Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-05-01

! The third section of the bill as amended.
meets my approval and needs no comment.
/ For the bill thus far l desire To vote uniting
( with my friends of all parties as being Il con-
/ cession, and the best that has been presented to
! the popular demand.
/ Ifit were possible to forget my duties as SEN
ator so far rs 10 indulge those natural feelings of
resentment 10 which the human family is prone
/ my zeal in behalf of the grand party whose his
! tory Will fill the proudeSt pages in the annals of
/ our country greatness would lead me 10 seize
1 way power for its share in the present political
situation of the state. Ii Is common knowledge
/ that to gratify personal hostility towards our
/ last candidate for Governor. and TO punish the
/ Republican party for daring to condemn the
abuses of railway management, all the energies
of the great corporations were directed 10 secur-
ing lis defeat and the political ascendency of the
party now i'll power. Those efforts were success
full; and now it would be but fair retribution and
1 poetic justice to leave the railways with their
I chosen friends to rejoice together in the COM
munion of their joint victory But there
/ is spirit of pride in the resources
/ of California, belief in her exalted
destiny to be attained only by the DEVELOPMENT
I of her agriculture, her manufactures and her
1 commerce: and these sentiments are powerful
! enough TO raise a class of her citizens, out of
mean ambitions and malicious resentments out
! of a desire 10 pander 10 a temporary diScoutcnt
rather than delay the realization OF her glorious
possibilities. In my inmOst heart | believe this
+ is the spirit which makes it powerful even in
! the humiliation of undeSerVed defeat In this
1N'NNNANA4
fore the Senate the motion to strike ont the
fourth section OF the bill. 1t reads as follows
Section /. No railroad corporation organized
! under the laws OF tins state Is permitted TO ac-
! cept any charter corporate franchise from
any other Government, State or sovereignty {:
and no corporation organized under the laws of
any other Government, state or sovereignty Is
permitted TO operate any railroad carry by
! rail within this state.
No one reading this section could possibly
guess that il was intended for remedial legisla-
Yinr would Chinese mol nd
California, keep ii within the power of the pres
/ ent transportation companies, prevent competi-
I tion-that most efficient remedy for the evils
! complained againSt-chcck our growth and
| further development and force our merchants
to stand helpless spectators of the ruin of the
( small remnant of their trade with the country
/ west of the Rockies. while more enlightened
| foreign and Eastern capital carried il TO other
and more distant maTts
Do Senators think that the mistress of the
I Pacific sitting at the Golden Gate has reached
her zenith? That no advancement is possible for
{ our favored State golden in fruit and grain and
/ clusters of the vine? Or do they look for some
| greater than Moses who shall smite the
! mountains and cause uaVigable rivers to tiOW
through them? | do not speak impiously if |
assert that Gods highways cannot compete
| with those made by man. 4 single additional
I through line of railway would be OF more I'M
portance to this state than II the MISSISSIPPI
! were turned westward from st Louis and poured
its mighty current into the bay of san Francisco.
If we would keep in the race with our sister
states IN friendly elllldlOu OF lllclT sITlicS u
prosperity, it is worth while to compare our
! selves with them. Massachusetts has one mile
| of railway 10 each seven square miles of area.
/ New York has one mile of railway TO each seven
! square miles of area. Pennsylvania has one
mile of railway to each - square miles of area.
Missouri has mile of railway to each l5l9
/ square miles of area. California has one mile
! of railway to each 81 square miles of area. We
now have about 2,O00 miles of railway in this
/ state. To equal Massachusetts we should have
/ l. 800 miles to equal New York We should have
/ 5000 miles; to equal Pennsylvania we should
/ have "a 600 miles to equal Missouri we should
! have 10000 miles. The percentage of waste
lands is scarcely more than III the States have
selected for comparison.
! To make ourselves equal with Missouri, the
! smallest of those named, we require the CON
struction of 5000 miles more of railroads. We
need as much more out of the State to bring the
/ great mountain regions and interior basins in
/ communication with our agriculturists, our
/ merchants and our manufacturers To give us
these facilities it will take within the next ten
! years an investment in their construction and
I equipment of five hundred millions OF dollars
/ Whence, except from the plethoric and idle
/ capital of the East shall we look for it?
/ What railways have done for less favored see
/ tiOns they will do for our unequaled State. Be
/ fore the building of railways i'll western Ne
/ braska and Wyoming the plains and valleys
/ only furnished paSturage for the antelope and
/ buffalo. Within ten years after the locomotive
whistle had disturbed their quiet ranges, the
/ shipment of beef cattle from those same regions
| was 10000 carloads annually, valued ut the
/ point of shipment at SS,OOO,OOO. From the Rio
/ tirande on the south to the British boundary on
/ the north, Il grazing industry has sprung up,
/ under the influence of railways, destined soon
/ to equal the grazing interests of the globe. 1t
now annually produces not less than 81 GOO.
/ The value OF property thus created since the
/ projection of these stimulants to trade and
/ industry in those parts is S2O0,OOO,O0O.
Mining enterprises promoted and made possible
| during the same time, if added to the agricult-
ural product and the other kindred enterprises,
I would swell this amount enormously. Colorado
/ had been mining State for years without rail
roads, producing about S3,6OOOO0 in gold and
! silver Railroads raised the product to So, 900,
! 900 per year. The number of mines rendered
! profitable to work with railroad communication
/ is rs forty to one without railways. In twelve
! years her population increased from 1900 to
400 600 In that State foreign capital stands ready
/ TO cross mountain ranges ten, eleven and twelve
! thousand feet high to reach any section which
/ gives fair promise to business, not waiting for
/ its development, but assisting in its creation.
/ One morning in May last | started from the
/ Union depot in Denver to visit Leadville. Ten
trains were made up and standing there ready
to start for as many different sections within
thirty minutes In 1870 the country along the
line of the Union Pacific Railway wholly
I undeveloped. In 1883 the receipts of that road
from its local traffic alone were more than Sl5,-
OO0,0o0
These are some of the marvels railways will
work. For one moment let us turn To Il sadder
picture. Before the completion of the Northern
Pacific Railroad the trade of Oregon, Washing
ton and Idaho swelled the commerce of this
State. Within year we have lost them all for
want of railway connection with Oregon. That
connection completed, and the California North
em extended through BeckWith's Pass north
easterly, would give us chance to
compete for that trade again - our nat
ural tributary. The extent of our loss
in this direction can be surmised from
the trade of the small population of Idaho alone.
Ii has been authOritdtively stated that that
Territory in twenty years paid to the merchants
and manufacturers of California SlO0,00o0 900.
To-day, for want of railways, it is wholly gone.
Eastern Oregon and Washington, with their cat
tie and grain and Idaho and Montana with their
mines, know us no more. Capital and cOrpOr
ationS. foreign to Us, are Juggling their valuable
products in the train of the painting locomotive
to Chicago; we are not even competitors.
Sirs. are there no suggestions OF wisdom for US
in this solemn array of facts? Let no man say
that ! would for Il moment release the great rail
way corporations from firm and Just control i'll
the interests of the people. By g the people |
do not mean the beer-houSe brawler, nor the
Courthouse a%itator, nor the disappointed
ofiiCe-seeker: but the laborer in field, forge or
shop, the producer, the manufacturer, the mer-
chant and the small trader; | mean that
class who give employment to railways
and whom railways benefit, whose patient
efforts constitute the pride and eXhaustless
wealth of any state. In their interest raise my
voice of protest against the crime we shall com
NIT in the retention of this section. | give it as
my solemn conviction that it would be better
for the State that we should collect no revenue
from railways TOR ten years rather than TINS
section should stand on our statute book
for ten years Fortunately we are not
{ reduced to either extremity rs yet, nor do
apprehend that we shall be. | believe in the
good, though the evil may be present, and
confidently hope to see within ten years two
/ hundred millions of foreign capital invested by
| foreign corporations in railways in this State
! stimulating and quickening its thousands of in
dustries and adding to the peace and comfort OF
its tens of thousands OF happy homes
/ Sullivan spoke in favorof the original section.
At 1850 the Senate took Il recess till p. NJ.
/ AFTERNOON SESSION.
I On re-assembling several Senators being alb
J sent, NroOman moved a call OF the Senate
Lost
I Kellogg moved for Il recess for ten minutes
/ Lost
! The question recurring on the Brooks substi-
/ tute for Section l. Kellogg again addressed the
Senate mt some length in its favor. Referring
| to the statement of Mr.. Spencer-that California
/ has railroads enOugh-he believed the gentle
man had struck the keynote of the fight that is
fight against railroad extension in this State-to
prevent competing lines from coming into the
State. Under the bill, it would be impossible to
secure the investment of outside capital with
! which to extend the short lines now struggling
! for existence in this State.
Del Vale replied to Kellogg's argument. and
said there was more substance in the section
under consideration than all the rest of the bill.
He compared the original section with the pro-
posed amendment, and argued that the former
was in the interest of the people and the latter
| is not. The advocates of the bill, he said, de-
sired 10 know whether not the principle in
volved shall be incorporated in the laws of the
State.
Reddy spoke in similar strain. He did not be-