The Arizona sentinel., 1875-02-06
TEXAS PACIFIC RAILWAY.

work, is now before Congress.
Probably no question of greater
moment, no question fraught with
deeper interest to the people at
large, has claimed the attention
of the National legislature since
the war. The question is wheth-
er we shall have a grand compet-
ing line, crossing the continent
through the finest climate on earth
and aiding in the settlement of
the best and richest portion of the
American continent-or whether
the great bloated monopoly who
own the Central Pacific and the
Southern Pacific, shall be permit
ted to block up and prevent any
competing line from reaching the
Pacific Ocean. The heartless hire
lings of that soulless monopoly,
are in the lobby at Washington,
by the hundreds. They are men
destitute of any moral principle
and altogether mercenary. They
do the bidding of their masters for
money and for money alone.
Their trade is to influence weak
and impecunious members of Con-
gress by bare faced bribery. They
and their great masters, Hunting
ton and General Cotton, are there,
and are moving earth and hell to
prevent the contamination of the
through line Of the Texas and
Pacific. Buta mighty man has
met them. Col. Tom Scott, cloth.
ed in the panoply of truth, and
without a hired lobby, has met
these emissaries of satin and he
is too many for them. Calm,
dignified and self.posSessed, he is
listened to with respectful atten-
ton by the best men in Congress.
The last news tells US that the
railroad committees of both the
Senate and House would report
favorably on Col. Scott's PROPOSE.
ton. We have no doubt that we
shall soon hear of the passage of
the bill. Then we may look out
for prosperity, the coming sea-
The following, from the San
Francisco EUening BvdLetia, is
every word of it true and to the
point:
"Waiving for the present all
other and possibly minor ques-
tions, we presume that the lead
ing idea on the part of the Govern
ment in extending aid, either d.
rect or indirect, for the construc-
ton of another railroad across the
continent, should be the creation
of healthy competition. If that
is not its leading idea it will be
hard to place the action which
has heen proposed for it with re-
ference to the Texas Pacific upon
any logical or sound basis. But
the Central Pacific, for which it
has built up a monopoly of the
overland trade, naturally resists
and such arrangementas this. 1t
demands the privilege of build
ing the California end of the line.
1t has found men in Congress to
advocate its claims and newSpa-
pers in this city to press them.
If the Central Pacific should con-
troll this end of the line there will
not be any competition in over
land freight or travel during the
lifetime of the present generation.
AS might naturally be expected,
the arguments which are put for
ward will not bear the test of eX-
animation. They are mostly the
utterances of men who have to pro-
nounce whatever words are put
into their mouths. we apprehend
that if the Government should do
anything to hasten the construc-
ton of a railroad on the southern
route, it will not lose sight Of the
necessity of promoting competi-
ton. 1t ought not to lend the
public money or the public credit
to the fostering of a monopoly
which no power could break down,
upon the people of the country.
Not only should all its arrang-
ments he made with that view,
but it should be specially provid-
ded that the Texas Pacific should
never enter into any combination
with any other road, or pool its
earnings with them. The Texas
Pacific should be a complete road
in itself. The Southern Pacific,
which seeks to control this end of
the line. is only another of those