The record-union., 1896-02-28

Polonius in the statement that he was
satisfied with self-respect.
Mr.. Huntington was one of the four
men who undertook the herculean task
Of constructing a railroad across the
continent. He made a contract with the
Government by which the Government
was to receive for its consideration the
establishment of a railroad line from
the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean,
and by which he and his associates were
to receive certain benefits so we'll
known as not to require repetition. That
first transcontinental line was the be-
ginning of the development of the rail-
road system serving the Pacific States
and Territories, and now underth man
agement of Mr. Huntington, embracing
nearly 5000 miles of rail- These roads
are built for the most part through
countries which did not invite the con-
struction of railroad lines. They were
in a sense hothouse plants, forced into
being by the genius, the enterprise and
the energy of their builders. But for c.
P. Huntington and his associates they
would not have been constructed. And
to the same cause is referable the con-
struction of competing transcontinental
lines. The people of the Pacific States
and Territories have these roads, and
have them for all the future. There has
never been a great undertaking that
has not been beset by difficulties. All
reforms as we'll as all great enterprises
have been the result of individual ex-
ertion, and the individuals who have led
in the movements calculated to advance
the material, the moral, or the spiritual
welfare of mankind nave been the vic
TINS of malevolent accusation. That
Mr.. Huntington has not escaped the
fate which is usually accorded to the
benefactors of mankind is not to be
wondered at If the people of the Pa
cific States and Territories were asked
whether these railroads should be taken
up, or their use abandoned, that the his
tory of their building might be obliter-
ated, there would be unanimous voice
in the negative. The one element of our
progress which is far better than our
material status is our railroad system.
If other attributes of modern civiliza-
ton were abreast of this, California
would have 100000 Inhabitants, and
would stand foremost among the COM
monwealths of this Nation.
When Mr. Huntington further said:
'I will be judged eventually by what
have done,'' he echoed sentiment
which all the great leaders of either in
dustrial or moral undertakings have
uttered. 1t is impossible for the con-
temporaries of men to associate great
principles with their personality. The
belated recognition of their services
comes only after their personality has
been eliminated, and their names stand
only for historical equivalents. That
this belated recognition will come to the
memories of those who were foremost
in the construction of the railroad sys-
tenn now serving the Pacific States and
Territories is beyond reasonable doubt.
The statement of Mr. Huntington,
therefore, that he was content with his
self-respect and self-approval, was by
no means self-laudation. Misrepresen-
tation and detraction is fate common
to all like him who have conferred dis
tinguishing services upon their day ana
generation. The life work he has ac-
complished will survive him, standing
as a monument to his foresight, his en-
ergy and his splendid administrative
capacities. His personality will sur
vive in the form of grateful remem-
brance by his fellow-men long years
after his detractors are forgotten.