The record-union., 1897-01-09

Pacific had a much more advantageous

Pacific had a much more advantageous
proposition to the Government than
that contained In the bill. That cor
able to comply with the requirements
OF the pending bin than was the Gen.
trail Pacific, and he could not under
stand why they should be put upon an
equality. The average member of Con-
gress, he said, could not determine from
any data available to him, intelligently,
the ability of the roads to satisfy the
demands of the bill. For himself, how
ever, he believed the companies were
able to do much more and better than
t.. majority OF the Committee on Pa
cific Roads had proposed. The roads,
he was convinced, could comply with
the terms of the present law and that
was much better for the Government
than the proposed measure. He had
p1 epared a substitute for the bill, and
would ask the House to consider it,
making the Secretary of the Treasury
the Secretary of the Interior and the
Attorney General a committee with full
power to investigate and settle the debt
OF the Pacific railroad companies, sub
ject to approval by the President. His
reason for transferring the settlement
of the debt was that it was practically
impossible for members of Congress to
thoroughly inform themselves upon the
condition of the corporations.
This was in accordance with the rec
omendation of President Hutchinson and
OF the present railroad company and his
predecessor. The principal duty devolv-
ing upon Congress now was action Of
some kind
Boatner CD of Louisiana, who op
posed the bill, said the House was ask
ed to accept the terms of a settlement
dictated by the railroads themselves,
and based upon their alleged poverty
because the Government had a mort
gage security for it's debt upon disjoint
ed portions of a railroad system. If
Section y of the Thurman Act was not
in contravention of the Constitution,
the Government did have a substantial
lien upon the entire property of the
railroads, and in the face of this fact a
proposition was advocated here to ac
cept the companies offer of a settle
ment ON the theory that the Govern
ment was a helpless creditor of insol-
vent corporations, whose business had
been SO managed as to divert all their
assets beyond the power of recovery.
Wheeler (D) of Alabama spoke
against the bill as not good business
proposition, and was followed by John
son (R) of California in speech for
the bill in which he bitterly assailed
those who had charged that the pro-
jectors of the roads had made money
1,5,fi @f
prise. He drew a humorous picture of
these men, in the place of the builders
of the road, coming to Washington
after the work had been completed and
turning over to the treasury the mon-
ey which they had miraculously made
In their project. Would they have
done u?" he asked incredulously
Johnson said the practical question
before the House to-day was how could
the Government get it's money? If the
roads We're forced to a sale it was a de-
monstrable fact that the proceeds of
the sale would not pay the first mort
gage, let alone satisfying the Govern
nent Indebtedness. The only feasible
and practicable thing to do was to give
the companies time to pay their debt.
They We're no worse off, Johnson said,
than the Government of the United
States or national banks, In which some
of his colleagues from California We're
directors, and which could not pay their
debts If all their obligations should be
presented at once.
There was no sense, he said, in trying
to force the debtor to pay million dol
lars when it has not the money. The
only business-like thing to do was to
give him an opportunity to earn the
money and pay the debt. That was
what this bill proposed, he said, and
in addition it gave to the Government
mortgage upon that part of the line
which would enable it to reach the
ocean in case necessity arose for seizure
or sale under the proposed new mort
gage.
The State of California, Johnson said,
was reported to be opposed to the bill
If it were true great consideration
should be given to the fact but he
lid IL was not true. If the members
of the House from that State should
vote their honest sentiments, every one
of them (with the exception of Bowers)
would vote for the bill. But they were
terroriZed by the two men who We're
responsible for all the alleged opposi-
ton to the measure-Mayor Sutro and
W. r. Hearst of the Examiner He
appealed, in closing, to the members to
dispossess their minds of every consid-
Grafton except that this was a business
and that it should be set
tied forever, so that it might be taken
out of politics and the railroad COM
panies relieved Of the importunate de-
nands of blackmailers.
Arnold (R) of Pennsylvania. a mem
Der of the Committee on Pacific Rail-
reads, defended the bin, saying 1T pre-
sented but two questions to the House
"a settlement of the debtor or Govern
ment ownership and control of the rail-
re ads-a Populistic proposition pure
and simple. Much of the opposition to
the measure, he said, came from Cali
fornia. He asked the House to ignore
the fight between the people of that
State and Huntington. Let them do
on and dispose of this matter on busi-
ness principles, and for the interest
of the whole country"
Cooper (R) of Wisconsin, who had
been referred to by Johnson as being
one of the critics of the roalroad con-
structors replied to the attack upon
Hearst by Johnson, repelling the asper-
ations cast upon him.
The general debate against the bill
was closed by Bell (Pop.) of Colorado.
FIVE CHILDREN DROWNED.
The Mother Also Had Narrow Es-