The herald., 1895-02-03


liabilities there might be. The figures
are about thus:
Due the United States govern
ment subsidy bonds and inter- 49,, 80 90,
Third mortgage bonds. 16,0o0n0t
Floating debt, etc, say........... 100000
Total debt over and above value
OF road .... ...............- $40, 600, oo(
Less sinking fund.- as stated by
| Mr.. Reilly, about. 10000 Ot
Leaving amount for which the
| road is insolvent Sl47, OO0,OOt
WHAT IT'S CONDITION MIGHT HAVE BEEN
When the Central Pacific road was
finished in 1869, there should have been
in the treasury not less than s45, 000, DOC
in cash and bonds over and above tha
cost of the road. The Four could then
have esta blishe sinking fund capable
of meeting the bonded Indebtedness oil
the road, besides possessing $50 miles OF
trst-class road splendidly equipped.
more than s40,000,000 of stock, and
100000 acres OF land. worth not less
than $40, 100000 At the end OF its first
20 years the Central Pacific ought to
, have had at least 800. 600. 900 in its treas
ury. Mr.. Pattison, in his minority re-
port OF 1887 page l46), shows that II the
stock of the Central Pacific had beeu
paid up to the amount OF SIG. 500. 203 10,
as the law required (snd as Mr.. STAN
ford falsely swore it had boen, when in
fact only $3.50, 900 had been pAid), that
money along with the other aids TO the
road would have put it in the following
position: All the debts OF the road. gov
eminent and all, could have been wiped
out. Six per cent per annum could have
been paid on the stock. The company
could now own railroad worth at least
SAC. 0000 900 and unsod lands worth $12,.
100000. And over $54.000.000 could
have bssn saved to shippers by reduced
rates OF trans portstion.
The contrast between the condition
in which the road should be and that in
which it is can be shown in another
way, by a statement about the -Four.
II they had been content with their sal
aries OF $4,000 yesr each Except Mr..
Huntington's, who had $4,000, and
had acted honestly for the good OF the
road, their estates would probably
now amount to from half million to
two millions each, the Central Pacific
would be free from debt and would have
something like 500, 600, 900 surplus, and
the Four would be considered honest
men. But they have robbed wrecked
and bankruptei the road they or their
eetstes are worth from $4,000, 900 to
500, 900. 900 each, and they are consid~
cred Four enormous thieves.
UNPoPULARIrY OF THE COMPANY.
The Central Pacific has naturally
made itself disliked by the community
with which it was in the closest inter-
course, and upon which, more especial
ly, it has paracticed its expressions and
extortious. A recent Democratic state
convention in California resolved that
the whole schedule of freights and fares
on the road ought to be lowered 25 per
cent. In an article in the Yale Review
of Demember. 1894. Prof. t. R. Bacon
OF tho University of California. in dis
GUESSING the railroad striks of last sum
mer, observes, after summary of
charges agsipst the Central Pacific rail-
road.
1.-The damage to business interests in
the etste caused by the strike was im-
mense. Farmers were left with their
fruit rotting on the ground. thousands
CT men were kept from their daily work,
manufacturers were threatened with
ruin" Nevertheless, Prof. Bacon Of
by LII pdbut Will bu0 HLilKoIJ WAC
general, even among the people most
in lured. The reason for this state of
things he finds in the Unanimous" ha-
tired of the people of California towards
the Southern Pacific Railroad COM
pany" representing the Central Pa
oific) And again:
''Its policy Reema still to be that
which has been pursued in the psst, OF
oh I'M ilrood tho
benefit OF those who control them.
There are no indications that the com.
psny has learned any thing from recent
events. Indesd, there ia evidence that
it regards the suppression OF the late
disorders as corporate triumph, and that
it is free to be just as mean. just as un-
ncrupulous, Just as oppressive rs ever !;
and that it is going to try to be mesner,
more interruptions and more oppressive
than before, if it is possible to bs so.
Perhaps what have said will partly
explain why California sympsthized
with the strike. Such sympathy was
unreasoning, but it was human"
RAILROAD CLAIMS AND OFFERS.
The Four claim frat of all that the
railroads are the private property of the
stockholders. This claim, however, is
quite absurd. 1t is needless to argue
this point at length. Judge jeremiah
s. Black. in his lifetime one of the
| sblest lawyers in the United States,
wrote in 1880 letter to the New York
! chamber OF commerce, in which he dis.
cusssd this question. He said:
Railroad men misunderetsnd their
situation. They believe, or pretend ia
| believe, that railways ere tina property
of the companies authorized to run
them, which ia q cardinal error and
parent of much false argument. A pub.
lie highway cannot be private property
and railroad laid out and built by the
authority of the state for the purpose
OF commerce is as much public high
way "a a turnpike, canal or nsvigable
river.
st is the duty of the stats to promote
intercourse aud trade by making high.
ways of the best sort through her terri.
tory. To tbi5 end she may take land
and materials, which is an exercise of
the power of eminent domain. She can
build a railroad at her own expense,
using the ditsos agency OF her O wn
officers, end caD make il free
to all oomsrs or reimburse ths cost by
special tax on individuals who
use it. She can delegate the taking and
taxing power to a corporation or a
natural person, and that is always what
she does when she grants a railroad
charter. But in either or any case
the road belongs to the state.
1