Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-01-19
Huntington and the California and Ore
gon Railroad

WASHINGTON, January 1S.h.-At meet.
ing OF the House Committee on Public Lands,
G. 2. Huntington appeared on behalf Of the
California aud Oregon Company. The frat
intimstion members Of the COMMITTEES had If
his presence was when he was introduced by
Chairman Cobb. he came, he said, as the
representative of a corporation which always
performed it. contracts il the time required,
and had never asked for additional aid nor
leniency. For this reason he thought Con.
eress ought not to interfere in this one To-
stance. A general outline of the work of the
California and Oregon road was given. He
said work had been suspended because the
liue could only he built to the Oregon State
line, where it was 20 connect with the Oregon
and California. Work on the latter, how
ever, has tcon suspended, making the build.
ing of the road re represents inexpedisnt.
He should not eEdsavor to touch upon the
legal question, but had something also per.
sonai to say about his associates and himself.
Said he: 1--WE have always built as the law
REQUIRED, and this is tae first consideration
we have asked in the way of an eXtenuation
OF time. We think we are more entitled to O
hearing from the Government than any other
class Of people, for there has been no cOnserv-
stor Of the public peace and prosperity, in the
largest sense of the word, like railroads. We
ourselves were the frs people TO commence
the Central Pacific Rsiiroad. When that bill
passed it was considered a great thing to do
and we Gid il, Notwithstanding the fact that
the people would not back us. When we
commenced to build. rails were S3S per ton.
They went to S125 before we were through
buying; but we asked no more from the Gov
ernment on that account. Before the wsr
Sc, 81, IS or SO was about the minimum rate
of ship tonnage around Cape Horn. We paid
S34 during the war. Instead of % per
cent. insurance around the Cape at
the time the Act was passed, we
paid ss high as 10 per cent. We did not ask
the Government additional aid. We paid
S32, 600 for locomotives in war times which
could have been bought previously for 50, 000
We crossed the Sierra Nevada against the pre-.
dictions and advice of all cur friends, because
we stood by the work honestly snd man
fully, and cared for every interest We had in
charge. We indorssd the paper Of the Cen
troll Pacific when it had no credit, and we
personally had finished this work in the time
required by law. / mention these things TO
show that we have worked hard and tol-
estly, asking no favors, but accomplishing
what depended on ourselves. II tI6 present
case we were stopped from carrying out our
purposes from no fault or misfortune Of our
own. We built 1j2 miles from the Central Pa
cifc line northward at tremendous cost and
effort We were on our way through to the
boundary a1d proposed to go right up there /;
but when the other link failed Of completion
we kaew there was 10 LEGAL interest to com.
pensate us, and the road to the State line as
a terminus would yield no return. We
stopped and waited. When our sister COM
pany was able to go to work again, we got
every man we could raise and put him on our
line. The 100 miles we built from Reddiug
to Mount Shasta was the most difficult work
fills aud tunnels. We have done the best we
could, and there is no ground, equitable,
moral or fsancial, on which this land can be
taken away from US. Some political reasons
may exist If SO, have no interest in or in
Amor 90 over Thorn