The record-union., 1895-10-21

! can be done, then I would, of course.
rather let the Government take the prop
erty than to agree to do an impossi bility.
AS to what the Government owes the
Southern Pacific CompaEy-a corporation
entirely distinct from the Central Pacific
| 1 have no doubt the Government will
some time pay it, and as most of it IS now
drawing interest, the longer the Govern
ment waits. of course the more it will
have TO pay. That. 1 think, will be un-
derstood by all honest men, and 1 believe
the present Congress will SO understand
1t and have the courage of their convic-
tions. If they do they will pay the money
which has been earned.
s. What do you think aUiU
be the probable cote Of Sen
atorS and Representatives on
this point2
I, of course. do not know what the vote
will be, but l will repeat that / cannot
| believe otherwise than that when Con-
gress comes to act upon this question,
composed as believe the present one is
| in the main of able, honest men, they
will do what is just and right, and will
not call upon the company to do the i'm
possible; that is, to pay more than 1t can
| earn. In this. as in other matters, all
that is necessary for legislative bodies to
do is to know the right and have the
courage of their convictions, then to
speak on the merits of the question itself
without thinking what influence their
words may have upon those who are to
vote for or against them at some coming
election.
4. What, an yoatr vieC.
lOOuld be a fai9 adjustment
Of the Pacific raiIroadS debt
to the Government
! ! have already said that l would recon-
mend the company to pay all it could
earn beyond what is necessary to meet
the current expenses and the fixed
charges that are ahead of the Govern
ment; that is, interest, taxes, etc. The
current expenses must, of course, be
paid, or else the employees of the railroad
will leave their work and nothing can be
earned. II the people of this country
understood the labor and privation which
the builders of the Central Pacific under
took and suffered, and if they understood
also the great amount of money that the
Government saved in the expense OF
policing the country which the road ira
verses. they would say that the Govern
ment had been the greater gamer, and If
it got nothing they would say even then
that the Government builded better
than it knew. Certainly l. as one
of the builders of the Central Pacific,
would not do the work again for ten
times the money that was made out of the
venture, as the builders. out of all that
they had for the creation of the road,
could not for years after its completion
pay the debts that were incurred in the
building.
). If the funding baU
should be again defeated do
you think the first mortgage
a0ouid be forecIosed?
cannot say what the holders OF the
first mortgage would do, but | cannot be-
lieve but what a fair settlement will be
made. In other words, caunot think
but what q large majority of the mem
bers of the Fifty fourth Congress are hon.
est, capable men, and if L am not mis-
!
be made and the first mortgage will Of
course be taken care OF. Those who built
| the road were compelled TO sell the shares
so as to be able to pay the debts con-
iracted in the building of the road, and
whatever money they received over that
was all expended in California. The
! purchasers of those shares, who now
number probably 10000, and most of
whom had nothing whatever TO do with
the building Of the road. have invested
more that $50, 900, 600 of their money in
those shares, and it seems as If the Gov
ernment ought TO make such settlement
as will allow them the hope that some-
where at sometime in the near or far
away future they may receive some re-
turn upon their investments.
6. Foreclosure lcas threat
ened lohen tie Reilly fu3ad-
ma ball aCas before Congress.
Why. i1t yottr opinion, iOas
the tireut Reuer carried out2
| cannot answer this, as l have not
now. and have not had In the last thirty
years, any OF the first mortgage bonds.
z. II the .tirst mortgage IS
JOrect0Sed, aChdt becomes Of
the Government mOrtgdge2
have no answer to this, as l cannot, of
course, know what the Government
would do. Ny own impression is that it
would be bad policy for the Government
to take and operate the road. although if
! II wishes 10 do this, l, as an individual,
have no objection, as we make no money
on through business, and we could max @
more by distributing the goods that the
Government brought here free than we
can make by running the main overland
line ourselves, and If il would help Cali
fornia to any considerable extent / would
like to have the Government do it, but |
do believe that the bringing OF manufact-
ured goods across the continent for moth
ing, or at an illegitimate price, so to
speak, would harm California more than
it would help her. az it would put a stop
to nearly all her manufactures since
labor is both cheaper and more plentiful
at the East than it is here.
s. 1.-THE Government mort
gage fats i1 the event the
first mortgage being fore
closed. aooutd you, speaking
for the railroads. recognize
any mordt Obligation to peg
thegdebt, or VouLd gou stand
on your strict legal rights
| TT the Government wishes to discuss