The morning call., 1892-04-06
uHE SOUTHERN PACIFIC MEETING.

Tie annual meeting Of the stockholders
in the Southern Pacific will take place to-
day. and the chief subject which should en-
gage their attention is whether or 20 they
viii aCcede TO the public demand for lower
rates of freight. The directors may as
well understand at once that no one is de-
ceiyed by the statements which Mr.. Hun
tinEtou IS putting forth in interviews with
reporters. When lie says that the books of
his company show shat there has been in
this state an outlay during the past year Of
q million Of dollars over and above the re-
Ceipts, lie wishes 10 deceive the public into
the belief that the operating expenses Of his
road exceed its earnings by that sum; but
every one understands that he adds the out
lay Tor new construction on the coast
branch and on tbs new branches in the
San Joaquin Valley to the operating ex-
penses Of the main line, in order 10 show a
balance On the debtor side Of tile account
The official reports Of the Southern Pacific,
which are published yearly, and the rail-
read bulletins Published in thu census re-
port. show that the Southern Pacific lines
in California are operated, not at a loss, but
at large profit.
The meeting to-day must not delude itself
with the notion that Calif0rnans are de-
luded with Mr.. Huntington's equivocations
They know rs we'll as lie does that the South
ern Pacific earned last year something over
fifty million dollars, at a cost of about thirty
seven millions. thus leaving about thirteen
millions profit for the years work. OF this
profJ nothing. or practically nothing, was
earned in Nevada, or Utah, or Arizona, or
New Mexico, or Western Texas. In many
portions OF tie system the road was operated
al loss. But that loss was Offset BY the
money made in this State by freight charges
which. as the census bnlle;in shows, are
the highest in the whole country. The point
to which the Southern Pacific stock holders
viii direct their attention to-day, if they are
wise, is whether this is fair to California, aud
how long California can be expected to sub
MT To it.
Those among them who possess the gift Of
foresight do not need to be told that such
temporary shifts as securing unrighteOus
decisions from the Supreme Court and
evasion Of duty on nonsensical pretexts by
the Railroad Commission will not avail for
any length of time to sustain this wrong.
There must come a time when the people
Will insist Cd fair treatment. IL they can
not get 1t IN one way they will ia another
1t Is ridiculous fer Mr. Huntington to re-
BlOaC4l Odtl!oi bldU5 Win lack Oh turlft and
energy in securing immigration. Tue off,
cial figures of the Unitea States census
show that however thrifty a California
farmer may be the bulk Of his earnings go
TO the carrier who hauls his crop to market:
while the Eastern man who comes here Ia
search of home discovers that however
hard he may work, and however good his
land may be, his outlay for transportation
will be 20 70 10 per cent more than it would
be Tor the like item of expense In Kansas or
Nebraska. That is the reason why the State
does not fill up-not the unthriftiness or the
churiiSBness Of the people, as the president
OF the Southern Pacific intimates.
he stockholders, WHO will meet today
at Fourth and Townsend, own a magnificent
piece OF property. 1t is licensed to levy on
the trade and people OF this coast an an
nual gross income as large as that OF the
General Government was 40 years ago. In
the nature OF things that income must in
crease yearby year. With such an income.
and with the power which flows from IT, il
would be the easiest thing in the world for
the corporation to become popular. But it
cannot be that until it shows some concern
for the welfare of the people of. California
ana stops substituting steamships and pool
Ing With rival railroads to render almost all
business in this State Improbable; until it
realizes that California has, or ought 10
nave, some other purpose in the world than
10 SVEN the wealth of four enormous estates