The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-06-23
LARGELY HUMBUGGERY.


Fuzzy 90 per cent. of the howl tina
has been herd during the past fifteen
or sir:een years against the Union and
Central iPa6fic Railroads on account OF
their indebtedness to the government
haseeen humbug, and the howiers are
largely hunbugs. If anybody has had
the right 10 COMPLAIN of these railroads
it Fas the man who was compelled TO
patronize the roads and submit to the
extoriionate charges which used to pre-
vail before competition forced prices
dewn to the neighborhood of reason. In
Congress some fellow is eterRally pop
ping UP to tell how much the Pacific
goads.Rave. coat the nation, how much
the government gave TO the companies
and hew much the latter are indebted
20 the national treasury, and
these same fellows are eternally
ievisi1g schemes for "cinching" the
companies. These howlers are chiefly
s3emogogues and their schemes are in
tended more to catch the public ap-
proval than TO do any good TO the
gove-nmenL They care little or moth
eng for the nations claim against the
roads. and would not lose an hours
sheen If they knew that not dollar of
the debtlwould ever be paid. Repre-
sentative Henley. of California. is the
latest Congressman to mount the Union
Pacific. His plan Is to have the gov
.ernEnent- institute civil and criminal
proceedings against the officers of the
company because of something they
have dOue, that something being
failure to pay the debt due the nation,
while expanding money for new roads
and guaranteeing the bonds OF
feeder lines. In all proba
Siity M. Henley knows very
little .ooccerning the workings or
finances Of the road, bat he -imagines
that it Will populariIe him to attack
subsidized railroad, and he fires away.
Now. as a matter of fact, the United
States government never made a better
investment than when il subsidized the
Union and Central Pacific companies
with large grants of land and vast sums
of money; no government money has
ever been put TO better service than was
that which was expended for the con-
st-action eff a railway across the con-
hnent. If not dollar of the sum shall
ever be returned to the treasury, the
investment will be a ssyiag one. In
deed, the Governmeilc has been paid
over and over agHiI, ia that the
7 ailroad has been the diorct means of
adding millions upon ilions to the
wealth OF the nation Sud Of creating
homes for thousands upon thousands
OF people who are to-day q pillar of
strength to the republic. Without the
subsidies decades would have passed
before the continent would have been
SPAWNED ~ the iron track. Even to-day,
seventeen years after the completion Of
the FIRST through line, and with all the
inducements and substantial encourage
ment OF greatly increased population
and vastly developed resource private
enterprise has crowded westward with
railroads only a few hundred miles.
Had il not been for the subsidies
Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Idaho,
Montana, Nevada, California. Arizona
and Oregon would to-day be no further
advanced in develepme : and progress
than they were ten y 5 ago, and ten
wears hence they would be begging and
app aliDg for the coming of the great
civilizsr and developer. the iron horse.
The people of the great west have
sometimes occasion to protest against
the hardship imposed upon them by
the railways extortion, but no intel
hgent person finds fault that govern
ment aided the first continental line
with generous subsidies, and govern
ment win lose nothing If no portion OF
it, loan be ever paid.