National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-05-04
WASHINGTON, D. C, MAY /, 1881.
Population Of the National Capital. 100000.
California a Discrowned Sovereign
The Bolt in 1879.

in public address: 1T is painfully evil
dent from the experience of the last few
years that the efforts of the States to reg
ULate their raiIrOGds have amounted to but
little more than feeble annoyance. x
In these contests the corporations have
become conscious of their strength and
have entered upon the work of control
ling the States. Already they have cap
tured several of the oldest and strongest
of them; and these discrolCned SOuereignS
now follow i'll chains the triumphal
chariot of their cOnqIterOrs. And this does
not imply that merely the officers and
representatives of States have been sub
jected to the railways, but that the corpo-
rations have gra$ped the sources a'ed f0me-
tGiils of lp0,uer, and CONTROL TIE CHOICE OF
BOTH OFFICERS AND REPRESENTATIVES,"
General Garfield was right. Indeed, he
did not eXaggerate when in the same
address he said that the vast consolida
tions which have placed the control of
the whole system in the hands of a few
have developed the GharLemagRes aud the
CEsdrs of our internal commerce" Again,
he said: "The modern 6arORs, more power
full than their military prototypes, own
our greatest highways, and levy tribute
at will upon all our vast industries"
Ofall thecaptive, ,discrowned sovereigns
which follow in chains their railroad con-
guerors California is the most abased and
pitiful. The modern baronS" who have
brought her to their feet are Californians
whose worldly possessions in 1861 did not
exceed $4,000. The United States gave
them lands, loaned them bonds on second
mortgage, and enabled them to borrow
On first mortgage, so that, without re-
sources Of their own, they were enabled
to build the Central and Southern Pacific
Railroad and branches and to absorb
all other lines of land and water COM
municatiOn in the State. They were
five in number, and had all the stock of
their great railroad sytems. The few
shares which had been subscribed by
others before any of the road was built
were bought in at whatever price was de-
manded, in order TO avoid judicial in
quiry into the construction contracts,
which had been given out to a company
composed of the five whales Of the COM
pany, with the minnows left ont. They
paid in one case as high as $4,000 for
seventeen shares, the par value being but
$I00 a share. The Credit Mobilier of
America, under the name of which the
Union Pacific directors absorbed all the
gifts and loans ofthat company, a fraction
of which sufiicedto build their road, was
rather modest concern compared with the
"Contract and Finance Company" of
California, composed of the Central Pa
cific managers, who gave themselves S27,-
100000 of United States bonds, S27, 100000
of first mortgage railroad bonds, and $54,
100000 of paid up g. stock for building
the trunk line from Sacramento to Salt
Lake, which cost them less than $780,
100000.
The Central Pacific land grant is esti-
mated by the company at S30,000,O0O.
The land grant to the Southern Pacific,
owned by the same parties, is estimated
by them at 100000 The State of
California has made these railroad COM
panieS gifts amounting to $l7,000,000, as
stated by their own officers, being S15,-
100000 value of lands on San Francisco
Bay forterminal purposes, and two million
in interest Oh guaranteed bonds. The
great surplus over and above what was
required to build the Central Pacific went
to the building of the Southern Pacific,
and to the purchase of other roads in the
State, all the steamboats, and ferries of
the State, hOrse-car routes III San Fran
cisco, costly palaces and country estab-
lishments, race horses Of national reputa-
ton, and such of the newspapers of both
parties, or of neither, as were for sale.
So well have these modern barons"
used their power, and so extortionate
have they been in levying tribute
for travel and freight, that they have
made their gross earnings more than
double the operating expenses. For the
past six years the gross earnings have
been over Sl6,000,000 annually, and after
paying the interest on bonds-large guam
titles of which they hold themselves
The four ocners of this gigantic monopoly
Zone having early sold to the others his
INTEREST," dirided btircen themselves 81, $780,
600 a year.
In 1877 these thrifty gentlemen stated
their assets to be S302, 100000 (the entire
assessed valuation of the property of the
State was less than twice that amount),
and their liabilities at S116000,000. This
made them worth SIS6,000,0O0, over and
above all debts, by their Own admission.
Of this, as we have seen, 81, 100000 con-
sisted of gifts mot loans) of land TO aid
in building their roads. Instead of sell
ing their lands as contemplated by law,
they hold them for high prices, and have
borrowed eight millions on them at six
per cent, and added that interest account
to the expenses to be paid by the travel
ing public. 1t should be remarked that
the only money ever paid in for stock was
$Il, 800, being the ten per cent. required
by law to be paid on 1000 per mile of
road, the length of the road, as originally
projected, being 1I5 miles, viz: From |
Sacramento to the State line Ond hun
dred and eighty-six million dollars over
AMI above all liabilities in 1878 is Il very
fair return on the investment "of S11 800 |
IN 1852
There being no more worlds to conquer,
these railroad empcrors mightvoluntarily !
have reduced the burdens they had put |
upon the public. They had exacted from j
seven hundred thousand people for rail- !
road service half as much tribute as is !
yielded by all New England, half as much
as the people of all the Southern States
LnAt tn nnI. nnI ,-nr.. rnnrl,. &c ,n,I,,.L NC