The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1881-07-01

H.
lby the votes Of Democratic Senators.
would be- stirred by The recent letter 4
O| O|fhcophi'us French. Auditor Of Railroa
ol olAccounis. addressed III San Francisco /
the President Of tile Central Pacific COZ
poration.
Y rr. French has held this Office since 4,
''lcfeaiion three years ago as d su pplcmer
no the Thurman act. calling tile Pacifj
!. railroads 20 account for their obligation
: 10 the United States. II Is a trust OF III
-lgrcaicst responsibility, and offers tcupts
rItions second 70 no other place in the gii
of the President.
h Whether Mr. French, like too man
r Others. has fallen before the seduction q
bribery. will soon be known. At ti,i
time all the appearances are against hin
n Assuming 70 transfer his Office 10 Sal
\ Francisco. rs has reported ike subor
!, ,dinute TO the President Of the Cenira
Pacific, and ignored his supcriors q
Washington, who had no notice OF iii
letter or It's contents until ii was pub
Iished Ia one OF the organs OF the cor
lp0intion.
i An Official capable Of taking this stcl
of course would not hesitate 10 20 10 IN.
extreme. and 10 deny out and ont, "a Dir
French has done. the trulhfuIne~s Of nj,
regular reports, and Of figures collatel
from the public records and from tht
books OF he subsidized road. The MO.
Itivc that prompted The first departure
necessarily carries Him 10 yield tie las
demand OF his new masters
| From the passage Of the law IN 1878
I'm I..4N Al.
possible obstacle ia the way Of the ex.
Icution Of the Thurman act. by litigation.
lby ttickery, and by palpable evasion ii
lts letter and spirit. Take enc method
Jas an illustration A branch OF this road
lcXscnds south from San Francisco Is
Goshen for 2il miles. II is iii fact 4
part Of tie main line, and il subsidized
with bonds and lands. The southern
Pacific, already connected with the At
|lantic routes, IL mainly owned by the
Of the CciIiral Pacific' and
was built and purchased with the profits
|of the latter. Western CalIfornis Il
by numerous short lines. which
have hitherto furnished large and
profitable business 10 the Central. These
lines arc also chiefly owned by tile close
which controls the Others.
Mr. Huntington and his associates
have been divcrting this great traffic 10
their southern Pacific, which heretofore
had but one outlet. Ia other words.
they are daily building up competitor
10 the Central Pacific Tor the through
trade, in order ID circumvcnt the Thur
man act and 10 deprive The Treasury ~
the 70 per cent OF the net annual earn
ings set aside for sinking fund and Oil
other resources.
For the two years and half ended
Dec. 81, 1850, this corporation owed to|
the sinking fund SO 10000. and only
paid 977J.UO0. II hsss refused TO include
among the liabilities $2,00U.O00 Of inter-
est due on bonds OF tie United States.
advanced for construction. which Mr.
French has rightiulIy charged against III
IN his report on the financial condition
OF the corporation. II declared diyi-
iends ia February, 1850 and 1851. when
there were deficiencies aggrcgatimg <3.-
100000. All these devices were adopted.
~ dctraun the Government.
These facts are mainly CLEANED from
the reports Of Mr.. French, and from
other Official sources On the 14th Or,
February last, Mr. French addressed n.
formal letter 10 the Secretary Of the In-I
terror. containing " statements OF iactsI'
relating 70 the operation OF the Pacific.
Railroad Sinking Fund law Of MAY 7.|i
1875, and tho condition OF the debt OF thc|,
Onion and Central Pacific companies onl,
account Of Subsidy bonds. and the ink
crest accrued thereon From this lct-e
cr we quote: c
1T will be seen that while the amounta
,f the 5 per cent. Of net earnings or the y
Union Pacific has steadily increased sincc
1874. that Of the Central Pacific has stead.
~ decreased. This is owing partly to
nc fact that the average number or miles
operated By the Central Pacific has bccnt
increased from year 70 year, while thats
,f the Union Pacific has not been increas-,
a but more particularly BY the divers
ion Of business from the subsidized roadf
b the leased lines, which leased lines arei
owned by the owners of thet
CENTRAL Pacific, who are paid high rcn-n
ais therefor, and By a consequent rcdnc-
ion OF the percentage OF subsidized mileslI
" road 10 the mileage or all roads oper-lo
ted, upon which percentage pro rata ]
livision Of local business has chiefly tols
10 based. Under the methods and|t
practice Of the Central Pacific Company, h
he greater number Of miles OF railroadll'
I leases and operates the less becomes
he proportion Of net earnings for the
ubs;dizcd lines. III il present
'raciicc relating to leased lines il conlin-I
led, il will corrcspondingly decrease its|i
let earnings liable 70 the IS per cent. I'M
lcr the law u such an extent that iisl
payments hereafter will probably note
more than sqnal onc-half Of those u their
iuion Pacific. IN