Arizona citizen., 1874-05-02
THE CITIZEN.
SATURDAY. May ?, 1874.
The Texas and Pacific Railroad.

We notice that the whole south an(
 southwest are alive to the necessity O
 the speedy construction of the Texas anC
 Pacific railroad. Towns, cities and State;
 are forwarding to Washington resolution;
 urging the importance of Congress doing
 something to aid the great work. The
 State of Texas has memorlalized Congress
 upon the subject and will also grant the
 extension of time required in that State
 It is evident that if the work is to bt
 prosecuted to completion in a reasonably
 short time, the friends of the road must
 stand together and act with fairness and | liberality. It is no time now to play the
 demagogue and cry out against monop
 olies. Even those whose chief stock in
 trade is to play this part will have to sus. pend operations until the critical point is passed and the future construction of the road is on little firmer basis. There is no question that railroad corporations have often been too grasping and ire 4OOAblb SooOA1etOlO thOlI SAdI but in most cases these evils can and will be corrected by competition. We believe in justice and right on all sides and by all men. Railroads cannot be built without an accumulation of capital, and capital will not be invested without reasonable prospect of 8 fair return for the invest ment, and without such investment new countries cannot be developed. The completion of each road has marked an era of prosperity through the country where such road has been built Towns and cities have sprung up as by magic, agriculture, mining and the mechanical arts have made rapid advances, and simultaneously with this sudden progress, a bitter unrelenting war has been made upon the monopoly that has brought pros perity. The men who have been fore most in these attacks neither reap nor sow. The have little to loose. They live, not by toll but by agitation, and like the leaders in the labor movement their hand are soft as silk. They have however finally succeeded in getting Up a general feeling of discomfort and have obtained sufficient political power so that foreign capitalists no longer care to invest in the enterprises these people are striving to destroy. As consequence the iron manufacturers no longer find sale for iron rails, the machine shops are empty, tens of thousands of laborers are out of employ ment and development and improvement resulting from railroad building are at a stand-still. In Illinois, where they had control, the laws they have passed are now denounced by the papers that most strongly urged on the fight against the railroad interest, as ruinous to the coun- try, and in California the Legislature be- came frightened at the results that were sure to flow from the war they had com menced, and adjourned without redeem ing single promise those demagogues had made to the people. The Texas and Pacif- ic railroad if completed would save mil lions of dollars annually to the govern. ment and would develop the resources of vast section of country which instead of beinga burthen, asnow, would then yearly add millions to the national coffers. Con- gress has the power of insuring its speedy completion, without risking one dollar of the governments money, but the dema- gOgues are afraid that these soft handed re- formers, who groan under the weight of the miSfortunes of the poor labOring man; who never produce anything but are in misery at the impositions that are practiced upon the producers, will take them to task for aiding monopolies and that thereby they will loose some votes. An honest, fair, practical and statesman like view of this question would give to the country such legislation as would in- sure the speedy construction of the road, and at the same time protect the govern ment from loss.