The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-01-09
The Texas Pacific Compromise nil.


1t is announced that the House -ub.c,n-
mittee on the Texas Pacific Rnlrond have
completed their "compromise bill" cx-
cept in relation TO some minor details aud
that the provisions of the bill in regard TO
The Government guarantee OF interest on
construction bonds. are those of the Ar
KINs bill of last session, cXo,pt that NJ
Government aid is 10 be granted for any
part OF the road already constructed. The
ATKINS bill merely pledged Congress TO
guarantee the payment OF the interest on
the bonds OF the road 10 the amount of
tlS0.O 100000, or therenboGts, in addition to
land grants made Outri,ht. Tho obi lot of
this bill was TO enable Tom ScorT, and "a
few other patriotic gentlemen, to safely
contract with themselves to build the pro-
posed road, at prices to be fxed by them
selves, after the manner OF the Credit No
bilier job. What guaranteeing the pay
ment Of railroad bonds really means, the
country long ago found out to its cost.
1t will be observed that the bill now in
committee Is described n the "comDro-
mise bill" from which the reader would
naturally infer that il is the result OF a COM
promise among the members OF the COM
mittee who had entertained various opin-
Ions in regard to what the best interests OF
the country required. Nothing OF the sort
1t only the result of compromise be-
tween Treasury sharks outside of Con-
gress, who lay out the work which the
committee performs at their dlcta,iou. 1t
Is the result of BARGAIN for n division OF
the expected spoils between Tow ScOTr on
the one hand, and HUNTINGTON OF the
Central Pacific on the other; and. until
these two men had come to n satisfactory
agreement between themselves, no ooncu-
SION could be agreed upon in the commit
tee.
We doubt IL the world ever saw anything
TO compare with what has taken place iu
Washington IN relation 10 this stupendous
Job. Mr.. TOW SCOTT walks up fhe Capitol
steps and blandly asks Congress to bond the
people of the United States ueaI ly 800 OO0-
900 for the beno iit OF himself aud a few OF
his friends ana he finds influential Con-
Pressmen ready TO accede to this demand.
But the magnitude of the job attracts the
attention Of Mr.. HUNTINGTON, of the Cen
trail Pacific. who with IA fc;' o'her gentle
men ownsall the RI lroads in California that
the people have pad for, ana 20 he comes
In and cries halves, threatening TO smash
the Job'eniirc'y II he does not get an inter-
est IN It. tins did not suit Tom Scorr mt
oil, and he tried to stand out against the
demand, deoming II shame that. after all
the time aud money he had spent in put
ting up the job, au outsider should come
In and claim a big share of tho swag. But
HUNTINGTON was obstinate; he swOre he
would kill the job altogether unless SCOTT
acoeded TO his terms, ana when, at last, he
road without one cent OF subsidy, and
then yield all the Western freight and pas
sengers to the Southern roads for their
benefit, Scorr became thoroughly scared,
weakened on every point that HUs TING
TON claimed and now we are told that the
House subcommittee have agreed upon
8 compromise bill. Faush
The full details OF this precious bin have
not been made public bat, in addition to
the enormous guarantee TO Tom SCOTT aud
HUHTrSoroN, IL il believed that there is
nest of minor jobs of the most scanda-
lous character covered up in its provisions.
These, il Is hoped, viii escape observation
under the shadow Of the political compl-
cation relating TO the Presidency. Taken
altogether il would seem that the new COM
promise Texas Pacific bin is intended TO
promote the most nefarious railroad job
berry yet attempted in this country.