The San Francisco call., 1895-11-15
To FORECLOSE ROADS,
Congressman Mcguire De-
Sires a Government
Highway.
TO PROPOSE THREE BILLS
Tactics to Be Used to Force the
Railroads Into a
Corner.
AN EYE ON THE LAND GRANTS.
His Scheme of Taking the 2o,ooo 900
Acres and Crediting Them
Against the Debts.
An EYE ON THE LAND GRANTS.

OO1lS " uiIe
boards the train for Washington week
from tomorrow night, he will go, so he
says, to demand of Congress that the Gov
ernment of the United States foreclose the
mortgages on the Pacific railroads. He
proposes to be on hand and "sworn in with
the crowd on December 81 and from then
on to adjournment to work and fight for
the government ownership of the Uentral
and Union Pacific roads.
Two important bills, Mr.. Mcguire said
last night, he intended to introduce and
probably three. The two would be on
railroad foreclosure and to shift the bur-
den OF proof in the patenting of mineral
lands from the shoulders OF the miner to
the broader ones of the railroad companies.
Mr., Mcguire estimates that the Union
and Central Pacific railroads still have in
their combined grants from 100000 to
N,0OO,0O0 acres of land that are still unpat-
ented, and he contemplates going after the
railroads in way that will force them
into a corner. Here Is where third bill
may become necessary. The third bill
would apply all these unpatented lands as
credit on the unpaid debts of the Pacific
roads. In other words, the Government,
by such bill, would take back a portion
OF the land granted to the Pacific roads
ana consider 1t as so much credit against
the Pacific roads debts. Mr.. Mcguire ex-
planned his Intentions as follows
The principal business in the coming session
OF Congress will be the disposition of the Pa
clhc roads. All the California delegation are
pledged against any scheme OF extending the
term OF payment of their debts, and so there
Is no question as to our stauding together
any plan to defeat any effort at legislation like
the Reilly refundng bill. AS to whether the
other members of the delegation will work
with me in any attempt to foreclose the mort
ga ges and turn the roads over to the Govern
ment for its permanent ownership, am not
prepared TO say.
will make an effort, however, to have the
mortgages foreclosed on the Central and Union
Pacific roads. My purpose is to make con-
unuous public highway from San Francisco to
Omaha, over which the trains of all Eastern
railroads may run under the direction OF
Government superintendents and train-dis-
patchers. II any refunding bill is introduced
l will probably offer my foreclosure bill as a
substitute.
| introduced last year a substitute for the
Reilly bill. could not then get the minority
of the Committee on Pacific Railroads TO agree
with me, however, and, therefore, | accepted
the Boatner bill, which was foreclosure bill
also; but it only contemplated the holding of
the roads by the Government until 1t could
find buyer for them. All the minority of the
committee were opposed to my bill except
Harris of Kansas and Cooper of Wisconsin. l
accepted the Boatner bill in order to get all
the minority to act together.
Mr.. Maguire's figures roughly estimate
the unpatenued lands of the Union Pacific
at 10 100000 acres and those of the Central
Pacific at 100000 acres. The reason there
is so much land still left unpatented, he
said, is because the railroad companies
and their grantees have been enabled to
enjoy exemption from local taxation
through keeping it from being patented.
In the last House Mr.. Mcguire introduced
a bill to apply all this land as credit against
the debts OF the roads, and Senator White
had similar one in the Senate.
The mining lands ''burden of proof bill
he intends to send up to the clerk of the
House will follow along the lines sug-
gested recently in THE CALL in an inter
view with w. c. Ralston, then secretary of
the California State Miners Association,
and at present chairman of its mineral
lands committee. Under present laws
the miners must prove the mineral char
acter of land. Mr.. Maguire's opinion is
that where land Is selected in a recognized
mineral belt there should be some pre-
sumption of law that the land was mineral
in character, and the burden of proof
should be upon the railroad companies.
Mr.. Ralston's interview was published
after his return from Washington, where
he had consulted officials of both the In
terror Department and the General Land
Office. The only thing Mr.. Mcguire says
he wants to be careful of in this matter is
to not in any way offer any legislation that
might jeopardize the agricultural and COM
mercial interests which he regards as more
permanent than the mining interests,
though not, perhaps, more important.
Speaking of the possible committee
chairmanships in the House, he said Tom
Reed would without doubt be elected
Speaker, and that as he had taught school
and practiced law in this State the Maine
man was very friendly toward California.
Reed, said Mr.. Mcguire, taught school in
Stockton in the early COS, and was ad-
mitted to practice law by the State Su-
preme Court. He practiced law i'll San
Jose for while.
An amusing story is told of Judge Wal
lace's examination of the great statesman.
Judge Wallace put the question to him,
lis the legal tender act valid?" Reed S
prompt and terse reply was "Yes, sir"
Judge Wallace, surprised by this prompt
and positive response, observed: well,
you are certainly entitled to admission to
the bar, for there are very few lawyers in
the country who know whether the act is
valid or not.''
The opinion was ventured by Mr..
Mcguire that California might get some
important chairmanships. He said Mr..
Loud was entitled by priority of service to
the chairmanship OF the committee on
post offices and post roads, and Mr..
Bowers to that on invalid pensions.
The committees California IS most in
terested in are the following: Pacific Rail-
roads, Interstate and Foreign Commerce,
Rivers and Harbors and Appropriations.
1t is Mr.. Maguire's belief that there can
be no legislation on silver or the tariff, be-
cause if a free coinage bill could pass the
House it would probably be defeated by
the Senate; or even if it passed the Senate,
| the President would veto it; and if any
effort was attempted to restore the McKin-
ley schedules, President Cleveland would
also veto that.
Mr.. Mcguire is confident that the San
Francisco Postoffice will be commenced
early next summer. There is $130.000 to
begin with, he said, and also an additional
$4,000, and he felt sure that during the
coming session Congress would make an
appropriation of 100000 His expecta-
tons he based on the report of the Govern
ment engineers, Colonels Benyeurd and
Mendeil.
MARRIAGE BUREAU VICTIM.
Mrs. Gray, a Young Widow of Oakland,