The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1876-02-08


lin Memphis are five feet gauge. Cd
Mr. Luttrell; There was grant
made to the Texas and Pacific railway |
# so many sections TO the mile. Has
hat grant elapsed?
Mr.. Scoot No, sir II has not
Elapsed .r...- ~
Mr.. Luttrell; That is what ] under
itood. n
Mr.. Scott: We do not want to fail |
N building this line. But Congress
may do anything she chooses to secure
.ts construction, ~ she has the power
10 do. She may give another land
grant to another party-to my friend,
Mr.. Huntington, for instance.
Mr. Thomas: DO | understand that
you intend TO make a union with the
and Pacific, by which your
lines will join? ..-1 t,1
Mr.. Scott: Yes sir. Congress char
tered two lines, one on the 32d, and one
Oh the 35th parallel. Land grants
were given to both of them. The At
lantic and Pacific Company, after
many interviews, agreed that they
would forego the construction Of their
linewest, il they simply had the right
to build from Vinita, their present.
terminus, to a junction with our line,
east of the l03d meridian, but one line
to be completed thence to the Pacific,
they returning to the Government the
rest of their land grant, amounting to
over thirty millions of acres.
Mr.. Blair You have reference now
to the land grant from the United
States. am not familiar at all with
the original charter of the Texas and
Pacific. would like to know what
connection there is between the cor
poration AS chartered by the State of
Texas, and that chartered 10y the Gov
eminent, and what are the condi-
tions attached to the land grant from
Texas? erFg. -tt..tr. a4
: Mr.. Scott: The State of'Texas de-
sired to aid the Southern Pacific Rail-
road Company, n corporation char
tered by the State to build road
from the State line to lei paso. That
company built and equipped about
forty-four miles, when they came to
the end of their means. The Southern
Trauscontinental Railway Company
had also been chartered by the State
of Texas to build from TeXarkana TO
El Paso.
When this Texas and Pacific Com
pany came into existence knew moth
Ing of its object or purposes, When II
passed Congress my name, entirely
without my knowledge, with that of
many other persons, as was fashiona"
bic then, was put in the list Of incorpo-
rators; and being notified that u meet
ing of the incorpOntors was to be held
in New York, Invent there AMI became
II subscriber to the stock, believing that
the road ought to be built, that it had
many features that would be to the
benefit and advantage Of the govern
ment and the people. As II railroad
man | thought | should take some in
terest, and | did.
After the organization, the question
came up of using the power granted by
the Congress of the United States to
the Texas and Pacific Railway--to Oh
tain, by purchase or otherwise, the
rights OF the Southern Pacific Railroad
OF Texas, and the Southern Trans-conti-
mental line. After year spent in ne
gotiation those lines were consolidated;
under the power conferred 10y Congress,
into the Texas and Pacific Railway
Company. That company, in the man-
,ner referred to, and through subse.
quent legislation, acquired from the
state of Texas these lands, and on them
we have made mortgage, which we
have given 70 secure parties who adj
vanced about six millions of cash in
building the road east of Sherman and
Dallas. Those lands are held by the
company in that form, and subject to
the provision that they build the line
under the terms and conditions i'm
posed by the State of Texas. If we do
not comply with these terms we do not
get the lands, but we hope to conform
to the conditions laid down, and secure
the lands for the benefit of the compa-
ny and those who use the line.
= 1 would like the committee to under
stand that the charter of the Texas and
Pacific Company was not granted by
Congress for several years after. the
Memphis and Ell Paso Company, about
Which so many statements have been
made, had become bankrupt.
3 Mr. Thr0ckmorton As to the en-
quiry about forfeiture of the land grant
from Texas, there is none in regard to
the road completed, and there can be
no forfeiture on.any portioiiaef the land
grant in Texas until the close of the
next session of the Texas legislature.
Mr.. Blair: My attention was called
to-day, in reading the proceedings of
the st. Louis Convention, To the re-
marks of delegate from Texas, who
proposed to cucumber the bill with the
construction of u road via Austin to
the Gulf 1t was strongly opposed by
the, friends of the Texas and Pacific
project, and was afterwards With
drawn; and the threat was made by
some one from tile State ofTexas-I do
not recollect his name-that unless the
road was builtin exact conformity with
the legislation of that State, there
would be forfeiture. FH.lau
Mr.. Scott: The admission of that line
would have brought in another line
from the Arkansas valley, by the way
of Sante Fe, to connect with the Texas
and Pacific, at ElaPaso, aud possibly
fifteen or twenty Others, and it was
with the view of keeping the bill down
to the lowest possible limits--a point
upon which every one in st. Louis
agreed that the Austin matter was
left out, eventually to the satisfaction
Df alb as the vote on the matter was
~ Eak ~ -
Mr.. Thomas: What would be the
amount of,annual interest to be guar
lnteed 10y the government under your
proposed plap2 .4Vs|
main line of the Texas and Pacific, or
81, $50 per mile If the whole S35, 900 per
mile are used. | cannot speak with ex.
actness as to, the extension; hut they
viii not exceed 81 800, 900, or ia all,
81, zoo, 900, ia order to build the line and
cOmDlete connectious tO New Orleans