The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1917-10-06
LAND GRANTS TO RAILWAYS
SAVED GOVERNMENT BlG
SuAi FOR TROOP TRANSFER

4Atnt To tit ralfntuS btteMeh the wears
1850 and 1879 viii within year save
the government fully S50.OOO,0 0O0 on lis
bin for TRANSPORTATION. according 10 an
lostlmatc made by John W. Kean. trans.
portatlon clerk of the navy department,
In an article published in the current
Issue ~ the Railway Age Gazette There
was string attached To the land grants
IN the shape Of a proViso that troops
and government property were u be
granted reductions in the regular rates.
Not much Importance was attached 90
the string az the time" says Mr.. Kean.
because ~ one imagined that the
leoyerpment would he transporting
troops and property To- the extent that il
g. today" lie estimates that the draw.
back in the grants viii save AT least
ten per cent 90 the total cost of military
transportation, and ADDS, that's ID very
consersatiVe estimate"
Iu the twenty years following 1850,
AIR Eoin poin,s out. tie government
granted almost i0S.0O0 600 acres o. lana
10 thirty-fve railroads.
The great transcontiaental lines re-
locivcd millions ut acres Of land through
Ia territory where the country was 80
no. make living This Is the same
country which the government and the
lines have made the supply house for
the world There are two classes OF
Hand gran, roads now-free lines and
lines over which the government pays
fhty per cent OF the public rate. Sev'
crll of the latter grants contained a
proviso reading AN property ana
troops of the United states shall at all
times be transported over said railroad
land branches AT the cost, charge and
expense of ;lie company These are
the free lines. and they are not very
numerous The Southern Pacific from
la point near Sacramento, California, 20
tT'3.tlanl. OREGON. IS the longest and
perhaps the most valuable. There are
also free stretches Of line on the Mis-
souri, Pacific and the Rock Island IN
Arkansas that came in very handy iu
figuring rates ON the moyemcn; OF
troops to thc Mexican border"
The first grants provided tina; the
| government was 10 have the use free
from toll or other charge" OF lines 70
which IL made land grants This leg
islation was passed when II was still
assumed that one company might own
the roadway and track, and that other
parties including the government,
might operate trains over them. The
lsupreme court held that this gave the
government the right to move its prop
erty and troops over the track free,
with its own equipment but that it did
not give the right to require the rail
way to move its property and troops
] f4ft al I
the engine and cars As a result OF this
decision. an agreement was reached BE-
tween thc government and the railways
under which the government in IN"
cases Of ai such grants pays one-haif
of the regular rate. II is chiefly under
| this agreement tnat the government is
making the large saving in the COS; Of
Transportation of its property and troop
to which Alr. Hean refers.
Mr. Kean goes back into early rec
ords and produces some quotations
which show how little value WIS placed |
{ upon the land which was donated to the |
! railways and the donation Of which is |
row resulting in this large saving in
the cost Of transportation. He quotes
I from the report uf the select committee
Of the House on Pacific railroads ami /
telegraph. made In August. 1856. as foi-
lows:
So rapid is the fall OF snow, and So
resistless do the winds sweep over those
almost boundless plains. II is quite i'm
possible 70 gain q distant shelter. 50
with e train of cars running up the
plain from Iowa or Missouri to the foot
Of the Rocky mountains distance OF
500 miles, how in storm. is shelter,
or wood or water. or food. 10 be gain
ed2 Arrested 500 miles from Iowa i'm
November. how is a train OF cars %
be relieved before May 70 tIllt of do
ing business in the winter season on a
road through such region though
every conductor WAS Kit Carson and
every Traveller Fremont. would seem
% be idle and preposterous
The same committee 10 it's report
pointed OUT as follows the great benefits
which had been derived from previous
construction II railroads IN territory far
ther easti
NO better example eau De- given Of
Inc benefits resulting from the construc
tion Of railroads to both public and pri
yate property than that Of the Illinois
Central railroad On the lines Of that
tti4i''AA Ait' I'hFl4A isifA'lH iltiil DfNil u
fertd Ior sale FOR many years without
finding "a purchaser and were ~ last r.
duced 10 the lowest minimum price Of
J. y cents per acre. But after the gov
ernment had given away one-haf TO as
sist in building the road the othei. half
very rapidly sold for $3.50 per acre"
Mr. kean also quotes a. follows from
8n article which appeared in the Chica- 3
30 Evening Post Of May 80. 1856:
rhe official returns of the new cen ?
sus Of Illinois nS56J have just been re- I
Coived. The railroad system has been ;
developed in Illinois within the last five .
years and one Of the fruits has been {
10 double the population correspond }
ent showed the other day that another
was to quintuple the value Of her ~ {
iinOis) land" 2
The Railway Age Gazette points OUT a
editOrially that the saving 70 the gov a
ernment Of s50.O0O.OO0 In a year on the a
cost Of military transportation would ?
pay return Of per cent on 81 600 900 Z
900. Il also calls attention to the fact a