Kansas City daily journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1892-1897, 1895-01-19
GOVERNMENT MAY SUFFER.
WHAT WILL FOLLOW a FORCED SALE
OF THE UNION PACIFIC.
Foreclosure Proceedings to BE Instituted in
Court at st. Louis To-day-Result of
Looping or Various Branches
of the system.

Omaha, Neb., Jan. is. - Senator-elect
Thurston, with number of other Union
Pacific attorneys, left for st. Louis to-
night to protect the interests of the re-
ceivers in the foreclosure proceedings to
be instituted there tomorrow. Now that
the entire ACKNOWLEDGMENT of the over
land" is about to be consummated. it is
asserted al Union Pacific headquarters that
1000 men have been affected by the dis
integratlon of the various branch lines,
many of whom made this their home when
the system was intact
A Union Pacific official declared to-day
that the inference drawn that the scheme
of foreclosure was originated in order to
hurry congressional legislation looking to
the passage of the funding bill, was en-
tirely erroneous in view of the fact that
the Union Pacific board was pronounced
in its desire to protect the government
debt, which, under foreclosure, would suffer
greatly.
The Union Pacific is essentially an
Omaha road. Its interests are Omaha's,
and anything looking TO the segregation of
the main line should be vigorously resist
ed by the people of Nebraska. The pur-
poses of the resolution introduced in the
being to make impossible reorganization.
The bill in foreclosure is a cumbersome
piece of legal machinery, and involves the
entire range Of legal action. Could fore
closure have been resisted, and the gov
ernment debt adjusted. it would have bene-
fitted the whole Western country. What
will occur under foreclosure is a matter of
conjecture"
Since the Union Pacific system was placed
in the hands of receivers II has gradually
ed States district courts, until of the mag
niiicent network of railroad that was oper-
ated as one harmonious system at the time
the bill was filed. little is left but the
original lines from Omaha to Ogden and
from Kansas City to Denver. Looping off
branch after branch, the road has been
stripped of friendly connections until 1t
now hardly merits the name of trans
continental. First. the Denver e Fort
Worth line was given to separate receivers.
This cut off the Southwest territory ana
rendered the Julesburg cutoff useless
Then the Oregon Railway q NaVigation
lines of railroads and steamboats, was
taken away, and the Union Pacific was left
without Independent connections to San
Francisco and other coast points. Now a
suit to lop off the oregon Short Line and
Utah Northern branches is In progress
and when this is done the Union Pacific
Will have a line from Omaha to ogden
to handle local business, but cut off by
g, - '4'p '''''' VI i'N"i9 from tue
through traffic so long controlled by 1t.
But the foreclosure will reach only this
line.
However, 1t Is apparent that the road
VIII not sell under the hammer for more
than the sum represented by the first
mortgage bonds on which December inter-
est is due and defaulted, In which interest
the governments claim will be wiped ont,
1t being secondary, Ii Is thought, per-
haps hoped by those interested in the
road, that If it can be made apparent to
government Is about to he deprived of any
possibility of securing any part of the
debt of millions owed it by the Union Pa
cific corporation, then some immediate
action will be taken to pass a measure
looking to the extension of the debt, pro-
vidng for the reorganization of the COM
pany and refundng of its Indebtedness on
lines acceptable to interests now forcing
the foreclosure.