St. Landry democrat., 1878-05-11

: 1t.
J.: Southern Pacific Railroad.
Emphatic Condemnation Of Subsidies
3 The Thirty-second Parallel Road can b
+ Constructed without Pled2ing the
Public Credit.
The Texas and Pacific Railroad.
SYNOPSIS OF THE MINORITY REPORT.
| The Pacific Railroad committee of the Hous
having by vote Of seven to six agreed to re
r port the Texas Pacific Bill favorably-two O
more of the seven expressing their desire t.
amend it, or defeat it on the foor-the minor
, ity members Messrs. Morrison, Landers, Lut
tren, Blair, Rice and Hewitt have stated thei
views in Report of which the following ar
the material portions:
We are unable to concur in the views of tn,
maiority of the committee, but desire the adop
ton by Congress of such measures as will Sc
cure the early construction of transconti
| mental railroad for the special use and develop
ment Of the Southern and Southwestern Slater
and Territories. We believe that this import
ant object can be accomplished without subsidy
from the government, and submit the follow
ing views and the accompanying bill for the
consideration of the House:
THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE SOUTHERN LINE
The Texas and Pacific Railway company, a
corporation of the State of Texas, in the
| year 1871 was authorized by Congress to con-
struct its road and telegraph from Marshall, il
Eastern Texas, along and near the thirty
second parallel of North latitude, through that
State and the Territories Of New Mexico and
Arizona to San Diego small city on the Pacific
coast, on the bay Of the same name, supposed
| to be we'll adapted to commercial purposes, and
| having population of 4, 900 to 5000 people.
The distance from Marshall to San Diego is
estimated at 1,574 miles by the authorities of
the Texas and Pacific company, while those OF
| the Southern Pacific com pany believe it to be
| about 100 miles greater.
Failing to meet these provisions, the Texas and
| Pacific company has obtained by construction and
purchase and has now in operation 443 miles Of
road which enclose paralleogram in Northeastern
Texas, having base of 1873 miles, extending from
| Marshall to Fort Worth, now the western terminus
of the road, which only is part of the trunk line.
The remainder of the 443 miles is SO located as to
secure the valuable lands granted by the State
of Texas probably because the pecuniary embarass-
ments of the company were such that its credit was
based chiefly upon the granted lands. There is
thus remaining of the trunk line between Fort
Worth and San Diego distance of ,491 miles upon
which nothing has been done.
Of the ten years allowed by the charter within
which to complete this great work only four remain
and considerable portion OF one of these must
elapse before the enactment of the desired legsla
tion is possible Six-teEths of the time has been
consumed in the construction of less than
eighth of the trunk line, and that at the Easterly
system of roads and the central belt of States,
rather than with the Southern system of roads and
the Southern States.
The corporation has fallen thus far short of the
performance of its undertaking although received
from the State of Texas the munifcent grant of
the alternate sections of land for forty miles in
width along each side Of its line, or eighty miles in
all, through the State of Texas, and the from
the United States through the Territories and in
California, contingent upon Its compliance with the
conditions of the grant.
THE suBsIDy DESIRED MORE THAN THE ROAD
The credit of the Texas and Pacific company WIS
seriously impaired before the panic of 1873, and
under its influence has still further declined. It
admits its pecunary inability, and assigns that
reason for it's failure to comply with the conditions
imposed upon it by law.
In 1875 it applied to Congress for a subsidy of
52s 600 acres in Texas, and 100000 in the terri
tories, being money subsidy of twice the probable
cost Of building and eQuipping its road.
The application failed. It now changes the form
rather than the substance Of its request and asks
for guaranty Of interest on s26 900 mile for the
easier and $4,000 for the heavier portions Of the
road amounting in all to $3S at nVe per cent
annually, for fifty years.
The bonds of the government bearing four and
half per cent. interest have recently been sold at
par in refunding the national debt. If the public
faith is kept and its credit unmpaired the time is
not remote when the government will be able to
effect loans at the rates of three and three and
half per cent, as now paid by England. The diff
ference between the interest on these five per cent.
Texas and Pacific bonds for fifty years and the
ordinary rates which the government will have to
pay on the same amount for the time, II
invested as it might be by the government for the
payment Of it's own debt, would amount to much
than the cost of the road, so that the govern
ment would be far better off to build the road and
give it to the Texas and Pacific company outright
than to guarantee the interest its five per cent
ifty-year bonds, according to its request.
The total amount of interest guaranteed by the
government would if paid into sinking fund
amount to more than s7o0 0t0 in fifty years. and
we called upon to guarantee the payment OF this
fpf1 Tho nff hn
in order to enable the Texas and Pacific company to
complete its road.
We are opposed to all pecuniary subsidies and
guarantees by the government in whatever form
for the benefit of railroads at this time however de-
sirable their construction. In time of peace pri-
vate capital seeking profitable investment VIII gen
fast as is consistent with safety and permanent
prosperity. If the men in charge of mertorious en-
terprise command the confidence Of capitalists, Or
even the too-easy won trust of the middle classes
there is no need of calling upon the nation for sub
sides or guarantees.
THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD.
The Southern Pacific Railroad company is a cor
poration of the State of California.
This corporation has constructed its road to Fort
Yuma, on the Easterly bank of the Colorado River,
in the Southwesterly corner of the Territory OF
Arizona, which it claims to be the authorized point
of connection with the Texas and Pacific Road, a
distance of about 720 miles. Its track has been
laid through and over extraordinary natural OBJ
staces at the expense of about $50 and the
$50 miles of it's Southern portion passes through
desert and for 1914 miles nearest the Colorado with
out oasis. This road, built to preserve the char
ter is of little value except for its anticipated
nections with the Southern States from which
ing to the failure of the Texas and Pacific company
to comply with the acquisitions of law, it is now
more than 200 miles distant.
The road is already there with its millions of
money invested over sandy waste, upon the good
faith OF the government that the Texas and Pacific
Road should be constructed so as to meet it at the
Colorado River or in the event of the failure of
that corporation to do that Congress should take
such measures should enable it to connect with
the Southern States of the Union.
POSITION OF THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY.
The Southern Pacific Railroad, by force of the
absolute necessity of its securing Eastern connec-
lions as soon possible in order to preserve its
capital is the only party which has both the power
and the disposition to build this road.
The Southern Pacinc company interpreted no OPP
position to the guarantee asked by the Texas and
Pacific east of the Rio Grande; but contemplating
the contingency of the denial of guarantee OF bonds
to the Texas and Pacific company, and the conse-
auent total collapse of it's undertaking, strongly In
sisted that justice required that they shoud NOT De
cations by the Texas and Pacific company for the
n oney or credit of the nation with which to per-
form what the Southern Pacific was ready to do inn
mediately for the land grant alone.
To this bill the Texas and Pacific company OBJ
jected The only argument entitled to weight,
in our opinion, that the Southern Pacific, con-
Meeting with the ocean at San Francisco, and
having intimate business relations with the Central
Pacific Railroad, might enter into combinations
with that corporation against the public interest,
and that the advantages of competition and of an
occasional connection at San Diego would then be
lost,
COMPETITION AND COMBINATION.
We believe that any competition between riva
parallel lines Of railroad for the same business,
which results in loss to the companies, is to
end in one of two ways. either in combination by