way, then to induce the people to pay .
second time for it, and, finally, to obtain these
two payments without making o road at all.
We do not know who made this discovery,
nor whose genius carried it into successful
operation. There has been so much scandal
about railways that the truth is obscure, and
we are afraid to make up our minds upon the
diseased and unwholesome evidence that has
appeared so abundanty. But certain general,
calculating facts no one questions. The
Buchu Ring invaded Congress it sapped the
sandy, crumbling virtue of statesmen like
Colfax and Dawes, Bingham and Garfield,
and others whose names death has covered
with silence The result was that under the
guidance of these Buchu statesmen-that is to
say, under the careful management of Dawes
and Bingham, Colfax and Garfeld-the first
result was achieved. Congress was induced to
pay for the building of a railway sum seve-
raj times larger than was needed.
There is an end to the acquiescence Of legis-
latures, and, having achieved this result from
Congress, an appeal was made to the people
in behalf Of another road. "We only ask,
said the Buchu Ring, "a modest grant of land,
and we will build the road ourselves-only
some land, now abandoned to the Indians and
Of no use whatever, valueless until we give it
value-and we viii do the remainder" The
lands were given. Rich as we are in land,
nothing is SO easy to give away. True, we
| give away the heritage Of our children. but
maxim of the Buchu philosophy is, that it is
| good government to take care Of ourselves and
leave our children to God. Then came
the s'popuiarzauon n.s .ew road.
and when we dwell upon this expedient
we are lost in admiration at the
resources and energy displayed. The people
we're taken by storm Some eminent journal
lists were interested in the enterprise. Others
were invited to the hospitalites of the manage
ment This was easily done. Yellowplush
was invited to form an excursion party" and
circulars were issued to the promiscuous press,
asking the editors, as ''the palladiums of
freedom and the champions of enterprise and
TRUTH to go out and see the prodigious
wealth Of the land to be traversed by the rail-
way. So in palace cars, decorated with the
American fag and furnished with the richest
food and the most delicate wines, Yellowplush,
of the Pantry Echo, in command, the editorial
party made the journey. And what letters we
had, hazy sometimes, we must confess, and
running into poetry and teeming adjec-
tives, and rhetoric that foamed and fixed
like champagne, and an air of 1--WE
won't 60 home till morning" running
through all; extravagant letters now and
then, with a tendency to wildness, but
widely printed. These were followed by the
sober calculations, estimates from careful
and experienced engineers" mathematical
articles calculated to impress the careful capi-
talist. We were shown that in hides alone the
road would pay ten per cent We were re-
quested to note the unexplored buffalo region
and calculate the revenue that would come
from the transportation Of buffalo to the mar
kets Of the East. There were also the tables
about the antelope trafic-ten million ante
lopes running wild on the great Plains, only
waiting to be carried to the seaboard at profit
Of eleven per cent Then we had the eloquent
pamphlet on the coyote trade, and ingenious
tables to show that with coyotes to furnish the
New York market we could make gloves of
our own and send them to Paris.
We were told about the butter and
cheese, the lumber and tan, the iron
and coal, the gold and silver, and the
government supplies and fresh grapes from