Omaha daily bee., 1897-01-09
OPPOSE TIE FUNDING BILL
OLD MEASURE BETTER FOR GOVERNMENT
Opponents Maintain That II Places Adj
ditionnl Claims Ahead OF the Cow
crnment Lien with no Cor
responding Advantages.

WASHINGTON, Jan S.-The house re-
sumed the debate ON the Pacific railroad
funding bill Immediately after the reading
OF the journal. Mr. Payne. republican OF
New York, occupied the chair.
Mr.. Patterson, democrat Of Tennessee,
member of the committee, opened the debate
today with a half hours speech in favor
OF the measure. He briefly recountcd tho
reasons which led him to support the bill.
The sentimental side of the question, which
made the projectors Of the Pacific roads
great public benefactors in that they opened
up a vast wilderness he utterly disre-
garded Just as he did the view that they
were public robbers. II was useless TO dis
cuss wrongs, he cald, which had no standing
In the courts. The truth was that the
government loaned it's bonds to the pro-
jectors upon security which the United
States accepted. The projectors occupied
no trust relation to the government. The
second mortgage held by the government
covered 2,293 miles. Each mile carried an
Indebtedness of $5S,5 ,5l5.
II confess" said he, THAT my face is set
like flint against the governmental control
OF thesa roads" (Applause) In conclu-
sion he said he believed the bill presented
tho best bargain the government could make.
Harrison. democrat Of Alabama, another
member of the committee followed in OPP
posision to the bill. He Believed that the
time for action had come, but he could not
subscribe to the remedy proposed in the
pending measure because II was too liberal
to the company. The proposition made by
the Union Pacific to the government was
much better than that in this bill. The
Union Pacific was in a better position to
pay than the Central Pacific was. Why
should they be placed on tho same footing
Mr.. Harrison also opposed the Bell substi-
tute on the ground that the roads could not
comply with its provisions. One was too
liberal and the other was too stringent. He
proposed a substitute which would create a
commission consisting of the secretary of the
treasury, secretary of the interior and the
attorney general, with the full power to
settle the indebtedness Of all the bond-aided
railroads. In support of this substitute he
urged that congress did not and could not
obtain the information necessary for an
equitable settlement. Second, that they
could not agree and third, that a commits
sion could conduct settlement in a busi-
ness-llke way to much better advantage than
the government could by passing hard and
fast bill.
RECOURSE AGAINST OFFICIALS.
Mr.. Boatner of Louisiana antagonized the
bill He insisted that the government to-
day, by virtue of the Thurman act, had a
lien on all the property of the road and
tnat II ODtalDGu no duulllUnbl StCuIlly Dy lut
pending bill. He declared that the govern
ment was not helpless creditor OF an in
solvent debtor. The government could not
afford to disregard the fact that these roads
had been despoiled of enough money to pay
the entire debt He declared that the gov
ernment had a right, after II had exhausted
it's ability to secure--ltS debt from the
roads. to proceed against those who had
despoled them. The supreme court had held
that the United States had that right sc
tln l- dol cd hoy had fonNt
defaulted. He favored a settlement, he said.
but he never would vote for a measure
which would cut of the right of the govern
ment to proceed against the defaulting
directors and officers of the roads who had
enriched themselves at the expense of these
properties. He wanted 1t distinctly under
stood that he did not think the funding
bill would give these men quit claim.
as 1t not the real purpose of the owners
of the Southern Pacihc?" asked Mr.. Ma
guire.
'It is in my opinion, the prime motive OF
all this legislation" replied Mr. Boatner.
"The owners of these colossal fortunes are
more interested in relieving themselves OF
| this liability than in settling the rights OF
| the United States"
Mr.. Swanson democrat of Virginia, in
opposing the bill, asserted that this bill
| constituted the poorest proposition from the
| standpoint Of the government ever sub
| mitted TO congress Two years ago, he
|
| mittee offered a proposition twice as good as
| this,
! In analyzing the bill he said it would push
| S45 600 900 of securities ahead of the govern.
ment lien. The idea that the government
! lien at present was worthless was ridiculous
| Certainly no one contended that the govern,
ment's mortgage was not anterior to the
stock of the Union Pacific and Central Pa
| ciGc vet the stock of the former of a face
value of $4,000 900, sold on the market
yesterday for $40, and that of the Central
| for $15.
"The stock of the Union Pacific" in
| terrupted Mr.. Powers, lis subject to an as
| sessment of S15.'
$50 much the better for my argument, "
| replied Mr. Swanson. "If it was not subject
| to the assessment it would be worth S25
Pass this bill and the next day it will be
| worth S25."
Mr. Mccall. republican of Massachusetts,
| to whom ten minutes was yielded. opposed
| the measure and directed most of that time
to refutation OF tho claim that the United
| States at present had no lien on the Omaha
| terminal.
supreme court had decided the lien of the
government only extended to the portions
| of the road actually aided.
Continuing, Mr.. Mccall said he did moi
agrec with much of the invective against
these roads. He thought that there should
were too liberal He argued that the rate
| of interest should be per cent
| Mr.. Wheeler, democrat of Alabama said
| he wanted the government to settle on the
| best terms to be obtained. He was ready
| to accept Mr. Harrisons commission scheme
or lump sum proposed by the secretary
of the interior.
ASSAILS SUTRO AND HEARST
| Mr.. Johnson, republican OF California, a
member of the committee, and the only
member in favor of the bill, made charac-
| teristic speech OF twenty minutes in Its
| advocacy. He ridlculed the scarecrow which
| was always pushed into the horizon when
| over scheme for the adjustment OF the
! Pacific railroad debts wss proposed. The
| fact that the projectors of the roads had made
money wcs something gnsome members could
not forget. Everybody wanted to make
money What would those who denounced
Huntington have done If they had had the
| building of the roads?
'If Mayor Sutro and that Hearst" tc
whom he applied an opprobrlous adjective
had built those roadsg they would not only
! have made money, they would have bank
| rupted the government itself.
| Suppose the projectors did make money
| the question with us es members and Gus
| todians OF the governments interest Is, How
shall we get the governments money
| back?"
Mr.. Johnson denounced the eX-membera
who were lobbying" on the floor against the
hill He then nrocpedpd to argue that II