Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1873-10-29

The air seems to be ladened with rumors of
Congressional relief schemes for tsilroad 9.
Schemes for ship canals. Schemes to pay
portion, il not all of the Southern debt.
Schemes to refund the Southern cotton tax
and other schemes, more than ehctgb an
hundred times over to put Congressmen on
their guard against the manipulations of
the Lobby. The Pittsburg Telegraph of q,
writes on the subject as follows. From
the gsvings oIt in number of interested
quarters, We Judge that a raid will. be made
on Congress this winter on behalf Of a
number of schemes involving an enor-
nous expenditure of the public money.
The North Pacific Railroad, it is now
pretty generally conceded at Washington,
inssead OF being deferred by the failure of
Jay Cooke l. Co., from asking for subsidy
aid, will ask Congress during the coming
session to guarantee the interest on its
bonds for a large amount in exchange for
portion of its land grant. To meet the
anti-monopoly feeling recently so devel-
oped in the West, the Company will pro-
pose, If the subsidy is conceded, to permit
Congress to fix the rates of freight and pas
sengcr fares. There is a GOODNESS in this
idea thar is admirable. But it is not alone
the Northern Pacific that proposes to lay
siege to the Treasury. The Union and Cen
trail Pacific de.ire to get rid Of paying any
of the i.terest on their bands, which the
Government has indorsed, and which now
amounts TO an annual charge of millions on
the Treasury. The simple question that
ought 10 meet Congress is whether the
United States shall 60 on for an indefinite
time paying its annual proportion of inter-
es, on a principal of sixty-nve millions tthe
amount of bonds indorsedp, and then pay
the prime pal, or whether it will stop the
business now, by compelling these cOmpa-
nies to pay the interest promptly, or taxing
the road and selling it to those who will.
II is certain that the United States as Sec
ond mortgage viii have in the end TO take
these roads TO protect ITS own debt and in
terest, and possibly the sooner it is done
the better, but this is what the lobby will
BE employed to contest and Congressman
TO vote against.
Besides these scheme, there are other
jobs Ct cnc-Inou5 magnitude, all having as
their objective point, the Federal treasury.
The cotton tax is one of them, the assump
ton of Southern State debts another, ard
there are half a dozen ship canal projects
that will cost mi lions and hundreds of mil
lions, great portion of which will go to
enrich Credit MobiIicrs and construction
companies. Thero are rumors of CON-
bina;ion of all these projects, so that they
will have a surprising amouHt of strength,
on local considerations alone, to commence
with. The Southern Pacific road also wants
a matter of sixty millions. A Washington
correspondent figures up the astouding to-
tai of seven hundred millions, rs the gross
amount of the sum demanded by these
combined raiders on the treasury. or
cou ,,e they will take less, but the figures
are Sc! high at the outset.
Whit Congress may do, and how it will
meet the assault on its integrity, is difficult
to determine in advance, but after the ex-
posures and scandal of the last session We
think the least particle of prudence would
dictate that the whole batch of claimants
and plunderers, Of vai ious degrees of cor
ruption and inpudence, should be turn
ed sdrift TO browse as best they can on
private pastures, where they will have to con-
tend with individual integrity and shrewd-
ness. The Republican majority in Con-
grcss cannot afford to carry these subsidy
schemes. The load would be too much for
them, individually and collectively, aud po-
litical expediency as well as higher motives
demand they should be rejected 81 the out
set firmly and decisively.