The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-11-24
He Will Offer a Bill at the Meet.
ing of Congress to Please the
Union Pacific.
WOULD PROVIDE A PURCHASER
The Claim to Include All the Rights Of
the Government Against the
Property.

WASHINGTON, D. c., Nov. 23.-John
Boyd lobbyist and man Friday of Hunt
ington, is again circulating around the
hotel lobbies, mingling with the members
elect and talking up the funding bill.
The Craftsmanship of the Pacific Railroads
Committee is said to lie between Smith OF
Illinois, Powers of Vermont and Hepburn
of Iowa Smith is rather an obscure
member and poet. Hepburn, though
having served formerly, has not enjoyed
continuous service, therefore Powers is
thought to stand the best chance.
Senator Thurston says he will offer a
bill when Congress meets to carry the ideas
of the Union Pacific directors. He is very
careful to say. however, that he has not
consulted with any railroad magnates and
does not know whether they would bid for
the Union and Central Pacific, offered at
public sale. Thurston said tonight:
II think the Pacific line from the Mis-
souri, River to San Jose was intended by
the Government to constitute, for all prac-
teal purposes, one continuous line, to be
operated as such without any division at
Ogden or elsewhere whereby one part
could cause any injury or destruction to
the other by diverting its freight under
through arrangements with other lines.
with a view of restoring the through
line to the condition contemplated by the
original act, my idea is for the Govern
ment to ascertain what the entire indebt-
edness of that through line to Government
will be on July l next. That would be as
Nv o1y 4ba Nv,
the Government and deducting from it
the Governments credits for transporta-
ton and amount in sinking funds.
"Then let the Secretary offer that claim
as one claim, to be sold to the purchaser as
one claim and sold to the highest bidder,
who will offer. say so per cent of the en-
tire amount. Perhaps it might be well to
put the minimum at 40 per cent so as to
insure sale.
Il think it is certain that public offer
of this sort would arouse such COMPETE
ton among the great railroad interests OF
the country that the Government would
obtain certainly all that its claim is or can
be worth, or that could be made out of
any forced sale of property, or through
any other disposition of it. This in view
of the fact that there is a very large first
mortgage ahead OF the Government s
claim on the entire line.
my plan is to provide that the pur-
chaser of this Government claim shall
take all the rights of the Government
against the property, including its lien,
its right of entry and of foreclosure. Also,
that some one court of the United States,
presumably the Nebraska District, should
have complete jurisdiction to entertain
and carry forward foreclosure proceedings
of that claim by purchaser, as against the
entire property, so that the foreclosure
suit could be commenced and carried
through and the property sold under pro-
cedure in one court without complicating
the proceedings by seven or eight suits in
Unites States courts.
''Then to provide that sale should be
made on foreclosure proceedings, to COM
mittee of trustees not less than ten in num-
Der, and their names should be returned to
the court, with their report on the order of
sale.
"This measure should provide that the
committee OF purchasers, together with
five commissioners nominated by the
L COiStltule u corporation
in the same manner as the original iD-
dividuals and the Government commits
sioners were named a corporation under
the original Pacific Railroad act.
"These individuals should be given the
right to organize and perfect corporate
body under the name of the Union and
Central Pacific Railroad Company, and
we should confer upon that corporation
all powers, rights, franchises and CORE
spending liabilities and obligations of the
two companies under the original act of
Congress.
THE result of this plan would be that
the Government would receive, almost at
once in cash, whatever its second lien
against the properties is fairly worth in
the market under competitive bidding. 1t
would result in speedy foreclosure and re-
organization of two railroad lines as one
corporation, and. best of ali, in the final
settlement of the question that has been
vexing the Western people for SO many
years. The Government, under my plan.
would receive as minimum amount
about 30 or 80 per cent"