The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-06-15
A TREMENDOUS JOB.
Pacific Railroad Problem is
Immense and Complex,
And the Task of Solving 1t
Difficult.
A CONFUS ED MASS.
ManipulatiOns of the Case Make
a Big Tangle-
\ CONFUSED MASS.


There is no subject before congress or liza
bic to come before it on which there is so
large, SO miscellaneous and so well diffused
a mass of ignorance and misinforInation
Oh the subject of the Pacific railway
companies, their debt to the government
ind their standing in court When the
correspondent asks the average member of
congress about it, the prompt reply is, Il
have not investigated and win not, as it
isn't before our committee . When he
goes to one of the committee. the response
is: I'VE are working hard on the subject
and expect to make report as soon as
possible Until then anything 1 could say
would be premature When he applies
to the committee room, he is politely re-
ferred to a mass of documents which the
cheapest lawyer in HOboken would charge
$50 for going through. And finally, when
he attempts to dig out the general history
of the thing, he finds that he has an all
summer job on his hands, with reasona-
bly, certainty OF working for nothing.
Members of the judiciary committee frank
" confess that they have not mastered the
subject, but some of them think they will
Senator Cullom, whom all the correspond
ents love because he loves to give inforna-
ton, very candidly says that the matter is
now out of his jurisdiction, and he is very
glad it is. The interstate commerce law, of
which he is the author, has fallen into evil
hands, he thinks, and at present he is only
a spectator
An Ardent Student.
To this general statement there are a
few shining exceptions and chief among
them Mr.. Bailey of Texas who is young
ardent and enthusiastic, with all the zeal
of u refor1ner who has lately gone into the
business. His general view is that the
matter has been purpOsely complicated;
that the men who had charge Of the road
for the 10 years following the war were
very long headed and looked forward to
the tirnc when the whole subject was liza
Bile to be ripped up; that nevertheless it
ought to be, must be and shall be ripped
up, for there has been a great outrage upon
the government and the people. When
asked for particulars, his answer amounts
to this: 1T is not the work of day or
month am looking into it as rapidly as
possible and in the recess viii finish my
investigation So when congress meets in
December shall be able to give you
clear statement of the case. -
Mr.. Bailey is, aforesaid, enthusiastic
and hopeful. as his promise plainly shows,
and if youthful ardor has not misled him
we may hope to know something really
definite about it by next Christmas. Out
of the tangle of law and testimony it is
nevertheless possible to pick few facts,
chiefly historical, but partially of the
present time, which will help to make the
situation clearer, and among them these:
When the civil war began, there was, as
The Congressional Record shows, a fever
ish anxiety about the Pacific states and
half confessed dread that if things did not
go well with US those states, then separated
from the border west by ZOO miles of
mountain and DESERT would go off with
Mexico, Canada or some other power.
A Familiar story.
The story is old, and it fatigues the i'm
aglnatiOn to compute how much was ac-
tually given to the roads in land and sub
sides How the companies organized in
side companies for construction purposes,
how Credit Mobisier flourished and cor
rupted all sorts OF people from vice presi-
dent down, and how all the assets went
out of sight is familiar to the public. Suf-
flee it to say that a score or two of gentle
men whose combined wealth at the begin
ming of the enterprise did not exceed $40O,
600, as was proved, came out of it with
from So, 600, 600 to $40, 600, 600 each. And
now the question is, Can the government
realize anything on its second mortgage
claim?
The committee records show that at
least seven different propositions have
been made and reports given with them,
but in general it may be said that there
are three plans proposed The Hunting
ton plan is for the whole debt to be re
funded at, say, 2 per cent interest, which
the government is to guarantee, and the
companies are to go right on as now, with
100 years or SO to pay the debt. 1t is evil
dent that the railroaderS would have both
ends of the string.
This plan would simply give them an
other century or half century to work in,
with all the risk on the side of the govern
ment. The next plan is senisOctalistic.
1t proposes that the government shall shut
down at once, take the roads and run
them as a sort of experiment in govern
ment management of railroads. The third
plan, if plan 1t can be called, Is an attempt
to steer between these two extremes, to go
just far enough to mako the companies be
gin to pay and not quite far enough to
make the government a railroad manager
So far as members of the committees will
give an opinion and SO far as an outsider
can see, agreement upon any plan is in
very remote prospect.
A Corrupting Influence.
Ex-Congressman Charles \. Sumner,
who has been active before the committee
on behalf of the citizens of San Francisco,
presents arguments to show that Messrs.
Stanford, Huntington, Hopkins and
Croker, who held $50, 600, 600 in nominal
stock at the time when the government
advanced the loans to the road, transformed
that nominal stock into real wealth by di-
vers nanipulations, and that they or their
heirs owe it to the government and that
under the laws of California it can be col
lected. Hon. Thomas J. Geary of the First
California district argues vehemently
against the liability of the estates of Hop
kins, Croker and Stanford, but comedies
that the Central Pacific railroad has been
a very corrupting influence in California
politics
In she senate the called Olney suit
against the estate of Leland Stanford tit
was brought by Attorney General Olney
on the part of the government aroused
much feeling from the start. Senator
Hoar offered a resolution which in general
terms condemned the suit, and after very