Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1878-05-14
Interesting Interview by Our Washing.
ton Correspondent with Senator john
stOn, the Author Of the COmprO-
mise Bill for the Southern
Pacific Railway,
Which Does Away with the Infamous
Fraud Sought to be Practiced upon
this City by Other Measures, and
Makes Memphis an Eastern
Terminus,
AbOlishing ALI Local Controversy anu
jealousy by Also Making Termini OF
Vicksburg and New Orleans-Full
Text of the New Bill.
Special Correspondence of the Appeal


ISOLATED Press dispatch, In connectlon Win
svnoposis of the bill he recently introduced
in the senate for the purpose OF Incorporating
The Texas and Pacific railroad company, TO
aid in the construction OF its road, and Tor
other purposes" called upon him tonight
and interviewed HIM in regard to that bill
and his attitude toward the Tom Scott scheme,
with the following result:
Question: see from an Associated Press
dispatch from this city, giving synposls OF
your bill introduced on the second instant,
that you are represented as beng hearty
supporter of the Tom Scott scheme as set
forth in the House and Mathews bills. How
do YOU reconcile that with the introduction
of bill 1886?
Answer have always been an advocate
of a Southern Pacific railroad, and have
specially desired that any bill introduced In
congress to secure aid for such measure
should provide for desirable connections with
the whole railroad system of the south, for
instance, at Memphis. The bills before con-
gress not satisfying me in this and other par
ticulars, l introduced bill No. 1186. The
House and Mathews bills have many good
features, but they do not go far enough;
therefore, could not support them without
important amendments. One principal ground
of objection to them is the ambiguous
phraseology in regard to the terminus to be
found in the twelfth section of the Mathews
for the appointment of five commissioners to
locate a terminus, "whose duty it shall be, "
is the language of the bill, ito examine the
various proposed routes between the Missis-
sippi river and the present constructed road
of the Texas and Pacific railway company,
and after considering all questions Of dis
lance cost and transportation routes, an cie'o
of foreign as aceH as domestic trade and COM
nierce, and also in Uie,c of an eligible connec-
ton teith the atlantic seabOard, to report,
etc. critical examination OF this Ian
guage leads to the conclusion that the
Texas and Pacific railroad, by virtue of it
might run into New Orleans, to the detrl-
ment of Memphis and Vicksburg, and the
roads centering in those cities, or with which
their lines of road connect, and therefore, to
the detriment of the interests OF all the
southern States east and west of the Mlssis-
sippi river. If the object be to promote for
eign commerce, of course New Orleans would
be the place, as that best calculated whereat
to reach that end. Another objection, and a
weighty one, is that the House and Mathews
bills do not compel the Texas and Pacific
company to go to the Mississippi, and there
being no provision for a land grant or money
subsidy for the construction of a Mississippi
branch, and nothing in the nature OF an OBJ
legation compelling that company to buy any
roads or franchises for roads to the Mlssis-
sippi, the language of the bill being that Ito
acquire or construct, maintain and operate
the said main trunk road from point of said
main trunk, as now constructed, to the Mis-
sissippi river, the frst-mortgage
bonds of said company MAY be executed and
issued" etc., on that branch alone.
Ques.-You do not suppose the House or
Mathews bills Gin pass the house and SEN
ate?
Ans.-No, | do not. For the reason that
the Texas and Pacific company insist upon a
subsidy from Fort Worth to San Diego, and
| do not believe this or any other congress
could or would substitute that road one mile
beyond the point of junction with the South
ern Pacific.
Qaes.-What are the chances of your own
bill going through?
Ans.-That is hard to tell. 1t is new
measure. But as far as opinion has been
tested, am led to believe that it is regarded
very favorably.
Ques.-What are the special features of
your bill which In your opinion would secure
its precedence over all others?
Ans-First, my bill provides for the ex-
tension of the Galveston, Harrisburg and San
Antonio railroad from San Antonio to Ell
Paso along the Rio Grande, thus solving the
question of frontier protection, since, accord
ing to existing surveys, the road will pass
through or touch at every fort and camp
along that comparatively unprotected bor-
der. This road will also afford quick trans
pOItdIlOu lOI lIUOpS anu supplies, OpCu W
our people the very profitable interior COM
merce of Mexico, and ultimately lead to the
construction of connecting roads through
Mexican territory. Secondly, my bill pro-
vides for satisfactory railroad connections for
all the States east of the Mississippi river; it
gives Texas two instead of one line to FL
Paso, and provides positively for connections
with Memphis, Vicksburg aud New Orleans,
thus putting stop to the jealous clamor
which for some months past has threatened
the House and Mathews bills. Thirdly, my
bill prevents the possibility of another credit
mobilier or anything like corruption, limit
ing the subsidy as it does to only ten thou
sand dollars a mile. That sum is
sufficient saie with the land grants, to
surplus for corruption or other illegal pur-
poses. 1t also provides for more miles of
road than the House and Mathews bills,
while the total amount of subsidy in green
backs mot bonds will be Just one.half the
subsidy provided for In those bills. My bill
provides for the construction Of one thousand
nine hundred and forty miles of road, with
three connections to the Mississippi river, at
ten thousand dollars per mile, whereas the
House and Mathews bills provide for one
thousand four hundred miles, without any
connections to the Mississippi at, for one
thousand one hundred and fifty miles,
twenty-siX thousand dollars per mile, and
two hundred and fifty miles Through the
mountains) at thirty-fve thousand dollars
per mile, making total of thirty mil
lion seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars;
the total provided for in my bill being nine
teen million four hundred thousand dollars.
My bill, you see, will build five hundred and
forty miles of road more than the House and
Mathews bills, at just one-half the cost.
Fourtbly, as to the greenback subsidy: The
government now pays every year interest to
a NJ h,n
thousand dollars on the bonds ofthe Union and
Central Pacific railroads. Thisis very heavy
addition to the legitimate burdens of the
people, which / desire to avoid repeating.
The House and Mathews bills provide for its
repetition. They provide for the as
sumption by the United States of
responsibility for the interest on thirty. eight
million seven hundred and fifty thousand dol
lars of bonds-nearly two million dollars per
annum for fifty years-which, as in the case
of the Union and Central Pacific railroads,
the people would doubtless have to pay OBJ
waiting such an increase of the ver- heavy
tax-burdens of the people, my bill provides
for the payment of subsidy in greenbacks, for
which four per cent, or eight hundred thou
sand dollars per year, Is to be paid to the gov
eminent by the railroad companies, thus really
saving to the people the two million dollars
per annum of the House and Mathews billie
and securing to them handsome income on
the loan until 1t Is paid by services and other
wise as provided for. TIE bonds provided
for in the House and Mathews bills, if issued
would be negotiated abroad, SO that the in
terest ON them-amounting in fifty years to
one hundred million dollars-would be
drained from the country. You see, then,
that my bill, regarded in any light, is an eco
nomical measure that will, at the lowest pos
slble cost, provide the south with all the Pa
ci6c connections needed, satisfying every
IN ha NIL md p
lantic coasts, as we'll as in the interior An
swering some objections to my bill that it
might strengthen and increase the power of
the great railroad corporations which are
known as the Union, Central and Southern
Pacific railroad companies, which are sup
parties, have this to say, that if my bill
does not pass, and the Southern Pacific is
built, as it will be in at least the next ten