National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-02-07
on riiE AVENUE.
sn,nil ram kboat Sten aid Nieasure.

Small Talk About Men aid Measures.
Said Congressman Cassidy, referring to tho
| bill now before the house committee on
| Pacific railroads compelling the railroad com
! panies to'pay for surveying their land grants
take out patents fol. their lands and pay
taxes on them "rhcrc are some very knot,y
| questions TO decide before We can report on
that bill. Millions of acres of those grants
are not worth the cost OF surveying. There's
mountain or arid plain, or solid rock for
miles and miles. | vent across that country
more than twenty years ago behind drove
of cattle and / know what the coun-
try Is. I'll tell you what really
ought to be done. A commission should be
sent out there to examine and classify those
lands. Tho situation aud extent of timber
lands, agricultural lands, and grazing lands
should DO known. Those arid plains. which
arc III for nothing but grazing should be sold
in larger quantities and at cheaper rate
than the others. Separate sections of those
! plains arc absolutely valueless. You can't
raise a hill Of potatoes on 100 acres But il
cattle raiser gets possession of several thou
sand acres ho can raise and fatten herd
Of cattle there. Now, If he buys fifty
or 500 Of tho alternate sections, which
tho railroad companies own, ho can
not, under our present land laws,
buy more than 160 acres of the intervening
SQUARES of government land. 1t is to the
interest OF the people that these grazing
lands should be opened up and utilized.
They will never DO worth anything for
agricultural purposes unless by tho use of
artcsian wells. The vegetation now is moth.
ing but bunch grass, scarce but very sweet
and nutritious, Those plains Of Montana are
sure to be the great meat producing part of
this county. Texas used to be, but Texas
lands arc also good for agricultural purposes
and win be wanted for small farms. The
state is already getting SO full of people
that the cattle men are badly crowded.
Those plains in Montana and along the lines
Of the Central and Union Pacific roads must
raise the cattle and sheep for America. Grass
fed cattle means cheap beef. Corn-fed and
stabilized cattle means dear beef In this country
everybody eats beef, and we are just as much
Interested in furnishing cheap beef for this
nation as in furnishing every man a 100 acre
farm. For that reason say the laws ought
TO be so changed that cattle raisers could
buy and use large tracts of these plains"
81
Some months ago when little war began
between the Chicago. Burlington aud Quincy
Railroad company and the Union Pacific
Railroad company, it was here published on
tho authority of d shrewd stock broker that
! Jay Gould was beginning, with this war, to
carry on his plan for wrocking tho Union
Pacific, causing it to be sold on the first mort
gage buying ii in himself. and thereby
wipihg out over $lOO.0OOOO0 indebted
ness to the United States, which is only
secured by second mortgage. Mr.. An
derson, of Kansas, introduced bill
in the house tho other day, which is In
tended to save the United States from such
loss. 1t provides that when either of the
railroad companies SO indebted to the United
States on second mortgages shall fail to keep
up the interest on their first mortgage bonds,
the attorney general shall apply for re-
ceiver, who shall thereafter manage the road,
under the direction of the secretary of the in
terror, until the debt to the United States is
paid. There are various details, but the
above is the general scope of the bill. There
are q great many people who think that the
Pacific railroad companies never intended to
pay the United States when they borrowed
this money, but if Mr.. Andersons bill be-
comes law the easy and at present the only
visible method of freezing OUT Uncle Sam
as creditor will be eflectually shut off.
s@s
One of the numerous bills for regulating
rates of railroad transportation was referred
TO the house committee on Pacific railroads.
1t has been discussed in the committee, but
no report has been agreed upon. This COM
mittee is waiting to see what the committee
on commerce is going to do with the Reagan
bill. Said one of the members of the Pacific
railroad committee yesterday: "If the
Reagan bill or somo similar one
is not reported favorably by the
commerce committee we shall certainly
report some bill to fix rates. The country i.
ripe for some measure of that kind, aud
have no doubt but that some such bill will
become law. l believe that the people are
more familiar with tho Reagan bill than with
any other, and the great majority of the peo'
, pie want it passed, perhaps with some modi-
fications. The railroads will have to be regu
lated"
&Ta
If the house adopts the rules proposed by
Mr.. Randall or Mr.. Reed two days in the
month will be given up to tho District o
Columbia. The gentleman from Louisiana
J inquired what congress busted itself with OF
these district DAYS" The cynical old resi-
dent replied: Congress finds out wha
the district wants, and then doe
the other thing" The district com
. mitteo have had some important
business under discussion, but aside from
several small private bills for relief have thus
far reported to the house only one measure o
consequence. That is the bill Cor changing
. the standard time of the district. The dis
trict committee recently heard arguments il
favor of Col Phil Thompson's bill to incor
porate a company to build a street railroad
from the corner of Sixth street and Pennsyl
, vania avenue to Bladensburg 1t is pro
: posed TO lay tracks on Sixth street t.
. X, then on X east to Boundary, aut
f; thence to the county line and Bladensburg
G Horses or cables are to move the car
?, within the city limits, but outside stear
= may be used. The committee have hear
= no arguments against the road, and hav
:. come to no decision about it yet. A stron
effort has been made by the temperate
= people to have the committee report fayora
n bly, upon license bill which bears very uu
| favorably upon tho saloon keepers As on