Los Angeles daily herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1884-1890, 1889-10-13
aUNaAH, OUTO8ER 10, 1859.
A Great Change OF Sentiment.

RUNaA&, OCTOBER 13, 1850.
A Great Change Of Sentiment.
A Senatorial Committee, whose mis-
sion is to inquire into the debt of the
Central Pacific Railway and the general
obligations of that company to the
National Government, has been for some
time on its way to the Pacific Coast, and
it will unquestionably hold it's sessions
in this State for some time. 1t is COM
posed of elements so diverse as Senator
George F. Hoar, of Massachusetts,, and
Senator George Hearst, of California.
At previous sessions OF the committee
plans seem to have been formulated for
the adjustment Of the accounts be-
tween the Union Pacific Railway and the
GovernmeLt-plans that meet the assent
Of the company and of the Senatorial
Committee. The ready solution of the
controversies between the Government
and the Central Pacific Railway appears
to have been complicated by issues that
have not arisen in the case of the East
ern corporation, and which will probably
be either adjusted, or reported upon with
view to adjustment, by the visiting
Senatorial Com mittee.
On the part of the Central Pacific
Railway it is asserted with considerable
force that it was built under circum-
stances Of unusual difficulty, both from
the inherent obstacles of the route itself !;
the distance from which materials and
supplies had to be drawn; the fact that
labor had to be paid for on this coast in
gold coin, while greenbacks, at big dis
count sufficed in the East; the compare
tive disparity of resources here, and
many other points which Governor Stan.
ford and his immediate advisers hold,
converted himself and his associates into
public benefactors in giving to the coun-
try the great iron highway whose crea-
ton they denominate a war measure
essential to the integrity and safety of
the nation. That great energy, perse-
verance and indomitable pluck were
elements in the building Of our first
great International highway, cannot be
gainsaid. The advocates of the builders
of the Central Pacific Railway point to
the unexampled munifcence of the Do
minion government to the Canadian
Pacific Railway, and there is unques-
tionably considerable force in that prop
ositieR.
Senator Hearst is reported, in the
Chicago newspapers, as saying that he
thought the committee would be in
favor Of reporting that the Government
ought to allow q considerable time and
easy terms for the repayment Of it's loan
to the Central Pacific Railway. He
added that, at any rate, he was in favor
Of such an adjustment of the matters in
controversy.
1t can scarcely be questioned that
great change has taken place on the
Pacific Coast on points which have been
the subject of envenomed controversy
between the railway and the people. In
1879 and down to and after 18S2-when
both Stoneman and Estee were nomi-
mated for Governor on the Democratic and
Republican tickets respectively on plat
forms Of pronounced hostility to the men
who built our first Pacific Railways-the
public sentiment was greatly infamed
against those gentlemen. The HERALD
then steadily declined to be unduly ex-
cited, taking up the moderate position
that the people of the Pacific Coast
owed much to the completion of
those roads, that their building
had vitalized business, stimulated settle
ment and largely superinduced an un-
heard-of prosperity. Anyone who stuck
by such views, even though, as in the
case Of the HERALD, they were accom-
panied by the strong assertion of the
obligations of the railways to pay their
taxes like other taxpayers, was in dan.
ger of sacrificing many friends and much
popularity. As the case stands today,
most of the people of California are dis
posed to endorse the mild and conserva-
tive views of Senator Hearst, which, if
he has been correctly reported, look to
treating the Central Pacific by the ma.
tional government in a mild and indul-
gent manner, and in q way which will
recognize the great Office which it has
played, not only in the development of
the Pacific Coast, but in establishing the
solidarity and effectiveness of the Ameri-
can Union. The old rancors seem to
have largely disappeared; and any pro-
gramme which will substantially protect
the national interests without depressing
the Central Pacific under it's changed
conditions would seem to have a good
chance of meeting pretty general popular
appreciation in California and else where
and, if rumor can be relied upon, that of
the Senatorial Committee as we'll.
A Great G0ugc.
The Bar Association Yesterday held an