Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-04-18
THE PACIFIC RAILROADS.
View Of the Case That Does Not
Agree With Director Spalding's.

81 read with considerable interest an extract
from the report OF Jesse Spalding, govern
ment director of the Union Pacific Railway
Company, printed in your paper Of the 14th, -
said a well-known official familiar with Pacific
railroad legislation, speaking to a STAR re-
porter. II cannot agree with Mr.. spalding's
conclusions, and am Of the opinion that mem
bers Of Congress who support the pending
funding bill will be somewhat embarrassed in
satisfying their constituents that they did
wisely in voting for the bill. In the first place
there is no pressing haste as to . settlement of
the matter. The bonds are not due for seven
years and no action can be taken toward de-
manding their payment until that time.
Meantime it is not unlikely that the
situation may be very materially changed.
l do not believe that any sound business man
desires to see the government take control of
the Pacific railroads (nor is there the slightest
danger that they will ever get control Of them,
but there are very many people who believe
that they should be made to pay their honest
debts the same as other people and corpora
tons are compelled to do If an extension of
time is to be granted the time should not be
unreasonably long and the rate of interest
should certainly be equal to what the govern
ment has to pay upon its indebtedness. People
who are paying from six to ten per cent inter-
est, as very many are all over the country, on
mortgages held against them and are compelled
to pay when the mortgages become due or SUBJ
init to foreclosure will not be likely to see
much justice in the government granting to
two great and wealthy railway corporations an
extension of fifty and seventy-fve years at an
interest of from one and a half to three per
cent.
"There is no force in Mr.. Spaldings sugges-
ton that the Pacific roads are embarrassed by
government control Surely not il all of the
government directors and officials having to
do with them feel as kindly toward them as he
evidently does. If it be true, as Mr.. Spaldng
says, that the Union Pacific can put up S34,-
100000 additional securities, then cannot it
borrow the money on those securities and pay
this debt? II the bonded roads can give to the
government the ample security which they
claim they can do then they can borrow money
on the same securities and pay their debts and
escape from government control if they feel
that they are embarrassed by it. Congress
should make haste slowly in its decision
upon the Pacific railroad question. The peo-
pie are not so strongly in sympathy with rail-
way corporations that they are willing that the
government should be unduly lenient toward
them, either in giving them an unreasonable
length OF time in which to pay their debts or
fixing the interest at an unprecedentedly low
rate. There is plenty of time in which Con-
gress can act before the debts become due.
Does not the unseemy haste with which the
railroad companies and their friends are trying
to push this question to settlement give rise
to a suspicion that the terms Of the settlement
proposed may be much more advantageous to
the railroad companies than to the govern
ment?"