Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1889-07-24
THE E.RAlLRoAD Fichr.

The sll absorbing question in Pres cot,. at present, is the difference exis. ing between the railroad company and shippers. Will the merchants stick to their agreement is the question ire quently asked. The JouRNAL-MINER predicts that they will The agreement to boycott the railroad has not been en- tered into as matter of bluff, or as hght particularly against the railroad, but as matter of principle. The board of trade has repeatedly asked for con- sessions from the railroad company, has offered to meet it halt way, only so be answered evasively or not at all. The men who have signed the agree ment to ship no goods over the road fer period of siA months have been friends of T. S Bullock. Many of them sub. scribed literally ,o th. bonds of the road to assist him in bu.;uing 1t and after wards sold their bonds for forty cents on the dollar.
 The morning paper has the follow ing apology for the railroad people in its issue this morning:
 "Mr. Bullock and his people, while 10th to be forced to defend themselves against any portion of the community in which they feel so deep and friendly an interest are. nevertheless, deter mined to be guided now, as they have in the past. by the first law of nature = self-preservation."
 Self-preservation, ehl let us see. Yay. apai county made Mir. Bullock dona- ton of $a92, 5000. or $4,ooo per mile. to get him ;o build the road. Afterwards when he claimed that even with this free gift he could not build the road unless they came ,o his rescue again with more cash, the people of Prescott went down tn their pockets and subscribed some $5o.ooo giving him the money and talk ing therefor first mortgage bonds of the road at par. for which they were only too glad afterwards to sell for forty cents on the dollar.
 The most liberal estimate of the cost of the road is 5000 per mile. while from S5,ooo to $7sooo would be nearer the actual cost of ii. It IS assessed, in cluding all its equipments at $4oo4SI per mile. But where the self preserva- ton principle comes in. can best be told from an examination of the county rec cords, where it is found that mortgages protecting mortgage bonds, issued by the company are recorded to the amount of $I,sso, ,oOo, or nearly $aa, ,ooo per mile. These mortgage bonds bear six per cent, the annual interest on which is $o3,o The shippers of Prescott are expected by the company to pay a tariff which will pay interest on this enormous fictitious value. In other words, under the plea of self preservation. this county is ex- pected to pay interest on the road on valuation of nearly $a6, 1000 per mile Sag ,ooo of which represents the mort gage bonds of the road and $4, 900 the subsidy. Any fair minded man can see at glance that this is fully four times of the original cost of the road, and tha, no community in the world could stand il.
 The editor of the JoURNAL-MINER had an opportunity recently of convers- ing with an aitache of the interstate commerce comc,iss. on, who had exam inod the reports O. the Prescott and Arizona Central Railroad, and who stated that it made a better financial showing per mile than any railroad in the country, so that all this prating about self preservation is sheerest buncombe.