Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-10-30
A RAILROAD ORGAN.

Our esteemed contemporary, the San
Francisco Chronicle, whenever in an ill-hu-
NOR toward this journal characterizes it as
a railroad organ" Judging by the con-
text in which this charge is used, we are
disposed to think our contemporary under
stands itself to be launching at us an OPP
probrious epithet. Whether the charac-
terization is one imputing to us something
disreputable, or whether it is indeed COM
plimentary, depends entirely upon what is
meant by railroad organ" If it simply
means that we entertain no malignant hos
tiIity toward the railroad interests of this
State, but that on the contrary We have
sought by every legitimate means to foster
the development of the railroad system of
the coast, we have every reason to be
proud of the character of being Grail
road organ"
The construction of an overland rail-
road from the Missouri river to tide water
on the Pacific coast was the pioneer
achievement of the grandest scheme of
railroads ever projected and carried into
SUI cessful operation in the history of the
world. The completed and projected sys-
TEN of transportation by rail inland in
the State of California and the other Pa
cifc States has been a triumph of enter
prise, financial genius and executive abil-
ity, of which any man or set of men in
any age of the world might well be proud.
Their achievements will hand their names
down to posterity to be loved, honored and
remembered by men long after the ephem-
erous demagogues of the time, whether
journalists or politicians, have been for
gotten.
The railroad question: as it has been
termed, has been forced into the attitude
OF public issue, not because the construc-
ton of railroad lines was a menace to the
public welfare; not because the railroad
corporations have made unjust, or exorb-
liant or extortionate demands; not be-
cause the industries of the Pacific coast
have not welcomed railroad construction
not because the extension of the railroad
system has rot conferred life, activity and
civilization upon all parts of our State
but simply because demagogues could play
upon the apprehensions of ignorance, and
public journals, with personal ends to gain,
could, by Misrepresentation, mislead and
debauch the public mind.
transportation is simply an element of
production. In modern times it is the
great leading factor of commercial ex-
change In its infancy, inland transporter
ton was carried on by pack animals, later
By wheels; still later, by the slow, imper-
feet and costly method of waterways and
eana!s later still, by steam transportation
On nayigable waters, connecting interior
places with the sea-board and lastly, by
the crowning achievement of the age, to-
wit, railroads. Now, the construction of
4 railroad through the country, whereby
the products of that country will be trans
ported to market cheaply, the necessities
of the population inhabiting that country
! will be supplied by these latest aud cheap
est methods Of transportation raises 10
| problem, the solution of which involves a
| political issue relating to the rights of
men. 1t raises no issue beyond the agree
nent between the shipper and toe carrier.
The railroad builder uses his private capt.
tai, and becomes personally liable for the
capital he may borrow in the construction
| Of railroad. The road so constructed is
simply his private property. The State
conferred upon him no pecuniary values,
but simply the right to do business. Not
/ one dollar Of the money invested in the
! construction of a line of railroad
is obtained from the State 1t is true that
subsidies have sometimes been granted.
But such subsidies have never been in the
nature of an agreed exchange for an
! equivalent value State and National
encouragement of the construction of
railroad is merely the measure Of estimate
which the State or the nation puts upon
the value of such construction to the CON-
monwealth. The object is to open lines
of communication, commercial channels
and the arteries of exchange of the pro-
ducts of the world The State or the ma
ton receives Its consideration in the OPEN
ing up of these commercial arteries, and
the public encouragement afforded, what
ever the amount of the encouragement may
be..o may have been, is perfectly ccmpen-
sated.
! In its political aspect, the so-called
railroad question is, and has been
simply the offspring of demagogism. Dis
honest men have held before the shipper
the allurement of an illicit advantage, IN
til the hope of an Illicit gain has been
stimulated into an irregular popular pas
sion. In all such times in the past, the
F., REcoRD-U NIoN has stood consistently by
the great underlying considerations of jus
tice. The people are forever honest when
properly instructed as 10 their rights The
masses Of mankind may be misled by cum
ming demagogues and dishonest advocates,