Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1878-04-13


i half the sums retained for services
8 to the Government as aforesaid.
i 1t is agreed on all sides that some
: of these bonds will become due be-
fore and others after the 1st day Oi
a January, 1898, but that the mean
+ time of payment will be on that
: day, and it is shown by the Judi
| ciary Committee report that per
cent. of the net earnings of the two
g roads and 0ne-half the service rem
) dered the Government in the last
! two years have averaged the sum
! of 81, 10000 per annum. Nor is
! there any reasonable ground upon
/ which to base a belief that the sum
will be less in the future. Now, a
, very simple calculation will show
that the $l5, 900, 900 demanded as the
r price of the twelve million acres of
land to be carried to the sinking
fund, placed at interest at per
cent. per annum, with annual rests
as they require, will swell by the lst
of October, 1905, to sum exceed
ing SO, 900, 900, and the interest on
the sum ofS1, ,166, 600 perannum, be-
ing the per cent. of net profits and
One-half the transportation account
of the heGovernment, will by the same
time equal the sum of $4,000, 900,
these two sums aggregating more
than 800, 100000.
But not content with these enOr-
nous gains the railroad companies
demand that the time of payment
of the debt shall be extended from
the 1st of January, 1898, to the 1st
of October, 1905, a period of seven
years and nine months, and their
respective dates of maturity to the
day of settlement. The Supreme
Court of the United States has de-
cided that when these bonds shall
become due the principal and inter-
est become debt against the cor
pOrations which they are bound in
law as well sin morals then to pay.
/ The principal and interest on the
/ LIST of January, 1898, after deducting
the payments heretofore made, will
amount to the sum of $I42, 900, 900;
but according to the terms of the
! bill, although the principal will
bear interest, $86, 900, 900 of interest
which at that time will also be a
debt and should bear interest will
be barren seven years and nine
months although all payments to
the fund made by the corporation
will be at compound interest for
that time. The loss to the Govern
ment on this score will amount to a
sum exceeding $49, 100000.
! Now, let us for moment go back |
and see what sacrifices these gentle !
ment who i'm their address to the |
Senate Judiciary Committee say the
! rnol frHIncfinFl 10 a hT1Sir1ncy aud /
that they speak from a business |
of settlement. They require the |
Government to pay $15,0OO,O0O for |
twelve million acres Of land, a gift !
from the Government, and that this |
sum shall be placed at interest
while they pay none until it shall |
swell to the sum of $4,000, 900. !
Next, they demand that their an
nual payment of 81, ,166, 900 shall be
placed at interest and that com
pounded, until the interest shall
reach $48, 100000. But, not satisfied |
with these eXactiOns, they demand |
that for seven years and nine |
months the Government shall re-
ceive no interest on $S6,000,000,
making further loss of $49, ,000, 900,
or total of $172, 900, ,000-exceedin
the entire debt, principal and inter-
est, that will be due from them to
the Government at that time.
And this, Mr.. President and SEN
ators, is the business proposition"
which they have submitted to the
Senate of the United States, the
most august deliberative assembly
upon the earth. The extravagant
claims of these gentlemen have met
with no encouragement here; but,
in view of the apprehension of loss
to the Government and to provide
methods of securing payment of the
constantly increasing debt, two
measures have been presented. One
of these measures is the bill under
consideration, presented by the
Judiciary Committee, and the other
is the bill presented by the Senator
from Ohio, (Mr. Matthews,) from
the Railroad Committee. The two
measures differ not only in methods
but also in the fundamental princi-
piles upon which they are based.
The bill presented by the Judi
cary Committee asserts the right
and power of Congress to regulate
the business of these corporations
created by it and to compel them to
render obedience to the law. The
bill presented by the Senator from
Ohio (Mr. Matthews) assumes that
Congress by contract has yielded its
powers of legislation and that any
settlement must rest upon a consent
of the parties. If the bill presented
by the Senator from Ohio (Mr.
Matthews) will secure to the Gov
ernment the sum of money to be-
come due and shall be accepted by
the corporations, the question
whether we shall adopt the one bill
or the other is of little importance.
Let us then examine the particu-
lars of the two bills and ascertain
in what essential points they differ.
The acts of 1862 and 1864 granted q
charter of incorporation to the stock
holders of the Union Pacific Rail-
road Company and, recognizing the
Central Pacific Company, corpO-
ration chartered by the Legislature
of the State of California, author
lied the two companies to construct
a railroad from the one hundredth
meridian west of Greenwich to the
Sacramento River, and, as we have
seen, donated large body of land
and loaned its bonds to them for
more than $50,000,000. We have
seen that these bonds, with the in
terest thereon, were declared to be a
lien on the property of the two COM
panies, but subordinated to another
lien of equal amount. The two COM
panies have made enormous earn
ings; they have paid large divi-
dends to their stockholders but,
Notwithstanding their debt to the
Government is constantly increas-
ing and by the time the bonds shall
mature will equal $l18,000,000 or
1920, 100000 after deducting all pay
ments made or hereafter to be made
under the existing contract they re-
fuse to create sinking fund to meet
this obligation and their officers
openly confess the belief that this
course will end in bankruptcy.
Now, the bill reported by the
Railroad Committee directs that
each of these companies shall pay
into the Treasury the sum of 81 ,000,-
900 annually, and these sums, to-