Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-10-08
The california and oregon Railroad.

The California and Oregon Railroad.
[San Francisco Post, October 6th.I
In an interview with reporter OF the
Post yesterday, Senator Stanford stated that
the completion of the California and Ore
gon Railroad from Delta to Ashland the
terminus of the Oregon and California, de
ponds entirely upon the confirmation OF the
land grant BY Congress " If the grant shall
be declared forfeited, said the Senator, I'VE
will stop work on the road for the excellent
reason that without the grant the cost
would be uniustifiable" The distance to
be covered to make the junction is about 125
miles The line runs through region
that without railroad communication must
remain cut off from the world CONNER
cially. Hemmed in and broken up by
mountains, the territory, embracing thou
sands of acres of arabic, timber and graz
ing lands, is practically inaccessible to
the immigrant. The natural resources of
the district, which are great, must remain
undeyeloped until a railroad brings ii
within reach of the settler. Should the
railroad grant be Withdrawn, the region
will be condemned to continue what it now
is-a pasture for few herds of cattle and
bands of sheep, and home for wild ami
mails If the grant be confirmed. the lands
will be made source of wealth to the
State and nation, by giving employment to
population tributary to San Francisco
The building of the road would give
value to the Governments share of the
domain which would richly compensate it
for the grant to the railroad. Moreover,
the corporation has an equitable claim &c
the lands which it asks shall not be taken
away from it. 1t is true that the
road was not built within the time
upon which the grant was conditioned.
The line was projected to meet the
Oregon road, work upon which was sud
denly and unexpectedly stopped, owing to
the financial difficulties in which Holiday
became involved I'VE were forced to
stop" said Senator Stanford, repeating to
the Post reporter what is familiar history,
- or take the alternative of going on to
build line the terminus of which is on a
comparatively desolate spot in the midst of
an uninhabited country, with not enough
local business 10 justify a good wagon
road" When work was resumed on the
Oregon line and the California company
set about going ahead again, it was con-
fronted with the intimation that, as it had
allowed time To elapse the land grant
would be forfeited. II it was ever right to
offer land to the company TO encourage tito !
construct the road, no wrong will be COM |
mitted by Congress in renewing the offer at
the next session.
In California there is no dispute about |
the advantages that would be derived by
the State from the completion of the road. |
San Francisco has q thorough realization
of its importance to her. The building of
the Northern Pacific has taken away from
this city the trade of the north. Chicago, |
instead of San Francisco has become Port |
lands supply depot, and Portland is the |
distributing point for great region. The !
people of southern Oregon and northern |
California, now wholly dependent upon |
Portland, are anxious for the finishing of
the line, as it would give them two mar |
kets instead of one and in both sections |
vast territory, great in its possible |
ties of future trade, would be opened |
up. The shortest present route from Port
land TO the Atlantic seaboard is .134 miles. |
From Portland to Galveston by the route
which will not be opened without the land
grant, and thence by way of the Southern
Pacific, the distance is only ., 743 miles, or |
10 New Orleans 3,046 This advantage in
the matters of haul and time would alone
divert the Oregon trade to and through San
Francisco. The forfeiture of the grant
would bear far more hardly upon the peo-
pie of California than upon the railroad
The producers, manufacturers
and everybody else suffer by the diver
sion of the Oregon trade from this mar
hCl, anu bN VIC OtllldI vi lilC llCh
for settlement and COM
merce that the road would create. The
only directors to the confirmation of the
grant are the professional anti-monopo-
lists '-the politicians who ride the anti
railroad hobby in the hope that the ancient
and spawned steed will carry them to
office, and the few newspapers which are
controlled by these musty patriots, or which
have venerable grudges that they are will
ing to crafty at the expense of the material
of the State. Aside from three or
four newspapers of these classes, the press
of California is unanimously in favor of
the confirmation of the grant. The San
Francisco Board of Trade and Chamber of
Commerce, speaking for the business men
of the metropolis, have formally declared
themselves to the same effect.
The matter is one of sufficient importance
to the State to call for some special mani
festation of public opinion regarding it.
The California Congressman have duty to
perform in the premises. They can render
their constituents no better service than to
prove to Congress that the interests of the |
Pacific coast require that the California and |
Oregon shall be built. and that the people |
of the section concerned are aware of it 1t |
would strengthen the Congressman if they |
could carry with them popular petitions |
against the forfeiture of the grant. Such |
petitions could with little trouble be pre-
sented for signature in the various cities
and towns of the State. There would be
no doubt about the response of the people
to such an effort to enable them to make
their voices heard. The Post invites con-
sideration of the petition plan by its con-
temporarie2 of the interior, who think
with it that furtherine the common welfare
is better business for newspapers to en-
gage in than catering to the ambition of a
squad of hy-blown office-hunters, or
: lighting the railroad on general prin-
ciples, for the sake of old times.