Omaha daily bee., 1896-02-26
THE FUNDING MIL.
strong Reasons why the Measure
should Not Pass.


Representative Bowers OF California told
| some singing truths the other day in his
committee speech on the Pacific railroad
funding bill. He quoted from official re-
| ports to show tlat the average net receipts
of the Union Pacific line for the last ten
aud those OF the Central Pacific nearly
Sl,5OO,O00, the annual interest on the
first mortgage bonds being included in the
expenditures in each case. The companies
hive earned nearly per cent per annum on
the entire amount the government has paid
and would pay If It were compelled 10 clear
on the first mortgage bonds As these and
the original government bonds are about due
they can be paid OF at their face value and
as government per cent bond now Is worth
more than par, there should be no difficulty
in utilizing a new 3 per cent bond to pay off
and call in both of the other issues. The
hgures cited are made to prove That if the
property averaged the same net profit that IL
has made for the last ten years the net
receipts or the two roads would be sufficient
to pay the whole debt, besides the restorati
of more than 10000. 900 acres Of land worth
at least S25,OOO,0OO, to the public domain
Mr.. Bowers says there is no question that
the net earnings of the Pacific lines including
those of the Southern Pacific to which all
possible trade has been diverted amount to
not less than $780, 900 since their
construction. He holds they could have
paid every cent of the debt and left hand
some surplus. He believes there is no doubt
that not less than 5000 900 900 was cleared
up by the directors during the first fifteen
years, partly through the excessive tolls
charged for freights and fares. Yet they
nave refused to pay one penny of interest
on the bonds. The whole transaction was
deliberately planned by cunning lawyers to
swindle the people, and that the scheme
should pass the scrutiny Of so many great
lawyers and statesmen then in congress puts
in question either their honesty as represen-
tatives, their capacity as lawyers, or their
absence at the time the scheme was nut
Through congress-"
Yet in the face of the undeniable facts
named the men who favor the funding bill
say the roads are not worth half the amount
OF the debt they owe to the United States
though along with this they have the au-
dacity to propose to extend the time of pay
ment and give this same property as se-
curity for the whole debt, claiming that il
Is good security for its payment Mr.
Bowers took the unequivocal position that
no funding bill gives any promise of recov-
ering any part of the debt that it would
be far better to surrender all claims and
make the whole debt a present to the par
ties at once than to entertain their PROPOSE
tions for extending the time. He also stated
that the plan of the companies for the future
is to force all business over the Southern
Pacific at such rates as the road may charge
and be able to pay the Pacific Mail Steam
ship company for empty space. He says all
the people know that these companies charge
one firm one rate and another firm another
rate for the same freight for the same place |
and pleads that the government has no right
to give these companies such an enormous
advantage over others as a funding bill |
would give them. THE people of the Pacific |
coast have the common rights Of all the |
people Of the other states, and protest |
against the government continuing to support |
this monopoly He further made the sig |
nifcant point that "the passage of any fund |
ing bill will be an official notification to the |
people by congress that there hereafter is |
to be one law for the great corporations and |
another for the common citizen"