National Republican., 1876-02-08
THE FOLDS OF THE RAILROAD ANA
COEBA.

VVn0hs
Some Of the worst evils of our times are
the great monopolies which control trans
poItaiien. From every section of the land,
mcst especially from the great Northwest,
the granary of the country-and soon to be
OF the worid-there is continuous protest
against these railroad mouopolies, which
render almost valUeless the products of
that immense area 10y charging such prices
for transporting them that nothing is left
for the producer, aad the grain raisers are
but the unpaid slaves Of the railroads. So
great is the evil that for years past the
National Legislature has been endeavoring
to devise a remedy which is yet unfound.
But when we compare these monopo-
lies with the one that holds the only
means of transportation across the CONT
ncnt. controlling not only the commerce
of this country, but that between Europe
and Asia, those first mentioned sink into
insignifcance beside it. This gigantic
monopoly, controlled as it is by such un-
scrupulous men as Jay Gould, owes its ex-
isteuce to the money Of the people Of the
United States, whom it now oppresses.
They are taxed millions of dollars yearly
to support il. and, grown rich. it "waxes
fat and kicks" against its benefactors. Not
satisfied with possessing the only line of
communication between the oceans which
border our continent, 1t proposes to possess
all the lines, and thus forever prevent
rivalry and competition. Like huge ana
- 0 - aIra ol; folds
to inclose the country. and. like the ana
conda. it emits tho fo,tid and poisonous
smell, while it elects the saliva over the
victims it intends to crush in its embrace
and then swallow.
Every effort that is made to escape from
its deadly folds only causes the coils to be
more tightly drawn, the sickening saliva
to be more rapidly elected and the fptid
and poisonous smell to be more apparent
The Texas and Pacific Railroad Company
comes before Congress with bill unobjec-
tions5le in any single detail, asking Con-
grees, not for subsidy, not for dollar of
the peoples money. but simply for guar
sntee of the interest on sufficient amount
Of its bonds to build the road, and showing
conclusively its ability to meet that interest.
1t comes indorsed by a convention com.
posed Of delegates from twenty seven
States and Territories, and in which as
delegates were some OF the foremost men Of
the country. and 1t is met here by the ennis
sarics Of Jay Gould, who are doing yeoman
service TO maintain their master monopoly.
II was said, during the past week, that "a
"car loard of money would be spent to de-
feat the Texas and Pacific BILL" we can
well understand that the monopoly can
afford to spcnd several car loads after read
ing this extract from the last annual report
Of the president Of the Union Pacific rail
road from Omaha to Ogden, which shows
net income of Sc, 7G3, 39l, ending June so,
1St5-an increase over the preceding year
of 81, SIC, 420; and the president says fur
ther that ''the traffic Of the road may be in
" creased until the earnings shall reach
" $50, G00, 600 per year, without any call for
expenditures demanding an increase ofthe
"bonded debt of the company; that the
"road has q capacity for doing over double
its present volume of business without an
expenditure which may not he met by its
increasing revenues" 1t might, how
ever, be a subject of inquiry hereafter,
How was this car load of money spent"
The tactics of the monopolists are very
simple, and their impudcncc passes the
bounds OF magnifcence and towers into
sublimity. They will build Southern
Pacific road; they will break down their own
monopoly by building a branch road under
hsir own control. And yet there are
papers in Washington so innocent IN guile,
so unsuSpecting, so trusting in human
nature that they accept this proposition as
a solution Of the question. Men so trust
ing are unfit to battle with the deniZens of
this earth. and should be translated to some
enterprise which railroad monopolists have
not yet cltered.
How this Jay Gould monopoly will act
should they succeed in defeating the Texas
ard Pacific bill is easily ascertained. We
Can Judge the future by the past. There
was Lot long ago some feeble competition
in Transporting freights maintained by the
steamship lines, but the majority of the
stock in these companies was bought up by
the reads and came under their manage
mcnt, and the Texas and Pacific bill, which
was before the last Congress, failed opass
When these two things occurred the nc
nopoly acted at once and in this wise. The
rates Of freight from San Francisco to
Omaha per car load were increased as fol-
lows: On first. class freight, from $3.50 to
81, 200; on second-class freight, from $400
10 81, 600; on third class freight, from $3.50
to $500; on fourth-class freight, from $3.50
to 5000. We have already shown from the
presidents report Of June 80, 1915, what
the profits were previous to this increase;
it will not require much mathematical skill
to arrive at what they were after it.
We ask the members Of Congress, not
from the South or the North, the East or
the West, not Republicans or Democrats,
but the Representatives of the people from
every section of our broad land, from the
shores of the Atlantic tothe Pacific, from
the great lakes TO the gulf, to look this
quo stion squarely in the face-to examine
the facts and arrive at the truth, and, dis
caIding all sectional feelings, throwing
aside all barren localities, to act for the
good OF the whole people. The Southern
Pacific is but another name for the Union
and Central Pacific, but another fold of the
gigantic anaconda which is preparing to
crush the country in its embrace, and the
cmanatioas in its favor are but the sicken-
ing saliva which it slobbers over its victims
to render them more easily swallowed and
readily digcsted.
CoNTI SLED ELECTIONS IN VIRGINIA.
One Of the rareSt specimens of refined and