The record-union., 1894-09-20

their party seeks to pass this bill. But
they say our platform did not mention it,
ana therefore we have no right to say
anything against it. OF course we did
not mention it, it had not been thought of,
and had not been mentioned, and no
human being this side of the date of the
blowing of Gabrieps horn ever thought
there would be brought to the surface
man fool enough to bring it to the United
states Congress, and fool enough to try
10 pass 1t through Congress.
1T is A DEMOCRATIC DODGE AND MEASURE,
Ana l am opposed to it. This Reilly
mnding bill provides for the payment at
your hands-at the hands OF the people of
California-of 81, $50, 600 a year to the
National Government, in order to pay off
the debt of the railroad company. The
whole revenue of the Central Pacific
Railroad is 81 $50 600, so an extra 81, ,200,-
600 will have to be raised by raising the
freights and fares of the railroad that
will come out of your pockets and out of
mine. Therefore, we should all be OPP
posed to it.
The Central Pacific Company is the
only railroad company affected by this
bill; 1t relies for its existence upon Cali
tornia. The amounts received by the
company in the State of Nevada would
not pay for the oil used to grease the
locomotive that travels through the sage
brush of that rotten borough.
do not want to pay it, and I won't pay
it. do not care who favors that bill. 1
do not care, for one, whether every man
connected with the railroad company,
from the President down to the lowest
man who shoots out the cars, says he is
IN favor of it. / do not care if every
paper in favor of the railroad company
or not says it is in favor of it. l don't
care if every Democrat in the United
States is in favor of it: they cannot pass
it, and if elected l will fight it as
furiously as I know how, in session and
out of session. And L will try to be so
dangerous that they will not pass bill
compelling us to pay debt of 81 100000
year more than we ought to pay.
RAILROAD DEBTS AND CONTROL.
This leads naturally to the discussion
of the question of the railroad debt
throughout the United States. That debt
ought to be paid. If an individual owes
mortgage he must pay or be sold out.
The railroad companies should pay their
debts to the United States. I should
favor means adapted to secure the full
amount due from the railroads to the
United States Government. 1 do not
favor Government ownership, unless alb
solutely necessary, for l fear politics
would rule in it. am not willing to
admit that Government ownership would
cure all the evils of life, or change the
character of men. l shudder to think if
all the railroads of the Nation were now
owned and operated by the Democratic
party. My God what show would we
have? Laughter and applause.
TO use the expression 1 made in the
beginning in reference to the Prohibition
party, "we would not be in it," We might
stand around outside of the Government
pasture and bleat like calves for govern
mental sustenance until we bleated our
selves to death. and we would not get
anything. With the Democratic party
controlling all the railroad companies, and
with the 100000 additional office holders,
why Jim Budd would be telling the
truth when he said, if elected Governor
it would be for life. Merriment. There
would be no necessity for Government
ownership if the railroad paid its debts.
Government ownership might be run
upon civil service reform rules. The Gov
ernment has run good Postoffice. and has
run civil war successfully, and un-
doubtedly it would run railroad, but 1
do not want to undertake the job unless
we are obliged to do it.
1 will tell you the amount of money
that is involved-it scares me-Sl3S. 900. =
900 is involed in this question. That is
not much for Democratic or Populist
candidate or speaker to speak of, I have
no doubt; but Democratic speaker or
candidate, or Populist speaker or candi-
date, would be in thessame position that
Daniel Webster occupied in a speech he
made in the City of Rochester at a din
ner given there in his honor-and in those
days and later years he drank too much
liquor. When the grand old man finally
arose 10 speak, he said: ''Mr. President,
fellow-citizens. the occasion, Mr.. Presi-
dent and fellow citizens the occasion
Mr.. President, llow-citizens-" and
then the Chairman took hold of the tail
of his coat and said: "Mr. Webster, the
national debt is what you ought to speak
Of" "Oh yes, Mr.. President, the ma
tional debt, how much is it? | will paw
it myself, and have no more trou-
bic about it," So I say these
Populist and Democratic speakers,
when they talk about Sl3S, ,00O, 900,
why they would pay the debt themselves
rather than have any trouble about it.
But to me it is so large it takes my breath
away, and / do not want to take that lob
unless we are obliged to do it. They
can be made to pay it. They should be
made to pay it. Let's put the screws of
law upon them, and let us eventually
foreclose, if necessary. Let us make
them pay. Let us not take the property
away from them unless obliged to do it.
Ii you have mortgage upon a piece of
land you DO not want the land, you want
the money. If necessary, and if we are
obliged TO go into it, why we will, and to
use Yankee parlance, 81 guess we could
make pretty good fist" at running it.
Let US make the railroad pay. Let US
put our heads TO work and make them
pay their debts and then everything will
head right. [Applausel
ON THESE RAILROAD QUESTIONS
1 may be permitted personally to say
that believe am freer than any other
man who is q candidate in this State. I
have no friends to reward, no enemies to
punish, no feelings of envy, no fear of
newspaper attack, wear no collar of boss
or corporation. am not now, l never
have been in any manner connected with
any railroad company as attorney in any