Morning journal and courier., 1889-02-05
Fiftieth Congressional Session
WASHINGTON. Feb.

! t 1 SEEATE.-Mr. Allison, from the commit tee on appropriations, reported back the leg
 1slative, executive and judicial appropriation bills, and the House joint resolution for pay | ment to the legal representatives of James B. Eads, and gave notice that he would to-mor- | row call them up for action.
 | The Union Pacific funding bill was taken up. As the bill was read the date July 1, 1888, as that up to which the calculations should be made, was changed, wherever it | occurred, to July 1, 1889, and other dates were made to conform to that change. When the reading of the bill was finished | Mir. Mitchell asked MT. Frye whether there | was report in the case.
 MT. Frye-There is.
 MT. Mitchell-I should like to hear it. MT. Frye-Before the report is read wish to state few points. The select committee had a number of hearings at which hearings all parties in interest were notified to be present. At all of them the government directors or some of them were present; also the United States railroad commissioner, also two of the special commissioners appointed by the President; also attorneys for the Pa- cihc companies. MT. Adams gave his views. So did oHe or two attorneys for that com- pany. So did two or three attorneys for the Central Pacific. The committee gave full and careful hearing and came to an entirely unanimous conclusion. They regarded the matter submitted to them as one purely of business, in which there was no sentiment whatever. They looked upon the Pacific railroad companies as debtors to the United States in very large sums of money which 9hey could not pay at maturity; and the questions presented to them were what, under the circumstances, should be done to make the ultimate payment of the debt certain and also to make the payment more secure than it is at present. They came to a unanimous conclusion in regard to them. I cannot in speech state the facts so concisely as they are stated in the report made by the committee and therefore I would like to have the report read.
 the proper time move to recommit the bill with instructions to the committee to include legislation in reference to the Central Pacific road.
 Mir. Frye stated that the Central Pacific had not been included in the bill because the attorneys who had appeared for that com pany had not seemed to manifest any great desire for a settlement and because there was no parallelism between the cases of the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific. The Union Pacific company was entirely sol vent and could make a settlement that would make the payne Tt of the debt absolutely certain and would increase the se- curity that now existed. The Union Pacific could pay the whole debt in fifty years. It was apparent that the Central Pacific could not submit to similar settlement. There fore the committee had determined to pro- ceed (from that point forward) with the con- sideration of the Union Pacific question alone. The question on the Central Pacific had been again raised by it's president, MT. Huntingdon, who had appeared before the committee and had presented the bill which had been introduced by MT. Mitchell as substitute for the pending bill, adding ten or twelve sections for 8 settlement with the Central Pacific,
 Since that time MT. Huntingdon had again appeared before the committee. The com mittee had received from him the day before yesterday another amendment changing con- siderably the character of MT. Mitchell's bill and meeting of the committee had been called for tomorrow morning to consider the amendment. It seemed to him that these matters could be settled in separate bills bet ter than in any one bill. He recognized that there was an immense difference between the Central Pacific, and that very much more lenity must be granted to the Central Pacific than to the Union Pacific. If the govern- ment expected to get it's debt by the Central Pacific that company should have very long time to make the payment.
 After the report had been read MT. Mitchell made the motion, of which he had given no- tice, to recommit the bill, and stated some reasons why he thought that motion should prevail. He spoke of the enormous amount
 
 to the government at the maturity of the $147, ,924 ,000. Any legislation having for it's purpose the payment of that almost fabulous sum had to be regarded as of the very utmost importance. The select committee had not been raised simply for the purpose of consid- ering the indebtedness of the Union Pacific company, but for the purpose of consider ing the whole subject. And yet, to the as- tonishment of all the senators, the report of the committee had been confined to the Union Pacific and it's branches and had not cons tained any reference whatever to the Central Pacific, although the Central Pacific was in- debted to the government in greater amount than the Union Pacific. If there was any thing in MT. Frye's suggestion that the Cen. tral Pacific was not in as solvent condition as the Union Pacific that fact was an additional reason why the Central Pacific should not have been omitted, but should either have had precedence in the settlement.
 MT. Frye-I ought to say in justice to the Central Pacific that in the last month that company has shown disposition and very great desire to make some settlement and ad- justment of it's debt with the United States, and there is now pending before the commit tee an amended bill which the committee is called to consider to morrow morning.
 MT Mitchell-Thst is all right. That shows disposition on the part of the committee to take up that which it had omitted. I insist that it is not wise to have the roads worked at this stage of the game and to proceed with this branch of the controversy unconsidered. MT. Mitchell proceeded to discuss the effect of the Thurman bill on the Pacific railroads when he yielded for motion to adjourn.
 A conference was ordered on the consular and diplomatic appropriation bill and Messrs Hale, Allison and Cockerell were appointed conferees on the part of the senate.
 The senate then at pm. adjourned.