The record-union., 1891-02-02

company, has been handed to us with
the request that it be published. 1t is a
reply to recent editorial in the San
Francisco Chronicle, and will be read
with interest, just at this time, by all who
desire to understand the true condition of
| affairs between the railroads and the Gov
eminent:
% BROAD STREET, New YORK,
January %. 1891.
Mr.. William II. Mills, San Francisco,
Cdt-MY DEAR SIR: Someone has sent
me San Francisco newspaper in which
appears an article that seems to attack
the IN policy OF the proposed settlement
trail Pacific Railroad Company and
the United States. / would not
like to say that the writer of the article
did not understand the question fully, for
am inclined to think that he did, but
the article was not written in the interest
OF the public, although 1 have no doubt
that there were personal reasons why it
aCas written.
When the lands and bonds were granted
to the Central Pacific Railroad Company
no one expected that the money would
ever be paid back to the Government, ex-
ceptlng in transportation services, as all
the debates in Congress, when the bill
was before that body, will show. Senator
Wilson said, in the course of the debates,
that he would be willing to have the Gov
eminent donate SI00, 000, 900, if he could
feel assured that it would give the country
railroad to the Pacific coast; and it was
generally understood that the Govern
ment would never receive anything ex-
cept service for the advances that it made;
and well could the Government afford to
do as much as it did, for land it can be
shown by statistics) it cost the Govern
ment to police the country, as you may
say, along the line of the road, between
the Missouri and Sacramento rivers,
about 81 100000 per year, and the line
could be traced by the bleaching bones of
many emigrants and thousands of ami
mails that had been starved and killed
by the poisonous waters almost the whole
distance now trayerSed by the Union and
Central Pacific rails; while since the COM
pletion Of the road the Government has
been at no expense, except in the pay
ment of less than 100000 interest on
the bonds that they issued, for the con-
struction ofthe road through from Omaha
to San Jose, the completion of which road
has insured perfect peace along its entire
line at no other expense to the Govern
ment than as stated above.
Before the road was built, the Govern
ment paid for carrying the mails less than
half the distance 81, $50, 900 per year. Since
the completion of the road, 1 think it has
cost the Government for carrying proba-
bly, one hundred times as much mail mat
ter as was carried by the overland stages.
less than $500, 900 for the whole distance.
The road was built probably at the most
expensive time in which to buil1roads
in the history of our Government, some
OF the locomotives then purchased costing
three times as much as they cost before,
or have cost since the war.
Again, as soon as the road was COM
pleted, the Government gave to the North
ern Pacific Railroad Company land of
very much greater value than the lands it
gave to the Central and Union Pacific
and the bonds that it loaned them. and
the Northern Pacific was built at a time
when it ought to have been constructed
for less than one-half what the Central
Pacific could have been built for, when it
was built.
Then the Government gave to the At
lantic and Pacific Railroad Company, a
corporation just to the south of the Cen
trail, land grant as valuable as, and
probably more valuable than, the North
ern Pacific, and even with that grant the
company was not able to complete the
whole line. But the building OF these
two roads has cut down the earning power
of the Central and Union lines to the
minimum.
Then the interstate commerce law was
passed, and this cut off a large per cent.
of the net earnings of the through bust
ness, so that the money to pay the Gov
eminent and other debts must largely
come from the local traffic of the roads,
which means, in other words, that it
must come largely from the people who
use them, and in connection with this, /
would say that only part of the Central
Pacific road, on (which the Government
has claim, is the portion between Ogden
and San Jose. Now more than one-half
OF this portion has very little or no earn
ing power, as the part between Bear
River and the Big Bend of the Truckee
may be considered simply as a bridge to
connect the business of the East with
that of the West.
Therefore, since the bill now befre Con-
gresS pays the Government every dollar
that we owe the United States and more
interest on it than the Government would
have to pay, if it wanted to borrow
money, / have no doubt that any and
every one, who has the interest of the
Government at heart, would very much
like to have the settlement made on the
basis proposed in the bill now before
Congress. Certainly since, as I have
said, the earnings all have to come from
the people who use the road, and mostly
from the local business, everyone along
its line must at least favor fair and rea-
sonable settlement, and / see no reason
why the company should pay a profit to
the Government, or, in other words. nav
more interest than the Government itself
would have to pay if it wanted to borrow
money. Certainly time is no object, as
the Government is receiving much more
money than is need for it's expenses.
Very truly yours,
c. P. HUNTINGTON.