The record-union., 1891-03-11
PACIFIC FUNDING BILL.
an Important Letter From c. P.
Huntington.
The Responsibilities Connected with
the Building of the Central Pacific
RaiIroad-History of the Great Pro-
ject-The Proposed Legislation,

ject-The Proposed Legislation,
i[From the Washington Post, March 2d.l
Editor Post: VIII you permit me to
present the following facts, which / hope
every Senator and member of the House
will read?
/ wish to put myself right in the matter
connected with the building of the Cen
trail Pacific Railroad. / take all the re-
sponsibilities connected with the building
of that great work. None of the first
Board of Directors came in except at my
personal request. / bought all the ma
terial and raised all the money other than
what was used to build the first thirty
three miles, which was in the main fur
nished by the first Board of Directors,
After that the money was early all bor-
rowed.
The work was done when the material
that went into it was, 1 think, higher than
AT any other time in the history of our
Government. We paid three times as
much for rails and locomotives as they
are worth to-day, and about everything
else that went into the work was in the
same proportion, and then there was 6
per cent. Government tax on top of those
very high prices. All labor employed in
the construction Of the road was paid in
gold coin, and much that cost more than
100 per cent. premium. We let the first
thirty-three miles to nine contractors.
They had much trouble IN getting labor.
They were bidding against each other,
none having large enough contracts to in
duce them TO organize and bring labor
into the country. After the completion
of the first thirty-three miles we let a
large proportion of the work to Charles
Crocker Il Co., hoping that with the as
sistance of others interested in the work
he could get parties in with him. but
those who were invited to come in said
they could not afford to take the risk of
an unlimited partnership.
RISKS TOO GREAT-PRoFITS TOO REMOTE.
We then organized the Contract and
Finance Company 10 build the whole
road, and tried to induce almost every
man in California of any considerable
means to take an interest in the contract
ing company, but all refused, as those
who are now living will testify. l then
made all the effort of which [ was capable
to induce the capitalists Of New York and
Boston to take an interest with us in the
company. Quite q number considered it;
but all at last gave the same reason for
refusing, and said: Huntington, the
risks are too great, and the profits, if
there should be any, are too remote"
We were therefore compelled to go on
under the terrible burden to the end:
using all the securities that we had to
! offer to our own personal credit to COM
plete the work, and when the road was
completed, and for years afterwards, we
could not have sold all that we had re-
, ceived from the building OF the work for
enough to pay the debt we had incurred
in its creation. | have been at work for
myself more than tifty-four years with
an honesty of purpose, and j believe an
intelligent economy; but in all the work
} that l have ever done, and in all the
money that have ever made none other
has cost me the mental or physical strain
that the work done and the money made
on the Central Pacific Railroad has cost
me, and in all this work | can truly say
that / have done no injustice to my
conscience or to my country. / made
some money, which | was very glad to
do, but the making of it gave me no more
pleasure than did the reflection that we
were giving employment to tens OF
thousands of workmen. and that the
country at large was getting much more
out of the creation of the property than
were the builders: for while the Govern
ment gave the railroad men ten alternate
sections OF land on each side of the road,
the sections that We're retained by the
Government were made of very much
more value because of the building of the
road than the whole of the land was with
out it, and even with the road the whole
VI tlle lduC WIS worth very llltle.
THE RAILROAD NATIONAL POLICE.
Now, as to the bonds. When the Acts
of 1862 and 1864 were passed those who,
in the debates, opposed the legislation,
said that the Government would get moth
ing for these advances except the per
cent. of the net earnings and the half of
the service that the company did for the
Government, and the friends of the leg
islation admitted it, and if the Govern
ment had received nothing more it would
then have builded better than it knew.
for the roads were completed more than
seven years before the time allowed by
the Act. 1t had been costing the Gov
ernment more than seven millions year
to police-so to speak-the country be-
tween the Missouri and Sacramento Riv-
ers, along the line traversed by these
roads, and the kind of protection that
that vast sum afforded could have been
seen by the graves that marked the line
traversed by the emigrants and the
bleaching bones of cattle and horses that
had died of starvation and from drink
ing the poisonous waters found along
these alkali plains.
But how different after the completion
of the road! Instead of occupying whole
season on the weary march across the
continent people can now cross in few
days, surrounded by the comforts of
home: and the mails, for the transporta-