Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-01-24
OF VITAL IMPORTANCE TO The TRADE
OF CALIFORNIA.


An effort is now being made il Congress-
which, If it succeeds, will deal serious
blow 10 the trade and commercial interests
Of the State, and more especially to north
ern Caliiornis, Sacramento and San Fran.
cisco. It is somewhat unaccountab!e that
the business men of the two cities named
have rot awakened to its Importance, and
more puz,hng 0till 60 account for the
apathy OF the San Francisco press upon the
subject. We refer to the threatened
check TO the work of the California and
Oregon Railroad Company in extending its
line to ths Oregon boundary, and in saving
the trade Of all the north section to Sacra.
mento and San Francisco, which, should
the scheme to forfeit the land grant to the
company be successful, will assuredly be
diyertel from its legitimate mar5s and
the whole business OF northern counties be
made tributary to Portland, and be placed
at the command Of a corporation having no
interests in this State
Under tle impetus Of what we deem an
uniustifable luminosity to railroads in gen.
eral which have had land grants to aid
their construction, and possibly under mis-
taken ideas regarding The facts, it is pro-
posed to forfeit the grants to the California
and Oregon Company. a simple glance at
tbe situation will disclose the menace in
this 70 the trade of this city and of the
metropolis, and the injury that will be VS.
tied upon the State if the movemen. is sue
cesstul
The California and Oregon Railroad is
now completed TO a point twenty miles be-
You'd the town of BEDDING and il the line
OF its progress TO meet the Oregon Com
pany, building southwark to the California
boundary. The Government made grants
of land to the California Company, with the
proviso that the construction should
be completed within a given date. That
time has expired, and the road has not
reached the State line. There is 10 we'll
informed Californian who does not know
ina. the reason OF this non.completion Is
al ample one. It has been the misfortune,
not the fault, Of the company that the road
has not been built. The topography OF the
country to be traverssd presents natural
difficulties 30 be surmouuted greater than
any known t. any line OF railroad in the
United St,tes. These obstacles exist in a
region Of the most rugged charact It. and
call tor heavier outlay aud greater pr
thence and more persistent labor than any
section 0: road upon tls coast. Of oil these
facts the country is oognzan5, and they are
nor matters Of dispute in engineering or
railroad construction circles.
The grant to the company has. in fact,
bsen earned as rapidly as was warranted.
Unless the uuearned grant can be saved to
the company, the work o! pushing the road,
which is being prosecuted actively, must
be delayed for long time, probably six or
seven years, and in the meanwhile the
Oregon Company, encountering but few
obstacles in its progress southwark, will be
tempted most strongly TO enter the northern
counties of California and divert their
trade to Portland, and put it at the mercy
of the Northern Pacific Railroad. II this
should occur it is easy TO see how seriously
the San Francisco and Sacramento markets
will sufer-in fact such deplorable situa-
ton needs no elaboration at our hands.
For the protection Of the commercial IN
terests Of San Francisco and Sacramento
the speedy construction of the California
snd Oregon road to the Oregon line is of
the highest importance. Northern Cal
ifornia must not be made tributary to
Portland. But beyond these considera
tions there are Others. The early compile.