The Grange advance., 1873-10-15
Railroads and Popular Rights.
From the N. Y. Tribune.

empowered to issue share capital Of
$lOO, 100000 but of this amount only
S2,OOO,OOO was required to be sub
scrlbed in advance, and only 5000. 900
to be paid in. Although further calls
might be made upon the stockholders
should necessity require, it is tolerably
certain that they never expected to. pay
tor tenth part of the road out Of their
own pockets, or to do anything more in
1ect than advance the preliminary out
lay tor surveys. for legislation, and
the other operations of floating their
scheme. This was slender provision,
1t would seem, for a road 1000 miles
long through an uninhabited country,
without commerce at either terminus,
and without an important town on its
whole route. But the projectors intend
ed that Congress should build the road
and put them in possession of it. They
secured grant Of nearly 50,OOO,0OO
acres Of public land, and on the secur-.
ity of this magnificent estate they pro-
posed to negotiate loan of $1O0,OOO,-
900. AS the estimated cost of the road
was only $85, 100000, this loan would
pay for the whole work and leave a
handsome surplus for contingencie ies
Inc land is now worth, say .$125, ,0O0,-
900, or perhaps more; the portions
thus far sold have broug ght on an aver
age over SIS an acre. As the country.
becomes developed it will of course rise
in value; and it was calculated that
the sales would be sufficient to paw
whatever Of the interest on the bonds
the road might fail to earn, and to pay
the principal likewise at maturity.
Anything that remained would be the
property Of the stockholders.
Ii the bonds had been duly nego-
tiated according to programme the case
would have stood just i bus: A few
spectators would hav& subscribed
100000 and persuaded\ Congress to
build a railroad for them worth fifty
times that amount out of the national
estate. In short time they would get
back their original investments in divi-
dends. Then they would be the abso-
Lutte owners Of 1900 miles of road for
which they had paid nothing, aud prob
ably they would still have also large
quantity Of unsold land to divide among
themselves Whether we should have
had repetition Of the Credit Mobilier.
Building Rings, and rapid absorption
OF the profits and estate of the Company
by little coterie Of inside managers,
railway Congressman, and Christian
statesmen we leave our readers to con-
lecture The bonds were offered in
Europe and declined Then the house
Of Jay Cooke & Go. undertook to place
them among the multitude, as popu-
lar investment,-in other words, to
persuade the middle classes to advance
the money which the nation was ulti-
mately to repay with interest.
Probably it was combination of
accidents, rather than any intrinsic de-
feet in the arrangements, which
brought this scheme to grief: Similar
methods have succeeded before, and, if
we are not cautious, will be attempted
again. But what we particularly wish
to call attention to is the bearing Of
this case upon the transportation ques.
tion. If the Northern Pacific Railroad
were in running order to-day from Du-
luth to Puget Sound, the directors
would undoubtedly claim the right to
put their tolls high. enough to yield
eight or ten per cent: on the cost Of the
work. But the cost of the work would
have been paid wholly, or almost
wholly, out Of the national estate.
Congress has made grant rich enough
to cover the entire expense, and leave
the st stockholders handsomel y provided
tor likewise. For more than twenty
years the Governments has given away
land in reckless prodigality to aid in
the construction Of railways. In 1871
the total amount of the public domain
thus appropriated reached the stupen.
dous total Of I'll, ,847 1876 acres! It is
true that large part Of this grant will
prove imperative, as the quantity of
vacant land within the the designated
limits will fall short Of the appropri-
alton but probably over 100, 900, 600
acres has been or will be decided to the
favored companies. These concessions
represent, at the very lowest ecomputa-
ton, money value Of $360, ,000, 900,
and an area considersAlY/gre than
the whole of the Bn51sh Isles, and
greater than New York. New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, and Illinois combined.
But when it is proposed that the roads
for which the nation has done so mnch