The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-02-19


! ter would, ne said, have been referred
to the legal department of the road.
Senator Morgan-Did any lawyer adj
wise you to destroy these papers?
Huntington-I think not. 1t was a
mere casual matter. We did not re-
| gard it serious.
Morgan-It becomes serious here. [
books here now.
Huntingdon should like very much
! for you to have them, but in view OF
the fact that they are not in existence,
1 don't see how in the world Srou are
going to get them.
| Reference being made to the Cali
| fornia memorial, Huntington said 1t
ennanated from the Sutro meeting, but,
he declared, it was not half as earnest
| as was Sutro when he (Sutro) told MIN
! Huntington he would fight him II
he did not build The road out TO MS
(Sutros) place, where he had a saloon
and a gambling house. He sald t1e S.
people who were fighting him IN Call-
fornia were 'talbout as uncanhy d
crowd as farmer ever 1ound III MS
hen roOst'
The examination was then turned
into an inquiry as to the payment 70
the Contract and Finance company IN
the construction of the Central racine
and of the organization and operation
of the Western Development company
and the Pacific Improvement company
composed largely of Central Pacific
men. engaged in building other roads
in California. At one time during TINS
branch of the inquiry Morgan sought
to confine Huntington's replies TO
definite lines Frye interfered to say
the witness should be allowed to an
swer in his own way. =.
II want him to answer, replied
l. -Ylo. +
get him to do, but | am going to con-
duct this examination exactly to my
taste until the committee stops me
The questioning in this connection
developed that the Central Paclhc or
ganizers had built three other roads IN
I California connected with the Central
Pacific and bought about twelve Whlcn
/ failed Huntington said the roads
built cost about $4,000 mile The
construction companies had been paid
with bonds which were issued py lhe
Central Pacific company.
When the afternoon session pegah'
Senator Morgan was the only lielilpel
of the committee present. though oth-
ers came in later. Morgan continued
his examination of Mr. Huntington as
to the connection of the Central "a
cific with it's branch lines in Callfor-
, MIA
/ Taking up the question of the gov
| eminent Indebtedness. Senator Nor
gan asked Mr.. Huntington if he con-
( sidered the interest which had been
paid by the government on the guar
anty bonds a part of the Central Pa
cific debt to the government. MI
/ Huntington replied he did, that his
/ proposition was to calculate the entire
amount to the maturity of the bonds,
! including interest as we'll as principal
! a INTEREST
not. however, understand that he was
to be expected to pay interest on in
terest. He did not think the company
could pay more than per cent in
terest on this extension.
Replying to an assertion made at a
mass meeting in San Francisco that
he. Stanford and Perkins and Croker
I had accumulated a combined fortune
of 5000, 100000 he said it was a lie as
was the statement that they had re-
ceived from city, county, state and ma
| ton, property of four times the amount
of cost of building the roads
To the charge of eXtortionate freight
rates, Mr.. Huntington said the peo-
pie in New Jersey and Delaware were
complaining of the competition of Cali
fornia fruit because of the low rates
was a sufficient refutation of the
charge.
Senator Morgan asked Mr. Hunting
ton how much money he had put into
these roads which he had not made in
railroading. This did not bring out a
direct answer, but Mr.. Huntington told,
in this connection, how he had made a
great deal of money in the Chesapeake
& Ohio, Big Sandy and various roads
in Virginia West Virginia, Kentucky,
Tennessee, all of which he had taken
when they had been abandoned and
which he had built up so as to make
large sums of money He had put all
these profits into California and the
west, into stocks, none of which paid
him any dividends. He thought he
must have been worth a million dol
lars when he began his railroad career,
but he was poorer when the Pacific
work was completed than when he be-
gan because of the immense debts
which had been accumulated
Mr. Huntington stated that the
Southern Pacific company had agreed
to pay $1,960,000 per year for the lease
of the Central Pacific, but that the
/ earnings in some years on this line
had not been equal to the rental and
the contract was changed so as to pro-
vide that the amount paid was not to
exceed the earnings
Senator Morgan tried to show. in
this connection, that the railroad busi-
ness which would naturally have gone
over the Central Pacific was diverted.
! through the means of this contract. 10
/ the Southern Pacific, so as to di-
minish the Central Pacific earnings
Mr.. Huntington said competition was
/ very close. He stated, however, that
the business of the two roads was
managed by one man, Mr. Stubbs, who
was the freight agent for both roads.
but while this was true, shippers were
/ allowed to select the road over which
they should ship.
Senator Morgan then asked if it
was not his ambition 10 throw all the
business he could over to the South
ern Pacific. Mr.. Huntington replied
| he had tried especially to build up a
business between California and
Europe and he had directed his efforts
to that end. The senator also tried to
develop the fact that Mr.. Huntington.
/ being more largely interested in the
Southern Pacific than in the Central
Pacific would naturally have required
the joint officials of the two roads to
exercise their Offices in behalf of the
Southern Pacific line, but Mr. Hunt
! ington parted the thrusts and did not
admit this to be true.
Have you ever really expected the
Central Pacific could be prosperous
when its builder and guardian was so
largely interested in and the chief
executive officer of its principal rival?'
asked Mr.. Morgan
L believe" replied Mr.. Huntington,
that the Central Pacific has Jared as
well in my hands as it could have
| Jared in the hands of any other man
7 l.. i.