Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1888-03-22
THE PACIFIC COMMISSION REPORT.
arguments Before the Senate Special Com

arguments Before the Senate Special Com
mittee to Which it was Referred.
WASHINGTON, March Ex-senator Stan
ord to day appeared before the senate
special committee to which was referred
the report of the Pacific railroad com
mission. He said the government had
Yeared from the Central Pacific all the
advantages any one ever expected it
would reap, and now it had a poor debtor
TO deal with,
The senate was telegrap hically familiar
with the construction and com pletion of
the line. He said the government had
loaned it's credit to the extent of S27 ,OOO,-
600 and the company had issued bonds to
like amount. The government bonds
had been sold at discount bringi ag in but
little over $2o,000,000 and the company's
bonds had brought little less than this
sum. All the money so realized had been
expended in the construction of the
road. It would be seen that the
wild stories that hundred millions
bad been made out of the government in
this transaction were without foundation.
The road could easily have paid off
Its Indebtedness to the government had
She, latter not by its own acts fostered
She. competing lines which divided the
business and charges. The governme emit
in all its other dealings hao sold its bonds
for what it could get, losing itself what
ever might be the discount, yet the Cen
szal Pacific had sold government bonds
as 8 Discount and was now asked TO pay
the face value but it might be said that
the road issued large amount of stock.
So it did out this did not affect anybody
IL hnIl hol SI%
Branch roads but not dollar of the cost
had come from the government. The
profits of the road were derived not from
the government but solely from the val
ues the road had created.
General Counsel Raymond, of the Cen
fral Pacific, followed Senator Stanford.
He said the Central Pacific could not in
honor state what &c was willing to do as
long as responsible men were resting IN
der charges affecting their chars cter. In
no single instance had the road failed in
its obligations TO the government or
people. He further eclared that since
1862, in no single inst q ce, not one, from
beginning TO end, the government
performed faithfully esne single obllga-
non that it entered into with the road.
He declared the Thurman act was fail
are as everybody VINO huS" any 1hihS
about railroads knew it would be. Frye
asked when under the Thurman act the
company's Indebtedness would be paid off.
Never" rejoined Mr.. Raymond, land
why" he asked, SHOULD it be paid Off"
If the companies owed hundred million
dollars to the United States the thing to
do, he argued, was TO wipe it all out. Not
one dellar ought to be collected. 1t was
aquestion of Ievying a tax upon local
community to pay the obligations which
the United States had entered into to
save the union with. Take your Thur
man act" he said, ''and let US give you
so many thousand dollars
year and let US perform
the services which we are required to per
form" Raymond maintained that the
road had been constructed to keep the
Pacific coast in the Union. Had those
states gone out the Union would surely
have persisted. Now the debt must be
paid by the people at nOscompetitiue
points. and there were but few of these
left. If this tax was put upon the road
il must be paid by the people of small
portion of the country, and there would,
he assured the committee, be trouble.
Adjourned.