Los Angeles herald., 1890-09-29
HARD1UP FOR CAMPAIGN STUFF.

1t was an admission OF the lnvulner-
ability of Mr.. Pond when the Republic
can press was driven to the miserable
alternative of attacking him because, as
a capitalist, he had put some of his
money in the purchase of land from the
Oregon Central Military Road company.
The Republican congress of 1864 granted
public lands to the state OF Oregon for
the purpose of building military road
from Eugene City, by way OF the
fork of the Willamette river and
the most feasible pass in the Cas-
cade range of mountains near Diamond
Peak, to the eastern boundary OF
the state The state passed its grant
over to the Military Road company in
consideration that the road should be
built according to the requirements OF
the act of congress. The road was so
built, according to the certificates of the
governors, and the lands were made over
to the company. In 1874 a syndicate OF
capitalists purchased the lands from the
corporation. Mr.. Pond was one of the
purchasers. With him were such men
as M. p. Jones and James Carolan, well
known San Francisco merchants; Baker
& Hamilton, the California agricultural
implement manufacturers; N. d. Ride
out and j. H. Jewett, the Marys-
vile bankers; w. G. and l. S.
Belcher, the lawyers, one Of whom was
distinguished with a position on the SUI
preme bench. All these gentlemen are
Republicans, and at least two of them
(Rideout and Jewett) are so conspicuous
in that party as to have been considered
at various times available for guber-
material nomination. 1t is true that
there has been resistance in the courts
to the final contamination of this fran
chise. The claim has been set up that
the road was never carried out as the act
of congress required, and therefore that
the title to the lands going with the
franchise was not valid. The bill of COM
plant was, however. dismissed by the
United States circuit court for Oregon,
and judgment rendered in favor of the
defendants. From that judgment an
appeal has been taken to the supreme
court of the United States, and it is still
pending. One would like to know what
there is in transaction such as this 20
compromise the integrity OF the men
who purchased the lands from the road
company. If the grant of land appears
to us now to be excessive, we must re-
member that it was made at time
when the Republican congress was Civ
ing away the public domain to corpora
lions by millions OF acres at a
pop. 1t was during that saturnalia
OF land and money subsidies that Stan
lords roads were granted over 81 ,000, 900
of acres in this state and adjoining ter
ritories when Ames, of the Union
Pacific, through his credit mobilier,
made the leading men in congress his
co-partners in the land and subsidy
spoils of the nation; when the Northern
Pacific railroad was assured nearly two
hundred million acres of the public do
main, and when roads in fact and in
prospect all over the country mad only
to ask to receive. 1t goes without say
ing that the land granted to the Oregon
military, road was out of proportion to the
value to be received by the government +;
but it does not follow that men who
many years afterwards purchased
| those lands with their own money COM
mitted any wrong which would justify
or call for public censure. The chances
are that they paid for the lands what
they were worth at the time. What
they are worth snow has nothing to do
with the case. The San Pasquale ranch,
upon which is Pasadena and miles OF
vineyard and orange groves, was pur-
chased by the Indiana colony at the
time the syndicate above bought the
lands of the Oregon Military Wagon
Road company, for about fifteen dollars
an acre. A few years before, DR.. Griffin
would have been glad to have sold
it for one dollar an acre. Those who
bought the San Pasquale at that time
doubtless paid for it what the land was
then worth, and it would be as absurd
to charge wrong upon the early purchas
ers who still hold land there because il
has wonderfully increased in value, as it
is to blame the men who bought the
lands of the wagon road in 1874 for {
very small consideration because it has
since then greatly increased in value
The Republicans are welcome to all the
capital they can make for Markham out
of Ponds connection with the Oregon
wagon road company.
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THE Argonaut says: 1t would bt