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THE POLICY
(>F
EXTENDING GOVERNMENT AID
TO ADDITIONAL
RAILROADS TO THE PACIFIC
BY
GUARA.NTEEIXG INTEREST OX THEIR BONDS.
1!EP01;T 01'' THE MA [llltlTY OF THE SENATE COMMITTEE 0^ V.\C[V\i: liAlLKDAli
FEBRUARY 19.i,-69.
1 ^
VVASHI^GTON:
(r 0 V E K N M E N T P "R I N T I ^ G OFFICE. 1S69.
THE POLICY
EXTENDING GOVERNMENT AID
TO ADDITIONAL
EAILROADS TO THE PACIFIC
GUARANTEEING INTEREST ON THEIR BONDS.
KEPOKT OF THE MAJORITY OF THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON PACIFIC KAILROAll
FEBRUARY 19,1869.
WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1869.
SYNOPSIS OF EEPOBT OF SENATE COMMITTEE ON PACIFIC EAILEOADS,
Mtitle ^etox'uixry 10, 1800.
The report of the majority of the Senate Committee on Pacific Railroads is an exhaustive argument in favor of two additional trunk railroads to the Pacific—one from Lake Superior to Pu^ef's Sound; the other from Little Rock, in Arkansas, and from the terminus of the Kansas Pacific railway in Kansas, by the route of the thirty-fifth parallel, to San Diego and San Francisco. The report declares affirmatively that the bill reported by the majority of the committee was intended to be the finality of legislation in aid of Pacific railways ; that after having provided substantially two additional trunk outlets—one for the Northern States and one for the Southern States_at suitable initial points, it was intended to stop there all'Congressional aid, and leave to private enterprise and State endowment the future construction of branches. The report shows at length, and with a large array of statistics, derived from the experience of the influence of railways in England, France, Belgium, Holland, and the United States, that they are the greatest of all modern agencies for the production of wealth and the development of trade and commerce. It demonstrates that the import and export trade of the principal countries in Europe are in precise proportion to the development of their railway systems, respectively ; that the experience of Belgium, France, Austria, Spain, and Italy, shows that a tax on railway receipts is the best sinking fund thus far devised for the speedy payment of national debts. It also shows that two additional trunk railways to the Pacific are commercially necessary, demonstrating that a single
line cannot do the work that will be thrown upon it; that additional lines, free from obstruction by snow, are needed to maintain uninterrupted intercourse ; to prevent the evils of a monopoly ;
to avoid political discontent in the Northern and Southern sections of the Union ; to bring the public domain into market; to increase immigration from Europe ; to quadruple our yield of gold and silver, to save two-thirds of the cost of wagoning supplies to the 109 military posts in the Indian country, which now amounts to about seventeen millions a year; to reduce by one-half the number of troops maintained in the Territories by the greater mobility the roads will give the remainder, and to practically end Indian wars, which the report shows cost the country during the last campaign about one million dollars a week. The majority of the committee urgently recommend aid to the roads as a measure of immediate and lasting economy to the Government. The report proves that it is safe for the Government to aid them, without reference to the incidental advantages of doing so, by showing from the accounts of the Quartermaster^ Department with the Kansas Pacific Railroad that upon an average use of 220 miles of the road its earnings for work done tor the Government not only paid the interest on the bonds advanced to the road and provided the sinking fund to redeem them, but brought the Government in debt to the road. The report opposes grants hereafter of Government aid like that given to the Union Pacific and Central Pacific, in bonds directly issued, but advocates a guarantee of the interest of the mortgage-bonds of the two additional trunk Pacific roads, to be issued to a defined and limited extent. It declares that they are military, commercial, and political necessities, and concludes with the averment that the people demand their construction, and do not, as has been alleged, participate m, or sympathize with, the recently raised outcry against Pacific Railway aid.
40'rn roNGRF^s, ) SENATE. ( REP. COM. 3d tSWo". » - } No. 21.9.
IN THE ^ENATE OP THE UNITED STATES.
FRHKUAHV 19. 18Gi).
Mr. STEWART made the following
Tl
REPORT.
[To accompany bill S. No. 899.1
The undersigned, a majority of the Committee on the Pacific "Railroad bee- leave to aav, that when it was determined in committee to report t^the Senate, hill No. 899, granting aid to the Northern Pacific and other railroads, it was not understood that the bill should he presented with a report. The majority of the committee would now be content to let the bill rest upon its intrinsic merits, unaccompanied by an explanation of its provisions and a demonstration of its policy and necessity, were it not for the unexpected appearance, first in the newspaper press, and afterwards in the Senate, of a most extraordinary paper entitled "Views of the Minority'—a paper unsound in theory, unfair in its inferences, and ungenerous and unjust in its imputations.
To iustify the action of the majority of the committee, they now beg leave, fi^t, to report to the Senate tlie considerations which induced them to adopt the policy of aiding at the present^time,_with the g-overn_ menfs credit, the construction of two additional hues of trunk railway to the Pacific coast; and, seco^, to vindicate the provisions of the bill which have been criticised by the minority of the committee in the^r published "views." In preparing- this report, the undersigned ha^e
Leu embarrassed by a want of time in the pressure of^^^ ^
the close of the session, but with such labor as theyhavehee^^^^
bestow on the subject, aud with such assistance as ^^^^^^ thev are willing to stand on the following- arguments and facts as a JUS
tifi^tTon of t!;eif action in reg-ard to the g-eneral railroad policy of the bill and a defence of its leading- provisions:
ROADS THE MEASURE OF CIVILIZATION.
Thp hio-hw'ivs of nations are the measure of their civilization._ Wth-
ou^SS:^^^^^ In exact proportion to the abundance and ^^^^^^^^^
the exchange of services between men, the ^^^^^^ coin' the economy of labor, the aug-menfcation oi ^^^^^^^
fort, the development and consolidation ).thecl^l^ ^n rule of
No higher proof of the grandeur and wlsaom^^^^^ roads, the world need be sought, than the wond^ paved ditched on bofch sides, and raised abovet^ef^.r^^^^^ with stone upon beds of rubble or eoncre f^^^r^^^^ grades,
passengers, running al^y81"8^^^^^ 3^^ tunnelling mountains and spanning UMIS w11^
PACIFIC RAILROADS.
U
-n n,n rtTi/l traversed Italv, Spain, Gani, 'Britain, Germany, radiated from E0^.^^^^^^^^^ islands of the Mediterranean, and Macedonia, Asia ivimu i i highways, built and maintained at the
all of "ortIlernAmca' tied the provinces to the capital, and hound Asia, g-overnment's expense, u_ i smooth and swift the move'
Africa, an^^^^^ They cheapened to Italy the spices, sill^
me^^ 01 Satne^t and linen of Egypt, the tin and copper of
^n turo^X and oil of Spain, and the furs, leather, and tim-Bntaiu,thenw_^o^ ^^ ^^ ^ conquests made by the
^nansfeSot have been maintained. The care of them was a civil office which conferred high honor and power, and was sought by ambi-E men of the noblest, and wealthiest families.
Transportation upon the backs of animals is an incident ol barbarism. The mule trains of South America are the machinery of commerce among i)eoi)les whose exchanges are few, whose wants are almost purely animal, and who are enslaved bv superstition and ignorance. The future histories of the civilization of 'Spain and Portugal will have to chronicle the substitution of turnpikes for mule-tracks, and the displacement of pack-animals, first by wagons and afterwards by locomotives. Even enlightened England had her " dark ages^ in respect to roads. They endured -with infinite waste and hindrance from the evacuation of Britain by the Eomans in 448 down to near the year 1700. The necessity of getting at the Scotch with infantry and cavalry marched frequently from London, to suppress the chronic rebellions of the Highlanders, forced the government to construct turnpikes. For over 1,200 years the sole means of internal transportation the English possessed were strings of pack-horses picking their way through lanes of mud. British civilization, and the development of British industry and commerce, and the wonderful accumulation of wealth in Great Britain, have kept pace, first, with tlie building of turnpikes, second, with the construction of canals and slackwater navigation as better highways than earth roads; and third, with the founding of the marvellous system of railways which now covers England as with a network. Before the " Rocket" locomotive was perfected England had built 2,600 miles of water communication, at an outlay of @25U,000,000. The 12,000 miles of railway which wore created by Ste-plieuson's eng-nie did not supplant the use of these artificial rivers. On the contrary, the traffic upon them grew. In like manner the Xew York central and the New York and Erie railroads have not lessened the busi-
^ i ie calla1- That has S'1'0^'11' ^'11^ tl'e traffic of the two
finTc-kT T createt1 ^y^1^ diti not exist before them, and was impossible without them.
'^SE^S^ OMCT T0 WHIC'H GOVERNMENT CAN SO PROFITABLY WAYS ^PEKDITUEE OF MOKEY AS TUE BT-ILDING OF HI&S-
roaasTvfr^^^^^^^^^^ tn"^. t^ rates of tonnage by carth-^30 for haulinp- a tl ^ I)er ton I*01' nlilt'- Th^ stage-wagons charged
of 113 miles. PromJnn^0 +' ^ Lontkln t0 ^r"!"^11^^ ;1 ^ance
$65 a ton was char^d T^ f • L^eed^ 190 mil(^ the ^mws ^T of of goods was 8 cents nprt,^, ^^^(•I'^ge by caiial fortlie geiieral hulk
of goods 25 miles theTtn^1f^' Th 1 ^n^ads fame tind carried atou the same price ap'aiTi + ^ r ^ ('eIlts I*01'w\^ i"td carried passengers for
a mile. The journev L ^^^^'^ c'll;>l-^' b.V thc '^l ^•^ ^-1° cents ^ inside ami $u outS'l1!0111 Don •^*^el• to London, 15(1 miles, cost
thicle,aTud ^iisuuied 20 hours of time. Tlie ruilw^
PACIFIC RAILROADS. 3
now carries passengers between those two cities in 4-flburs1 time, at a cost of $^ S7 tirst class, and $."> 22 .second class. Parlinanentoy re+uniR' of the railway traffic of England from LS43 to ISC^ furm^i evidence-that the transportation of passengers and goods by rail ha&feeen six times greater than it was before the introduction of railways, a.nd thitt the saving effected by tlie railways in cheapening fares a.ndireight'8 in a single year, l.SG;'», was §360,000,000.'—a ffv.m Urger than t^e entire taxation of the United Khigdom. This result, very imperfect beoituse it does riot include the value of the time saved to 2:^,000,000 of passengers who travelled by rail that year, is amazing. Accepted aa^ applied: as a measure of the worth of a system of .steam highways thaife:shall cover the "United States, it must be seen ;it a tiash that within the scope of federal action there is no use of the public money or property so profitableMid so economical and so beneficent as that which aids the construction of
railroads—national by their length and cost; national by their, passage through the public domain; national as avenues to (iiata-ut States and
Territories; national in their benefits; national as a part; oft.h&'nuHtarV
r / ^ • •' • •/
defence of tlie United States; and more than national in their relation to the commerce of a. third of the world.
The value of a wag-on load of wheat is consumed by the cost of hauling it on common earth roads 300 miles. Indian corn will bear profitable transportation on tlie ground only 100 miles. Before the construction of the Erie canal, and only 43 years ago, the city of New Tork was almost wholly cut off from the trade of the Sta^e.of New York. ;The -wliea.t and1 potash of the centre and west of the State were floated down tlie Delaware and Susquehanna rivers to Philadelphia, and Baltimore. The canal finished terminated the rivalry of cities on the Atlantic coast. It made 'Sew York the commercial emporium of the nation. It not only seized the products of tlie earth and forest up to the foot of Lake Erie. but mortgaged the labor of the armies of emigrants -that pom-cd through it into the wilderness where now arc northern Ohio, Michigan, northern Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Tlie property owners of New York city resisted the construction of tlie Erie caual. It has long been manifest that they could profitably have taxed themselves for the cost of the work if the State had not borue the expense.
All 01 the native residents of the State of New York above 52 years old, who live on tlie line of the Central railroa-d, have seen the -six-lior?e, eighfc-liorse, and nine-horse teams attached to the vast Conestoga "wagons which maintained commerce between Buffalo and Albany before the existence of the Erie canal. Tlie canvass-covered vehicles rolled and pitched over the clay roads like ships in a swell, and consumed ^0 days ill tlie westward trip. With such machinery of transportation, at once insufficient and most costly, it was not possible for- the^itmers of the new country to market the products of their labor. Th^y were a very
lr __ — ' ' • ' "• "V ' ' - V
poor people. The return trips of the wagons were gonera'lly made empty. The commerce from Philadelphia west over .-the Allegheny=nn3uu^ains1liad the same unreciprocal and wasteful character of freight •m only one direction, consisting of manufactured artietes-'priucipaitiy^senfcial to the support of human life and tlie subjugation of the wiMeruess. The economy ofwa.ter navigation first; a.nd afterwards of fche^ railroad, vitalized the iudustry of the two great States and much of'^h.e'Te§'ion wesC' of them. Labor found a market, and men became free* -''^''ne^l.tiOun^ot' western products that reached tide-water-'by eaiiali:!?.l'S43''was -ll9,000 tons. In 1851, when the Erie railroad Wits opened,'ahtlfclie restrictions in favor of tlie Erie caual on the carriage of freight by the New York Central railroad were removed, tlie tonnage of weateA^.'-produvts on the
PACIFIC RAILROADS.
4
nr-oo^ t^is In 1867 the united "through" tonnage of canal rose to9^993^ the east ami the west, the Eric canal, the five great^^ ^^ the Pennsylvania, and the Baltimore the New York centla^ to 6,000,000 tons, whose value was
S^^OO^^ ^^^ r;ulr0^ blliu T11 the line ow $L200,000,OUU. lne. ,.,'erce of the State crawled in wagons, moved
which 50 ^.^^^^^ 901,226 tons, mid 1,412,214 tons
n1 ^1^2^^^^^^^^^^ ^- when tlte Erie ^l^ wl;
1 ^ ^•- %rk Central was authorized to carry canal freight, there
allflt^^^so^^m operation in the United States. The ^ oi°fflerchSem^^^^^^ o^er them could not have exceeded 5,000,000 oS^ ofTvato of $150 the ton, and of the aggregate vahie of S750 000 000. In January, 1868, the mileag-e oi American railroads had Wreawd to 39,000 miles. The weight of the merchandise transported w^^; 50,000,000 tons, of the estimated value of 87,.00,000,000.
In the short span of 17 years the mileage of American railroads grew nearlv 400 per cent., and their tonnage 1,000 per cent., with a corresponding increase in the value of the property carried. The population of the country, m the meantime, grew from 24,000,000 to ^6,000,000, or at the rate of 50 per cent. So that tiie a^toti.)idi)Uf fact -is evolved that railroads JMce increased Die commerce ef the country 2,000 fold more ttwn tfw increase of its population! In 1851 the freight moved upon all of our railroads equalled 417 pounds per head of population, and was worth $31 per head. In 1868 the tonnage equalled 2,777 pounds per head, and had a value of $210 per head. In 1851 the cost of the 10,000 miles of railway in operation in the United States was 8200,000,000. Tn liSCS the cost of the 39,000 miles in operation was equal to $I,()OO,O(H»,OOO. Consequently the investment since 1851, of ^1,400,000,000, lias been the means of annually creating a commerce five times greater, amounting to
§6,750,000,000. .Every dollar invested in American, railroads creates five dollars yearly.
Can there be a doubt about the policy of aiding with a loan of the government^ credit and grants of the public land the construction of
these wealth.creating highways througli. regions rich in soil and richer in minerals, though poor in the absence of a population able in numbers and accumulated means to provide itself with the macliiirerv of transportation and development? To legislators who approach this
""S^ i ee. 0^ the P1'0.'1"11^ of traditional system or habits of thought, S "Li wllla?ear, t0 "e the highest duty of government to coils' own cost; audit will-appear equally manifest
wSttncto;o^"CA•/«^ as beinf) of theWte.f importance and X^^S^^ s)wuu take P^ence over awf find all other
Kit^^^^^^^^^ But m the cascK ot- the railroads seeking S ^t^ S0' elHlowlneIlt in "^lev is not asked of the govern-
S rth s^^l n18 SImply a loan of tlle l^^' -r^t ^ lulllitetl
W^ ^^^^^^^fT1111^8 th;lt the interest-and Many members ot t^ P6 1 by th(J bolTowers.
Chicago wKer^ ^s ^tT'", 8i^ the \l\^ ot'tht- S-rsiiii trade of
soldiiriierlalJpo^^1^^^^^^ 1'1 Illi^oi^ ^ wli^i tin- whe;lt which were traveUi^ hv A ln ^S0'1" I'V "x-teauis over tlie prairies
with their cattle at in-o-ht0"'1^8^^ an 1 0!1 ^V11K•1! tlle teainstcrs camped from one to two weeks of li a waatetu1 traii.siiortatuni wliicli consumed
ear was burned as luel tnr'i0 ^t t0 ln;l^lvc•t1 "inl ni whicli corn in tlie the magic power of steam• an( w;>rnt llv- 'lli"t»i^ now, developed by
behalf of the policy ofi.^ al8I)"llcli(l !lnd Tiiait.swcmble arH-innent in ' J i uatlollt11 ^ilway-building. Tliat auite in 1S51
PACIFIC RAILROADS. 5
r
had only 2o0 miles of railroad, which cost $7,500,000, and the freight over which did not exceed 100,000 tons, which was not worth over $15,000,000. At the end of the year 1S07, Illinois liad 3,250 miles of railroads, whose trattic was 5,000,000 tons, the value of which was $750,000,000. It cost $130,000,000 to build these roads. The worth of the property transported over them in one year equalled very nearly six times their cost. In 1851 the products transported by these roads was at the rate of 200 pounds per head of the population. In 1867 the tonnage transported exceeded 4,000 pounds per head. The value of the tonnage per head in 1851 was only $15. In 1867 its value per head was $330. The result is astounding. To be fully appreciated it mnst be borne in mind tliat the railway traffic of Illinois is unlike that of Pennsylvania and New York, a mixed one of the products of the -soil, the forest, the mim', the loom, the forge, and the shop. Her products as yet are almost exclusively wheat, corn, and cattle. Her railroad tonnage has consisted principally of those agricultural products which bear transportation but short distances over earth roads. It is the locomotive which has enabled that great State to market her wheat, corn, beef and pork, 1,200 miles away from home. It is the locomotive and the iron rail above her garden, .soil which have given her one-fifteenth of the population of the United States; which give her the power to bear one-nfteenth of the burdens of the general government; which enable her to pay annually $24,000,000 of national taxes, beside sustaining- in the most liberal manner the cost of her own enlightened and progressive, gov eminent.
There are between Lake Superior and Puget sound and the mouth of the Columbia river 500,000 square miles of territory, upon the larger portion of which the United States government can impress the prosperity, wealth and power of Illinois. It is the winter-wheat region of this continent. It is a region of alternate prairies and pine forests. It is a region rich in coal, iron, gold, silver, and copper. It is a region the salubrity of whose climate lias made it the sanitarium for consumptives from the Atlantic slope. It is a region whose Eocky mountain section, broken down in its formation so as to be passable by loaded ponies, is blessed with a temperature so mild that countless herds of cattle range and fatten through the winter upon the natural grass within ten miles of the sun; mit. It is a region in all whose valleys peaches, apples, pears, plums, cherries, grapes, and sweet potatoes have rapid growth and complete maturity. It is a region so rich in grass and so blessed in climate, that it has ever been the home, in winter as well as summer, of the buffalo, the. elk, and the antelope. It has timber, water-power, and stone. It has a population of 1,410,000 people. Illinois possessed no such endowment. Her inheritance so amazingly developed by railroads was a garden soil, deeply underlaid with a thin seam of coal and a deposit of friable sandstone. She had nothing else. But every element of wealth, every condition of social growth and prosperity, exist in superabundance and beyond exhaustion in the territory between Lake Superior and Puget sound. For this immense region, embracing Minnesota, Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and a part of Wisconsin, railroads can do more than they have done for Illinois. If it is desirable, therefore, to add to the national popidation, the national industry, and the national wealth— if it is desirable to increase the taxable resources of the country, to add to its revenues, and to lessen the burden of the public debt, by extending- it financially over 32 degrees of longitude hi addition to the area it now covers—if it is desirable to provide cheap bread in perpetuity fur the nation from winter wheat to be grown with unfailing regularity, and
PACIFIC RAILROADS.
6
qn+nfi0 bushels to the acre, between the 46th and the ittWpsoffrom30to^^ ^ ^ UnitedStates wtll
50t,h paraMs ^ Ia^ u^e ^ ^i pacific railway, and do for the
slll'elv tt^iiTak^^^^^ t116 pacific oceali what the ^\e ^ region ^^^"^ the State of Illinois. It was not necessary for the
TOois have doD e foi t^^ b the people of Illinois, otherwise
r^n e^ ?hem ^r^iite of public lands-neither was it lawftu. ST^^^ISmois owned most of the soil of their State and the iSovement of their property was a, personal obligation to^which they Srpnual and were equal. Bat the United States owns the country between the Pacific and Lake Superior. The work of developing it is for the iTOvermnent to do. The population of the country is top.thin arid too poor to even undertake it. The work, moreover, i&o^ such. magnitude as to be wholly beyond the compass of private capital. It is of i'bsolute necessity that the government shall undertake: and help it through—and this it can do without the expenditure of a, dollar in money, or an increase of the public debt.
In like mannei: it is manifestly a public duty to utilize the enormous national capital that now lies idle in the southern region between the western boundaries of Kansas and Arkansas and the Pacific coast of California. There is a vastnational domain of corn, whea.t,wme,cotton, and grass lands too distant from market to be profitably cultivated save for local consumption, and that is prevented bv hostile Indians. Coal
^Li / ^L lr
and timber abound in this region. Southern Colorado, yew Mexico, Arizona, southern Utah and Nevada, and southern Californi'ti- are. as rich in gold, silver, copper, and lead as any other known portions of the world. This wealth is unavailable to tlie nation by reason of the cost of moving machinery and materials to it, or of movins'. the -ores- to machinery. The pasturage of these Territories, pre-eminentlJ filled-lor fine-wool sheep and cattle which graze out tlie winters through, is lost to the country for want of cheap and easy access to it. . •',
!• • •
A DEBTOR GOVERNMENT BOUND TO IMPROVE ITS.-ASSETS. : :•
Regarded as assets, as available resources of a^government heavily in w.Ai"^ ^P^he property and these possibilities of vast national ^ Tan M ^.^P1^ to reduce the debt in the only way in .which
^ I? ^'T^'"^ filullg ^ the colmt^y with Population, tind cov ;r-fin'd aiYl\'^lle products aud P^nts of industry which fax assessors can
who ^ti^T0^ ^ levy 011- Tlle tnlat(>els ^' ^ ^tor^e^e, ^vd^min^ d0 ^' •shollld refuse to ^ vn^ to drowned lauds
Tn^^Se^enTof^. T9111^ he cbtlr^1 with vi(>lation ot' dR^ saleable^i^^y^^ s0 as ^ [^^ ^ worth and •its
by tl^S^cl^^^1011 ^ ec01101^ ;ty we11 tls morality imp^d
tiun for au^htutS^-&1 ^ fcqllity illv;lntlbl.v ^^ on 'appli^ the authority. ' ille ^overnnient is supreme; and posseyses
OBLIGATION Tn r'TiT-n n ' iu MVE TUB DISTANT TEliliITOUIES RAILltOADS,
at home o?ai°iSa^ ^T01'^111^, not ^y l-rolt1 its relation of debtor people of the Temtori^ n+- ^T ^ ;lti()11 ;ls a-iiardinn .tiid governor of t.l»e organized by solenin ao^ L i or(u101 Ari/0"^ ;>inl New Mexico, which it invited emigration and i.,.Lv' i Th(' "^••"'^•utioii ofthoMe Territories either by a judiciary s s£,° d ^^^"n-i't. Oovernnn-nr, t.waed •' v em' a 1'°^^ srrvicf, or mitittirv protection, .is
PACIFIC RAILROADS. 7
the doing of something of vital necessity to the governed "which they are unable to do for themselves. But what need is so vital to a people situated as are those of Colorado, ;N"ew Mexico, and Arizona as the prime necessity of highways into and ont of their Territories ? Their existence
J _^ t/
depends on them. Laws and courts of justice are for the protection of property. But property cannot be acquired without roads. Troops are for the protection. of persons and property. But property cannot be accumulated without markets in w^ich to sell the products of labor, and markets cannot be reached without adequate highways. To the gold and silver miners and the wool-growers and stock-breeders of Arizona, Colorado, and ^Tew Mexico, " adequate" highways are precisely those which enable the farmers of Illinois to feed the manufacturers of Massachusetts. They are railroads and. nothing but railroads. Surely that is not government which persuades population into the organized Territories and leaves them there, isolated and physically disabled to accomplish the objects of civilized life. The "United States have organized immigration from Europe, wisely seeking to increase the power of the country by increasing its population, and to augment its wealth by augmenting its stock of labor. Immigration follows parallels of latitude. Our government seeks to attract population from Sweden, Korway, Holland, and ^orth Germany, to the congenial climate and better soils of the region between Lake Superior and Puget sound. "We persuade southern Germans, English, French, and Italians to cross the ocean to the great republic, and tell them that, on the plains of Kansas, in the State of Arkansas, and in southern Colorado, ?Tew Mexico, and A-rizona, life can be made happy, easy, and prosperous in a climate so mild that snow endures only on the mountain tops, and cotton can be grown, and wine of the finest quality be made. But how shall the immigrants upon the northern and southern parallels of latitude respectively reach their promised lands ^ And having painfully and at immense cost g'ot to them, in the almost nakedness of enforced "light-marching- order," how shall they reap the promised fruits of their labor, and realize the inducements which drew them from their homes in Europe ^ The government, in good faith to foreign laborers, should either abandon its system of immigration, or it should honestly carry it out by aiding the construction of railroads to the public domain which it is its policy and its desire to have occupied. But the United States cannot annul its engagements with the citizens of the United States. Territorial governments were set up in Xew Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona. This was proclamation to all Americans, so disposed, to go there, and to grow into States, and to enter the Union. It was a covenant to aid and protect them in the development of their growth. This covenant is as completely broken; by refusing them the means of getting to market, as it would be by permitting the Apaches and Comanches to rob and scalp them. The obligation to save their lives and property from Indian violence is acknowledged, and troops are posted in tlie Territories, and maintained at an enormous expense. But the obligation to enable them to sell that property is fully of as high a sanction, otherwise territorial government in portions of the United States would doom men to hopeless poverty. :Not for that was government ordained among men.
INFLUENCE OF RAILROADS TO INCREASE DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN COMMERCE.
If the demonstration which the majority of your committee have sought to make of the paramount importance of railways to nations as
PACIFIC FAILROADS.
8
n-i n^ nower is not already complete, si statement of their
sources of wealtha^^^^^ commerce of Ens-l^^l^ice, Bel^im and influence up^t^a^ ^ ^ riches which they have caused m
Holland, ^^.^Tmpave no doubt as to the policy and duty of the Sd^K Aspect to the two proposed additional railroads to the
pacific^ n ^Tur +ihle from the British parliamentary returns (except for
IsK^^^^ P^™61-8 aud ^s on the En^811 ^il-ways for the years named:
INCREASE OF TiCAFFIC.
Total receipts. Average snnnal Average of whole iDCreoye. 22 yeara.
,043 ..........---.----£4,535,000? ^,070,000'
,a.a"" ..—-.——— 9.993,000 1848.-...--.----'-"-•--'-•-•-- ],653,000
iflsr. . ...--— ----— 21,507,000 }• £1,4-2;!,000 18a5..—.-——.-—------- f 1,252,000
isfin ..—-.—.—— 27,766,000 > low. -—-----.-•---•• --• f 1 fi1Q 000 i
1865..——.,—-..——.———-—--— 35,890.000$ l,bl9,000_)
The average annual increase for the whole 22 years, was £1,423,000 per annum, and the increase was largest ill the latest years. The traffic of 1864 and 1865 was thus made up : '
1864. 1665.
PasseDeers .-..--— --..---..—--.-..—..---..—-----. £15,6rt4,000 £16,572,000 Goods.................—.--—.--—-—..------——- ]8,381,000 ]9,3!8,(;00
Total receipts ...........-.—-......—.....——- 34,015,000 35,89U,l.l(!ti
And the things carried, exclusive of animals and carriages, were:
1864. 1865.
Passengers ...... ........................................ a29,27a,000 251,^:1,000
Tous of goods............................................ no,400,000 114,5»J,(JOO
Being six times as many as before the introduction of railways.
The increase in the money receipts from this new business was extraordinary :
, 1864 over 1863. 1865 over IPfii.
Increase from passengers............. i* i 11"} nnn ^ ftas f! 'i i
iGcreasefromgoods.:..............,^-.^-^-.".^:::::: ^;;^000 ^X
Total. -----.-----.-.-........................ 2.859,000 1,874,000
The increase in things carried was:
Increase in passengers 1864 over 1863- 1865 ov"'lw '•
Increase m tous of eoods" """""""----------•--------- ^,637,000 22,590,000
S "''-"------.--..--................... 9,800,010 4,233,000
ge^S^S S to ^^-sixtlis of the whole, number of pa.-seu-1834, acc^ ^hS^ of the total g-ooda tonnag-e of
See the efieet of En^T^^^ ^c'tll^lKS for thiit Y^11'-Before 1833, the dat/ ^ +1 ramvava 011 the winnierce of Great Britiiiu.
exports were almost v,i^- ^^y system, the Eii^liMli imports and lows: ^ost ^^^ary. Smee that time they Save in-own as fol-
v 0
PACIFIC RAILROADS. 9
INCREASE OF D1UTIS1I F.XI'OflTS AND IMI'nHTS.
Oue year.
1833.--. 1842....
3850
Totnl (.'XjKtr's imd imports.
£85,500,000 110,000,000
171,000,000
PIT n'llt
iiicrt.'nm'. 30
47
Per cnit. per niinum increitsc.
46 10.4
1855........-...-,..--...-.. .......... 260,000,000 '
> 44 f!I860... 1865..-
375,000,000 J
490,000,000 $ 30 6
Though freedom of trade, steam vessels, improvements in machinery and other influences contributed to this increase, unquestionably it was principally due to the railway system of tlie country. Indeed the increase could not have taken place without the railways. It would have been physically impossible to have moved the quantity of the goods that entered into the trade, still less to have done so with the rapidity which the trade required.
And we would now call particular attention to a fact of tlie highest significance and value. The above-stated increase of tlie British imports and exports was in strict proportion to the development of the railicays, as will be shown by the following table:
Proportion of British exports and imports to raihcays and navigation.
«
Yrar.
Miles of railway and navigaiiou.
Total exports and import a.
Exports and iia-portti perinile-
]833................ ................... --
4, 000 5,2)10 6,-'141 10, 73.1 12,334 34,433 17,289
£85, 500, 000
il9,0u0,'00 135,000,000 171,8';0, 000 260,234,000 375, 0%, 000 490.000,000
£21,375 22,884 20,959 1(?,006 2 i,098 52,985 28,341
1840................ .....................
1845.....................................
1850 .....................................
1855.....................................
I860.....................................
1865 ....;....-....---............-..-...-
France, in 1837, had but 85 miles of railway in operation. To stimulate their .construction a law was passed in 18^:2, by which the government agreed to assume and pay for the earthwork, masonry, and stations of roads undertaken, aud pay one-third of the cost of the land required, and bound the departments to pay for the other two-thirds, and required of the constructing: companies only to lay down the rails, maintain the road-bed, and stock and work the. road. The government adopted and declared the wise policy that three-fifths of the total cost of railways should be borne by the state and the departments, and two-lifths by tlie companies. In 1852 the Emperor, in order to still further stimulate tlie construction of railroads, g'a-ve the government guarantee of four and five per cent. interest upon investments in them. Capital flowed in rapidly, construction proceeded with vigor, and at tlie end of 1857 France had 4:,475 miles of railway. The empire was exceedingly prosperous. The exports and imports increased from §510,000,000 in tlie year 1850 to ^1,065,000,000 in 1857, or more than 100 per cent. in seven years! The six great railway lines paid 10 per cent. dividends, and t!t? government guarantee ]wd never been called for. But the Emperor was not satisfied ; he felt that France needed more roads. He persuaded the six
10
PACIFIC KAILROADS.
great compnnies to undertake t.lie construction each of about 1,000 mi]p(,
additional line by guarantee ins four per cent. interest on debenture bonds to the amount of $620,000,000, the estimated cost of the works and .65 of 1 per cent. as a sinking fund to pay the bonds in ;•>() years He also authorized departments and communes to construct railroads at their own expense, and to aid them -with subventions to tlie extent of one-fourth, one-third, and in some casesone-halfofthecost. The result can be anticipated. In 1865 Prance bad 8,134 miles of railroad in operation, and the growth of lier trade, as created and developed by railroads
is shown in this table: l ?
4
Increase of French exports and imports.
Year.
ID crease per cent.
Increfise per cent. per
annum,
Total exports and imports.
1840 ]ti45
1S50
]8o5 J860 1865
35 5 50 34 26.25
3
110 6.8 5.25
£82,520, 000 97,080,000 1:20.204,000 175,076,000 232,192,000 293,144,000
The proportions which the exports and imports bore, to the growth of the new system of swift and cheap communication is shown as follows:
Proportion of exports and imports to raihcays and navigation.
Navigations Year. : (7.700 mile?,) ' and railways.
Exports and importa.
Exports andim-por[a per mile. open.
)840............-.,.-..--.-.---.-.--..-.. 8,264
£82.520,000 97,080,000 102,204,000 173,076,000 232, 192,000 293,144,000
£9,985 11,35^ 10,750 15,71-2 17,476 18,51rf
1845.---....-...---.-..--.----..-.-----.. 8,547
1850.---.......-....-..--...-..-.,.-..-.. 9,507
1S55..................................... 11,015
I860..................................... 13,286
1865..................................... 15,830
When Belg-ium separated from Holland, in 1S30, the latter state possessed a much larger commerce than Belgium, and much SH] >erior means of communication with other nations by sea and by canal. Five years later, in 1835, this inequality endured—the exports of Belgium amounting to only £10,800,000, while tliose of Holland were over £lil,000,000. But the scale was turned in 1833 by a resolution of the Belgian government to adopt the system of railways which liad done such wonders for the commerce of England. The great engineer, George Stephenson, was employed to plan railroads between all the principal towns of the kingdom. The law authorizing their construction at the crnouo of the (fovern-mentwas passed in 1834, and not an hour was lost in carrying it into enect. lu 1S39 Belgium had 185 miles of railway open. Trade received a new impetus. In 180-t there were 1,350 miles m operation. The enect upon the little country, only one-tenth as large as (Irt'sit Britain, was magical. Her indutstry teas clouded and wwdrupled. awl her trade, internal
-*- -i 7 7
PACIFIC RAILROADS. 11
and e,vterna^ {fretc more rapidly than In any other nation in J^nrope. Here are tlie figures of this remarkable eflect of railways: .•'•"•^
Increase of Belgian exports and imports.
Yelir.
ExportB und imports. Iiicreanoper '^ocr^iigopcret.
- cent. :,.:,nprsnu:iwn.;.
- » - ^ [LJ- ./ r ••.J^
,•..^_______^—————L
]639 3646
£l0.7(i0,000
15,660,000
2G,920,100
J • L
4o. 72
71.4.,';
--' •^V--'?-),'^''!^^-^'
' ~,•S' " • - •• i * i r •. 1} : ^'•' .
^— "41 J L " J •'••- ^ft £^
Jf. 41 9,, 67
1853
47,760,000
/ ? "t".
h • • ^ I. i
73,120,000
51 35.8.J
..7,3
1664
97,260,000
• .-^ ^
t- .. ^r.
^-_/^ ,- ' '• i. ^T^'
In thirty years, from 1835 to 1864, Belgium mcrea&ed her.cspQrts::^^ im^orta alutost ten-fold, while Euglaiid iucreased hers ui the same period only five fold. The harmonious growth of the commerce of Belgium
-with the growth of her means of coimnimicatiou is seen in the ioUow]te
C^ , ''—' " ' i- ' —— "
table, and, taken in connection witli the same result witnessed iuJFran-Be and England, must be accepted as establishing the new a.ud great l.a\ in political economy, that the imports and exports of o, i^^^^e.^^e'ltseil
Proportion of Belgian exports awl imports tora^livays an^^y^^e^^
Yenr.
Canal a (910 milc^)iindrail-ivaya opeQi
Exports nud:im-ponB»
SJ . ,_. r # ''1 ^- -, , ^ ' • -r ' '
1,055 1,205 1, ,^90 1,907 ^20
£15,680,000
47,760;l)00 -;;
•. 7a,l-20,WO ] •37,,8iy .y7,2tfO,DOO:.^^--.^-42,919
.;. ^Jf ^ ^, S"^.^^-.'.'
Americans can now understand* how Belgium so rapidly 1»epa^e:the
principal workshop for the continent of Europe, and how she can sell locomotives and rails in England, and how she can underbid the English on marine and mining engines and heavy iron work for architecture.
The " slow Dutch" of Holland woke up in 1850 to a CQnsciQUSBt'ss of the truth that they were losing the German trade. In ahinu.^iey.^eHt t o work making railroads. But they were too late. Their concFiti ^^as this: In 1839 the Dutch exports and imports were £28,500,000, Kenrl.y double those of Belgium. In 18U2 they were £59,000,000, while.^osr of Belgium, thanks to her railroads, were £78,000,000.
TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROADS WILL &IVE US -WHAT RAILWAYS ^N
NOT G-IVI3 ENGLAND OR FRANCE—INCREASE OF' 'pd^ULA^EO^.^ IMMIGRATION."•I--
Ti^
.^ft-
'^'- - '-».»'•- -'• i i • •» - ,'it -, .'-
;^-'.'.. ..,, ...- •'•»,-•'•-,-'"'•/»••• •^-'-'••'Jt-
Itcanbe shown by official records that the Eastern Division Paioifti^^ (of Kansas,) the Union Paciuc, a.ud the Central Pacinc, have been lu^""
PACIFIC RAILROADS. IA
.1, n/irlni o- hundreds of thousands to tlie population of the States of
r^s^^^ califbl:llia ;"ld f0^-Minllesota
'Kansas _^oo]^ a, ^] e.ss oftransi>ortatioiibyr;>il,lierbe.stpopu.
iS o^^^^^^^^^^^ tLl1salld Germ;uis,yorwc,-i uisaiid Swedes. ^lOUOTo^i landing-on our shores is economically valued at
S 'Sre?^^^^^^
rSiT^ Sd^^^^ g-iive an average of $100, almost entity in coin,
as the mouey property of each man, woman, and child" landed at Xew york From 1830; the commencement of our railway building-, to 1860,
the number of foreig-u immigrants was 4,787,924. At that ratio of coin wealth possessed by each, the total addition to the stock ot money in the United States made by this addition to its population was §478,79^,4001 Well may Dr. Engel, the Prussian statistician, say:
Estimated in money, the Prussian State has lost during- sixteen years, by an excess of ]60994eiuigi-auCsoverm-iuiigraiits,asumofmoretlianl.'?0,UOO,OUOtbalei-s. It must be added,
that those who are resolved to try their strength abroad arc by no means our weakest elements; their continuous sh-cain may be cooipured to a well-equipped army, which, leaving the couutry annually, is, after having crossed the frontier,- [ust to it forever. A ship loaded with emigrants is ol'tcii looked upon as au object of compassion; it. is.nRvortlieli-.ss. in a politico-economical point of view, generally more valuable than the riclie-it carg-o of guld du.st.
The Union Pacific Railway, eastern division, has organized ummg'ra-tion to its lands. It has agents in Europe wlio tell of tlie resources of Kansas,'and induce people to .seek a home there, aiding' them if necessary to cross the Atlantic, and to reach that State by rail, and selling' them the lands on long' credit. This liberal and wise example will be followed. Let the Northern Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads and the homestead law go tog-ether across tlie continent, and in less tluni ten years we will see upon the lines of those roads and their outlets at least three millions of the best population of northern Europe—fanners, graziers, mechanics and miners. Keckon up their worth at !§1,500 a head^ add to the product the quantity of coin they will bring-, 8100 each person;
then say if in $4,800,000,000 added to the wealth of the country, our government cannot find authority and courage to guarantee tlie interest of the bonds issued to assist in building tlie roads.
TWO ADDITIONAL TRUNK RAILWAYS TO THE PACIFIC NECESSARY. •
The majority of the committee having thoughtfully considered tlie condition ot the Lnited States in relation to itS finances, and its traile
^.^l]uer^ lTellt a]ld ^^P^ive, declare their beliff that two additional lines ot railway to the Pacific ocean are necessary.
_ ±.
OSE LINE INSUFFICIENT.
iDite^li^ "tfi^T^i ^T'"'0 (>ne liue is "ot suffiwnt. Your coin-? "Bifa nteli(I: ..,1 •tlltl,•el",•i;'elltl>oI>ll]at^oll ami business nt CaV-^&tr-^rai^ ^»rasl;ii, Oivgon, Nevadii, ami Dakota, tlie
So'f^f,?^ Siu; Fra.ivisi.o will lie wholly iiK-;i.
of pi>i,ul;ition .imfiKUiS.. i 1,1 ^'fl'- 1 ^'lwlmwd of it- The i"^I'('•lse States and TcrrituiSs bv «i? t""' ";"'' wi11 bv """•^ '" tllose
TL,. lo.;,ll tr;iHic ^ •tlie ro I;' fl1';1,1"" '," the ^"atl wi" 1"- r"0""01'8-dtfinestic traffi.; w 1] be ill im s '"""•-t^t'-l.v 1-f l;irK-»-. Tlie tliro.l.li
trade troin Cliiin T.i,,.. i T "}"'" t" ''"til ot' tliese is added (lie. lines, bu byo ;i.s ei, .1' t "dl;•'"ot {n^ I'.v ••xistiliK steamship
is clear to 11^ that a s u^lto.ll>e..l?^t ";• the ••""te ^ ""• ""S"--"' i.t 1 "lUali-tldili railroad vaniiot possilily do tlie liusl-
PACIFIC RAILROADS. 13
ness that will be crowded upon it. The road will cloa:. What service will be performed will be done under such disadvantages as to damaa-e tlie character ot the new route from India to Europe, to inmre property, discontent shippers, and malic wide-spread trouble. The calculations ot the adequacy of a single line to the Pacific have been based on tlie overland trade and the business of the Panama route. These will prove utterly fallacious. The Union Pacific railroad will not only take the larger part of the traffic of both these routes, but it will create a wholly new business which did not exist before, and whose growth will parallel that of tlie Pennsylvania road and the New York Central. The. single track of the Pennsylvania trunk line, between the Ohio valley and tlie Atlantic, had to be doubled. There are four powerful rivals to the road—the Erie canal, the New York Central, the Erie and the Baltimore and Ohio. Notwithstanding the division of the trade of the Ohio valley between these five competing lines, tlie volume of that trade is so enormous that tlie Pennsylvania road is unequal to carrying its share upon its two tracks, perfectly built and perfectly equipped, and is now building- a third track over the Allegheny mountains. The majority of tlie committee feel sure that the most experienced railroad operators iu the United States wi\\ agree with them in saying- that within a year after
the Union Pacific is opened it will be unequal to the traffic that will be crowded upon it.
In addition to this the gradients and curves of the line at its passage of the Sierra Nevada present difficulties of the most serious character. Some of these gradients are 116 feet to the mile, and many of the curves are from ,')00 to 700 feet radius. Six locomotives will be required at these points to do the work of one elsewhere. A double track cannot be built except at a duplication of the cost of the road. These engineering- obstructions, as they may be termed, will of themselves and alone necessitate other railway connection with the Pacific. No single-track road tliat crosses the Sierra Nevada will be able to do the duty required of a transcontinental railway. It is a suggestive fact, and one that should be admonitory to us," that while on the whole length of the Northern Pacific railroad, 1,725 miles, not over 250 miles will have an elevation exceeding 3,000 feet above the. sea, 1,100 miles out of the total length of the. Union Pacific's line (1,657 miles) are more than 4,000 feet above the sea, and more than 500 miles of it have an elevation of 7,500
feet above the sea.
A SINGLE LINE WILL BE A MONOPOLY.
2. Two additional lines are necessary to avoid the danger of a monopoly certain to be established by one and the only liue. This evil might be cured by another evil, the intervention of the government m the business of tlie road, and its prescription of fares, freights, and time-tables;
but it had better be cured by avoidance. With three lines across the continent, there would be competition that would keep down charges to living rates and fair profits; there would be an effort to make fast time and punctual running; attention would be given to the comfort and safety of passengers; care would be taken of freight, and an unrelaxing struggle would exist to win the favor and patronage of travellers and shippers.
THE SOUTH IS ENTITLED TO A LINE.
3. The southern States are in. the Union. They have the same rights that the middle States have, or the northern States. They have the right
PACIFIC RAILROADS.
o^cess to the Pacific, on tlieir parallels of latitude. They have a ri^ t^eiJ^^eol't]ie,£rans-coiitineiital(-onuiiorce1)etwecnAsia^^^ ^&fi>3k, Charleston! Siivannah, Mobile, and ^(W Orlesins can lustlveon,' ui^ofamiddle State ..monopoly which pours 9.11 tli-i^ iutercoiiti'nent.i
pAcpoRcy to aid't'he restoration of tlie annual production-of this wealth, which is confe.dby the laws of climate to the .soutli. To the
extent that a southern^acific railroad will stimulate tli.e growth of the peciriiai'-southern ag?ji,eUltui'al products, the northern and middle States have each a large and .direct interest in having it constructed, and the prosperity of the foreign eommerce of the United States demands that it'-.suau be constructed.:. . "
"A
'•^-^
THE NORTH IS EM'ITLED TO A PAClPrc ROAD.
4i -There is no argument that had weight to determine the construction of tne Union Pacific road from Omah a west, that will not support the
claim-of the extreme northern States a:nd Territories to have a connection with,tiie Pacific at Puget sound and the mouth of the Columbia river, and a share of the trade that is to be diverted froni the Cape of Good Hope across the United States. 'Washington and Oregon object with reason to go 700 miles south to get 1,700 miles east, and the people of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi justly will insist on starting at their own ^homes for tlie Pacific, instead of going- up to Nebraska to commence the journey. 'So answer can be found to the argument, sure to be urged by the inhabitants of tlie northern tier of States and Territories and tlie southern tier of sugar and cotton States and Territories, that they have a right to be exempted from tlie loss of time, loss of increased expense, damage to freight and enhanced risks, inseparable from a commerce which sends them and theirproperty long distances up and down lines of longitude, in orderto get on a latitude of travel. Tliefeeling north th;it the north is entitled to a Pacific road is honest and earnest. The feeling south that the south Is entitled to a Pacific road is equally sincere and''strong. In both cases the feeling is founded on a conviction of the local necessity and national importance of tlie two roads. Tina feeUnd, if (wnlxtt-
^L^ tkwarfe(^ ww ^evitabi!/ run into .wfi wa pfl.ww^ aiifl into "Se^ide^ re f ^yority of tlie committee think, liad better
ADDITIONAL LINES NECESSARY TO HAVE UNINTERRUPTED CO^rU-N1 CATION.
O^al^nd1 ^d^e^l^i^^e l I>I'(:blem if tlie Union Pacitic railroad between e^^ents to ^v ? ^nt0 ca11 be OI)er;ttc-d throughout the year. 0!- the
dS snowiion^ qTstion there tlre: ^ the known effects of ^^W^^^^ of -utral Illin,,., ;i,id of the hilv
which snow falls •i fi t1 lelm^•lv;llll;l; -'(I, the known depthy to
the extraord^^^^^^^^^^^ >l'th0 ^ Mountain region; •^ the passage of tie 8 ^iT, w f1^^'1'11^^, and sharpness of tlie curves, in
snowed imd(°r and ^ i^T111'- Tnlillls in "Ir"^ h;>ve ot'r('ll b''ell
compleiely embar.>'oed ^ '"i1 tl;tlnu- 111 ;ln(1 ollt ()t- t'lnc-'S-o It'^ l1^11 Yorl?,ana Peniis^h-ini.^^itilroad coinnnitiiciitioii in M.issiicluisctts^^'
tudps take place in S'^'^ i' t A11 ^I'^dcd in wintrr. TIK-SC^ virissi-
on thelines are verv^t T' l;lbor is •duuidant, wlu're the stations •) Lt11 ^^t^er, whw? fm.1 ami food, draiigtit .inim^
PACIFIC RAILROADS. 15
and tools, are plentiful and accessible. But the line 'between Oinalia and Sacramento is at present almost acontinuou.s wilderness—portions of it never will be settled. Population is scarce—help in trouble cannot be had outside of the train— the stock of accessible fuel may be limited to the supply on the cars. In the deep cuttings, and in some of the canons of Dakota, Utah, Nevada and California, snow is well known to drift chock full to the top and to pack hard. The depth of snow in places travelled by tlie overland stage-sleighs hay been credibly reported at from 30 to 50 feet, and it was not melted till June. Granting the efficacy of rooting-, granting- the adequacy of machinery to accomplish as much on the Union Pacific's line as on the Chicago and Northwestern, or the Albany and Boston, there remains a risk, which must be constant witli tlie recurrence of winter, that the. operations of tills Pacific road may experience long and serious interruptions, accompanied occasionally with shocking misfortunes. If such interruptions should take place, the effect upon the new trade from Asia to Europe, across the "United States, would be very damaging-. They would characterize the route as one not to be relied on by international commerce. But there is no doubt that a railroad on the 35th parallel of latitude could be operated to San PKincisco 36.5 days in the. year. Nor is there any doubt that a line between Puget's Sound and Lake Superior could be operated without serious obstruction by snow. Its grades through tlie mountains are all comparatively low, and its line is within the isothermal line of mean annual temperature of 50 degrees.
TWO MORE ROADS A MILITARY NECESSITY.
'We have shown that two additional lines of railway to the Pacific are necessary to the internal and external commerce of the country. We believe that they are necessary to tlie government as a part of its military system. They are necessary to move troops and supplies at the minimum cost and greatest .speed into the Indian country. "War with tlie Indians will endure for years and years. It is not in Indian nature
V t-
to meekly accept the loss of hunting grounds and a forcible change of their traditional life. It is not in the nature of the American to abstain from new and unoccupied soils; he will have them. The causes of war will continue while the large game lasts, unless sooner the Indians learn their inferiority and submit to its destinies. Indian cavalry, perfect in horsemanship, unattached to fixed abodes, and free from the tics of accumulated or fixed property, deadly with tlie arrow, and armed with the best breeeli-loaders, are slow to learn that they cannot with impunity scalp and rob white borderers and travellers to the gold regions. Indeed, till General Sheridan came, their teaching had all been the other way. This Parthian cavalry roam, hunt, pillage and murder, from the Britisli possessions to tlie boundary of Mexico. They attack trains, camps and ranches, with a suddenness that is generally a fatal surprise. They come unseen. They are out of sight and beyond pursuit in a moment. Our warfare upon them is a tardy pursuit of vanishing trails. To tight them with infantry and cavalry in the season of grass is to fight shadows.
PACLPTC RAILROADS WILL SETTLE TEE INDIAN QUESTION.
They can only be permanently conquered by railroads. The locomotive is the sole -wlution of the Indian question^ unless the government changes its system of warfare and fights tlie savages tlie winter through as well as in summer. Tlie railroads will settle the country as they progress, The water stations and freight stations built on the lines imme-
PACIFIC RAILROADS.
16
i i n -iiA (Tprms of towns and the centres of military operations
^^S^S^ a column-front of self-sustaining settlements farms follow the^roads ^ mountains. As fast as the
moves s10^ forts, these become useless and are ab.n roads go by ^1^^^ ^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
^TtX£ o}^ Indian question, by ta^wg the buffalo ranger
T^t.^Xw ^ P^ a wt ^ and ^arm in it^ y^oads to tU Pacific surely are a mzhtary necessity As avenues of
SS^^^ on the ^r-path and oi,^ ^.^ick movement of supplies to troops, they are equally a military necessity.
TESTIMONY OF OI7R MILITARY COM:VIA:NDERS.
General Grant, in his report as Secretary of War, said that "the corn. nietiou of the Pacific railroads will go far to a permanent settlement of our Indian difficulties." General Sherman testified last summer before a congressional committee that "the extension of the Kansas Pacific railroad is a military necessity.'' General Sheridan wrote to General Grant last May urging the completion of the Kansas road, for the reason that "it would end, almost substantially, our Indian troubles by the moral effect it exercises over the Indians, and tlie. facility it gives the military in controlling them." General Haucock wrote in June last to the Secretary of War that the extension of the Kansas Pacific railroad, "in respect to the transportation of troops and supplies, was a necessity." Quartermaster General Meigs, advocating the construction of the Xorth Pacific road in April, 1866, said, ^as a military measure, contributing to national security and defence alone, it is worthy the cost of effectual assistance from the government." General Ing-alls recorded his opinion i.n the same year, that "from an experience of many vears in the quartermasters7 department in the west and northwest," it is of the utmost
importance to the nation that this road be constructed at the earliest moment possible."
And what is the cost of our Indian wars as compared with the cost of the Facifac railways, which will speedily end the Indian wars ? A compilation trom the official records of the government sliows that these
I^n n^ ^ st ^J^ ^'e ^st the nation 20,000 lives and more than w^% 1864? ^the qnartermaster.s' department '^^n^" military service against the Indians infesting the
TUP^-fi^1e ^^ the P^OI)ose(l northel'lt ^ •^It^1'11 ^0tlda t0
Commifcrep ri1^8^^11.^11111^ ^W11^- The chairman of tlie House expensesofo^S ^••^^latcd recently that. tlie present current.
I^i^^se^1^^^^ the ^ans was $1,000,000 a weck-$ 144,000
SthciaddS 0 ^ collsume the interest ot ^ ^m ^•l\i wouu1 sume twiS^^ the Pacific provided by this bill; con,
the pensionlist ug a^ ^^S whatever behind, save an increase of
THE SAVING TO THE TREASURY THAT TWO .IORE ROADS WOVLD EFFECT.
The annual savin w tn tim n.n
two additional trung Imp10^0^;1'111110'^ thtlt w mld ^ (•tt'e •te l bv these entire sum guaranteedTi ^ l^allway t0 tbe ^^^ would f;ir exceed tlie
There are'CO diStr)^ ico, Arizona and souther f^i^ K;!lly;•s' soutli(iru Colorsido, New Mex-
kept 105 companies of W.,n1 >rnla' tlt whu'11 t-iull•(' t^'c ix-rntaiiently
infantry regiment in tliose d^.'i1!11 tT'•ll^y• Tlu' ;lnllui11 t-l)st of ;lu bL "^ttint reruns is over ei,0()(>,000—of a cav-
PACIFIC RAILROADS. 17
silry regiment about $3,000,000. Rations, forage and general supplies for these tr()()i)S and posts have to be transported immense distances by wagons and at tlie very lushest known rates of freight. At the last session ot Congress the point was made before a cimimittee of the Senate that if the Kansas Pacific road, commonly called the Eastern Division, wa« complete to Albuquerque, tlie lars-er part of the cost of this military service and maintenance could be saved to the government.
General Sherman came before the committee and testifiedthat if that road was in operation to the point named, one-half of the troops could be dispensed with, and $3,500,000 a year be saved to the country. Also at the last session of Congress the Committee on Military Affairs of the House of Representatives reported, that on the ba.sis of the cost to the government of transportation in 1867 over the portion of the Kansas Pacific railroad then finished, (which was $511,908,) if the military supplies had been wagoned, and the mails carried by stage, and the troops marched on foot, the cost, calculated at the average contract price of that year, would have been $1,358,291, and that the road saved the government in 1867 tlie large sum of §846,383
That committee also reported that at that rate of saving tJie Vnited States bonds thus far issued in aid of the road would be paid and extinguished in less ttian four years. This was the actual result in one year, in which no extraordinary movement of troops or supplies took place, the force on this route not having been increased by reason of Indian outrages.
Having considered the subject of the southwestward extension of the road beyond the terminus of its subsidy, (near Forfc Wallace,) the committee reported that nearly all the supplies for the three regiments in New-Mexico were wagoned from the end of the Kansas Pacific road at a cost of^l 28 per 100 pounds per 100 miles; and that if the road were in operation to Albuquerque the saving in transportation ou these supplies to that point, at tlie road's published freight rates, would amount to $851,880 a year. The committee also found that there would be an addi-itioual saving to the government in the transportation to Albuquerque of troops; munitions, mails, and treaty supplies for Indians of $231,932
a year.
The total annual saving, therefore, to the treasury of the United States by the use of a section of the, Kansas Pacific railroad, only 4G6 miles long, from the end of its subsidy in western Kansas southwestward to Albuquerque, would amount to the immense sum of $1,083,8713.
By a provision of the Pacific railroad acts 50 per cent. of the compensation for service to the government is retained by the Secretary of the Treasury to be applied to the payment of the interest and the principal of the bonds advanced in aid of the roads. In addition to the facts above set forth tlie House Military Committee found that the annual saving of §1,083,872 would not only keep down the interest of the bonds then asked for to build the Kansas Pacific road from Fort Wallace to Albuquerque, but would provide an annual sinking fund, which, in connection with the retention of 50 per cent. of the government transportation dues, would zvipe out the whole loan^ principal and intere^ in six years—twenty-four yearn 'before it would fall due.
Tlie House Military Committee. moreover, found that a proportional
saving in the public service, quite as large if not much greater than that above'set forth, would be effected by tlie extension of tills road along tlie 35th parallel all the way west of Albuquerque to tlie Pacific. Aud well they might come to this conclusion upon evidence like the following, which was placed before them: The surveyors of the Kansas Pacific road in "November, 1807, bought of the United States quartermaster at Rep. :No. 21 J——2
18
PACIFIC RAILROADS.
,-n rt ^ Arizona under General Grant's order, 200 pounds of pork Fort Bowie.ui Anzonfl^ll^y ^st price at Fort Yun>a of $47 ; but Had
^ 84 PO""^^ ^tof^ansportins tlie salt and pork by wagon
? M^ ^^w^i was $lk nearly three times the first cost %SleT ai^ fh'e times what the Ir^ht would have been by rail % the Soin Sail Francisco if the road liad been in operation. And i/hT+ timp every ponnd of rations and every pound of forage consumed u^iegovOTmeat at Fort Bowie cost the treastiry 23 cents in coin for
^'SiiTS that the House Committee on Military Affairs reported on the fia-uresaud results of a year on the Kansas Pacific railroad in which there was no unusual movement of troops or supplies. Vastly more strikiu"- and conclusive would be a comparative statement made up from the extraordinary movement of supplies and troops by General Sheridan this winter. JSe has about 5,000 cavalry in tlie field cam-paio-niug- and fighting in snow. His transportation of necessity is immense. Yefc the successful battle of Witchita could not be followed up for want of supplies. Both horses and men liad to be marched back temporarily to Fort Hayes. That battle was fought on the -winter camping grounds of the Cheyeunes, through which the line from Fort Smith in Arkansas and Shreveport in Louisiana will run to connect with the Kansas Pacific road at A&ton Chico, or Albuquerque, tlie two to run thence as one road, on the 3oth parallel to tlie. ocean. We have no doubt that the accounts of the War Department to be made up next June will show that the cost ofthiswinter'scampaign, against but apart of the hostile Indians, will amount to a sum which would construct the entire line to the Kio Grande.
A similar necessity for a railroad to avoid the enormous expense of wagon transportation of military supplies exists in the region between Lake Superior and Puget sound. Within it are 100,000 Indians. Of United. States military posts there are 28. There are of cavalry, artillery, and infantry 76 companies permanently stationed. The stores required to supply them amount to 22,995 tons per annum. The cost of transporting these stores, estimated on the basis of contracts reported by the Secretary of War in 18G7, and tlie distances declared by the Quartermaster General in 1866, is the enormous sum of $o,15S,972. Well might General Grant say in his report as Secretary of War:
During the last summer, and before I caused inspections to bo made of the various routes
^'.T/nT' TO'y.th1'01^11 '^ territory between the Missouri river and the Pacific coast, r^nppifofTlDtaml^trooP8lr'that section was so enormous that I desired if possible to
S•(ir.f ^f 1enable(110 d0 t0 sol•le ^"t from tlie iuformdtion obtained from na^^^^^^^ the pl-esent the ""'^y establishment between tlie Hiies desig-Kc J;; ^S"^ at agreat cost P^ mal]- The completion of the railroads to (Ac
cSi- o?!" "y / "^ ^s c('s(- (/s lctu as t/le nun^ -f """ to be kept there. The ^^on of these roads wll also go far towards a permanent settlement of our Indian d-iSi-
iuS^™^01'0611^1^1^^ prophetic when he said
rpt
upon^^o'uic?^^^ i?" led t0 th0 ^"'ensR expenditure for transportation to Idiiho, Montana, aQdthevallfiTJ^'7.' ^ cer^ain t0 conle 2/1 tile ^eiirfuturew tie routes
rm.^ -11 , vf LUQ v-'olunibia,
pliilai^i^y ^S-"86''011"11'4.1,0 ^"•'"iiic tlie tinestion, wliicli 110 tlie United 8tSp t°i'y ci1" !lv("d' •"•'"•llier tlie northern regi"" ot
antelow i^ari ai^'l^^^^^^^^^ the l•lkl•s '""1 t]u- "••e;"1; slla11 llt- ^ ils !1" it slial be ^t Z i ^ 0 nmKV t'1"'t1"- "s11 ot Iniliiii liuntt'ra, or whether
conflict corn1 Z'c l0^"^^ "1 t'il""s ^ whit ' "1(-- A"d whe"th!1? at over S(i 000 Ono .1 & ^""t.iry tr,iiia|iort!itii>ii, al>ove onieially stated
* ' u"'"00 •l y^11') will be trebleil and .luadruiiird, uuless the
19
PACIFIC RAILROADS
Xorth Pacific railroad is built. The government surely ought not to wait till that war breaks out to make its economical choice between the locomotive that exerts upon the railway tlic power of 2,000 horses
and tlie heavy plains-wagon, which drawn by ten oxen, and loaded with 5.500 pounds, crawls but sixteen miles a d;iv. The charge for inilitary transportation over the Kansas Pacific road in 1807 was 10^- cents per ton per mile. The. average rate paid bv government foFwagon transportation on the plains in 1S67 was 81 28 per 100 pounds per 100 miles from April to July; 81 .^ in July, and .§2 10^ from August to December, inclusive; being an average for the year of $1 79 per hundred pounds per 100 miles, or 35-^ cents per ton "per mile. This difference in favor of steam power over cattle power amounts to over 230 per centum, find should on principle be availed of by the administration of a nation out of debt, and should be snatched at by a nation in debt. The economy of rail over wag-on transportation for the army on an average use ofl53-^ miles of the Kansas Pacific railroad in 1867, as reported by the Military Committee of the House, has been tabulated thus:
Saving in favor of rail transportation.
Wftgon transpor- Rail transporta-tatitm. tion.
Government freight Government troops Government mails..
^,143,462 03 16:1,135 65 51.693 38
$308,310 02 10S,7;')7 10 34.841 12
$775,152 01 54, 378 5:» 16,952 26
Totals 1,35", 291 06 511,908 24 846,382 82
A similar exhibit, showing-a saving to the government of nearly twice the whole cost of rail transportation for the year, the North Pacific roa.d, when completed, can also make for the entire length of its main and branch lines. 1.975 miles.1,975 miles.
i
HOW ADDITIONAL LINES WILL OTHERWISE PAY THE NATION.
These additional lines of railroad to the Pacific, besides reducing the
annual expenditure, w^U pay the nation:
I. By bringing into market hundreds of millions of acres of good land which are now dead property to the United States—by adding millions of population to the present number of its producers and tax-payers of the country—by doubling-, trebling, quadrupling and, indeed, iiidetmitely increasing the annual yield of the precious metals in the United States —by a vast increase of our customs revenue to be derived from importations from' Asia into the harbors of Puget sound, San Francisco, and San Diego—by the general stimulus of production, manufactures and trade in all the States east of the Mississippi, to supply the wants of the settlers in the new regions to be traversed by the roads—by all that diversified good in pursuit of which England, France, Belgium, Holland and Austria have spent such enormous sums of money, pledged without stint their public credit, and found their reward in doing so, to the first named nation, in the control of the trade and commerce of the world, and to the others not only an astonishing increase of wealth, commerce and revenue, but the sure means of paying- their several national debts out of sinking funds for that purpose made a part of their railway systems respectively. Our reward for the construction of these
—, PACIFIC RAILROADS. SsU
^T^rtTniliTips to the Pacific will, upon the English system we ^e^o^S^^^^^^ of- be in •^ evellt immeuse-
THESE RAILWAYS CAN PAY THE NATIONAL DEBT.
But if we should engraft upon our Pacific railway system the feature +h.+\o wisely characterizes those of France. Holland, Belgium, Austria, Smin Portugal and Italy, to make every person who travels or traffics hvWl contribute, without knowing ifc, a fractional sum towards the discharge of the public debt, and to make the railways the agents of col-lectiuo- and funding- this tax, infinitessimally small in amount, and unaccompanied by any show of revenue machinery, and of handing it
over to the state as a sinking- fund to pay off t^e national obligations, -we would confer one of the greatest boons within tlie scope of legislation upon ourselves and our posterity. Among its blessings would be a settlement of most of the financial and currency questions which vex our politics and unsettle our trade. By means of this railway sinking fund, France will, in less than 90 years, be relieved of tlie entire burden of her national debt of ^2,500,000,000. BymeansofitBelgimnwillpayoff, in 1884, the 840,000,000 she borrowed to construct her first ^5^ miles of railway, and she will then have a net annual revenue from her entire system of roads of $4,700,000, sufficient to pay the interest on her national debt of $130,000,000. By means of this railway sinking fund improvident Spain -will pay off 8200,000,000 of her debt of ^820,000,000; and Austria will get relief from $325,000,000 of her financial burden of $1,250,000,000. On the continent of Europe it is now an accepted maxim among financiers and statesmen that the railway is the true sinking fund for the payment of national indebted-ness.
THE NORTH PACIFIC ROAD -WILL ACQUIRE FOR US THE BRITISH POSSESSIONS.
II. The line of the ^orthPacific road runs for 1,500 miles near the British possessions, and, when built, will drain the a gri cultural products of the rich baskatchewan and Red river districts east of tlie mountains, and the gold country on the Frazier, Thompson, and Kootenav rivers wesfc
•ii V nlountalns- If we do not build this railroad tlie English surely SL oi? ^e tu^oue•htheil' territory so soon as the proprietary rights T.^a+T118 ^^"P^yliave been determined and disposed of. IwmT prtv0,^^ mi the province west and north of Lsike Superior the
m-^ ^r ^ !1? w?11 ^^btedly construct the line, unless it sliall be
^u S ?^ ble ^ b!^lne' fore^^ by tlie ^or h Pacific. From Stua^^ ^y49"' l»™"el of latitnde, it is 3,500 miles
^eTn secm^i- 1^ ^y "i ^ Fr;lneiac0 ilnd N^- Ywl- This advau-bv'th^^EnJ s, i00^^1111 tr;ule' froln ^i1 ^1 "ot be thrown aWiiy Paci^ rofte ^^ ls taken ^ ^ ^ ^ I'nildiitg tlie ^ortli
mere^t^caS ^^r1'^^10 ;wn(-^ ;lt l>u^t sollnd' i[\w of all the mach ?uerv'^ t 1 ^'eu1"^' ^ww[w '>" ^ •^ "1 ^' o(•^u Theopening'byuyfi^to.? hew,cu;tnn(l^^ between Asia iind Europe. the British DosseTsi^0 ? ^orth lll(•lliti r«"lroad sCtilM tlie (k'stiiiy ot
Amerie.uhS S^ ^ 91st twv[^ Tln.y will beronie s.
frum the new doiniu ^n',^11 /etllll^.thtlt «ic.y will In- in t-ncft Mevered a question of time A ; ULh(1 'ration or tlu.ir .iiiinixiitiou will be but
towards us ^Yul be fou ^1tly! 't'.ot'tbti ^t'tllil^' th;lt ^t-.^.v '"'l"1^ tllc1111 nu lu a 1-etitiuii to tlir hoine government, cxtcn-
PACIFIC RAILROADS. 21
sively circulated in British Columbia last year, iu which tlic memorialists Tiraved her Majesty:
t 1. ^ ^/
Either to relieve us immediately nf the expense of an excessive staff of officials, assist. Hie e,sta blishment. of a British line of steamc-rs to Panama, so that emigrants from England mav reach us, and also assume the debts of tins colony, or that your Majesty will gi-iiciouslv per nut the colony to become a portion of the United States. That every fcelin"' nf loyalty iind cheri.shed sentiments of our he.ii-ts prompt us to cling to our present connection with onr mother country, and to count as our best inheritance our birthright as Britons; but all our commercial and business relations are so intimate with tlio neigiiboriDg American population that we see no other feasible help out of our present difficulties than by bciug uiiited with them, unless your Majesty's government will help us as aforesaid.
THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC ROAD WILL ANNEX NORTHERN MEXICO.
III. In like manner the Southern Pacific railroad, on the 35th parallel of latitude, will so intimately relate us by trade, mining- operations, and other enterprises with the northern states of old Mexico, from which branch roads will soon be built to the main trunk, that they will be Americanixed, and eventually absorbed into our Union without the cost of purchase or the crime or expense of conquest.
t
THE GUARANTEE OF THE INTEREST UPON THE ROADS' BONDS PERFECTLY SAFE.
The guarantee by the government of six per cent. interest upon the bonds of the roads to the extent of §30,000 a. mile is perfectly safe.
1. The two trunk roa ls will earn the money to pay the interest. The Southern Pacific goes in large part through a settled country long under cultivation, and w^liich now possesses abundantly the elements of a freig-hfc traffic in wheat, corn, barley, wool, hides, wine, cattle, horses, sheep, timber, coal, and ores of gold, silver, lead, and copper. The North Pacific will start from the western edge of what has been truthfully called the "continental wheat garden," and will traverse a succession of rich grain and grazing districts the whole length of its line. Each of the roads will carry immense amounts of machinery and supplies to the
mining regions.
2. There w^s never exacted by capitalist from borrower such comprehensive security against loss as the government has taken in this bill. First, it Ukes every acre of land the roads own; second, it takes the whole of their earnings for transportation for the government; third, it takes ten per cent. of the entire gross receipts of the roads; fourth, on default it takes the roads themselves! There cannot be a question about the fullness of the security to the government for its guarantees. There may be a question, however, if roads thus dealt with and divested of t^heir
resources can ever be built. . .
3 The experience of the government with the eastern division, or Kansas Pacific road, demonstrated that one-JwIf of the charges arising from services to the government iu moving troops, supplies, and mails, is more than sufficient to meet the accruing interest on the bonds to be guaranteed We have elsewhere shown that the retention of the y0 per cent. under the existing Pacific railroad laws was more than enough to keep down the interest on the bonds issued to that road, and to provide a sinking fund to redeem them before they matured. It is of departmental record, and wholly incontrovertible, that such has been the result. This result will characterize the relations of the government to the roa l in New Mexico and distant Arizona more fully than it did in Kansas. The business done for the government by the eastern division in Kau-
PACIFIC KAILKOADS.
22
. i af7 ^ shown by the accounts of the quartermaster's department, w^ in Ibu'i "" &111-"-. ^ .,,_ ' ^eseSited the following-results:
Trausportfitiou ^fre-^"---:::;:;::::;:::::::::;:::::::::::::::: %;^ ^ TraBsportiition of troops ..—••----• .......................... 34'54 y
Transportiition of mails-.— ..——--•—--• _^B4^U
Tot^--.---------- -------- J^9^4
if ft rt/rf/w^ rptained by the government,-----.--..-—--—----"-----.-- §255,954 12 % rt'on'as 4,ed ^ aid of the road. (paid by the government, aa certiried to by register of the treasury)---—.—.—..—--..------..-. 201,234 55
T aownp fm excess in the bands of the government of. ----..—-------.-.--. 54,719 57
%^s suSt So Provide a sinking fund that will extinguish all the bonds
at^maturity, ,aud still leave a balance in the hands of the government of.... ^ 11,20477
This was the result of the first year's operation of the road, paid in cash into the treasury by the road, without any reference to the economy and advantages of rail over wagon transportation. Instead of the road beino' in debt to the government, the government came in debt to the
road. What is thus demonstrated to be true of the Kansas Pacific road will
prove to be equally true in the case of the :North Pacinc road.
We fully believe that the experience of the United States in its aid of these additional Pacific railways will be that of ^Napoleon's government in assisting-the establishment of the railways of France. He without hesitation guaranteed five per cent. interest on the capital that would be invested iu building 2,351 miles of new railway. The roads completed paid 10 per cent. dividends^ and the government guarantee was never zvanted and never called/or.
THE OBJECTION OP TJNTIMELINESS OF PRESENT AID ANSWERED.
The objections urged to a grant of government aid to two additional trunk lines to the Pacific concede the importance and necessity of the hues, but insist on the nntimeliness of present aid. It is said that the country is in debt, that the treasury cannot afford tlie burden, thafc the national indebtedness ought not to be, increased, and that these two enterprises should await the restoration of specie payments. These objections might have a show of force if the sovernment aid asked was a gitt ot money, or an advance of bonds, the interest ;ind the principal of
^11 "^Sovemment was expected to pay. But that is not what is n?i0^ ineroads Wly for a loan of the public credit, without any issue ii^K-; ^11TOrnla11 evide1^ tnat they can sind will protect it so that
Th^il .have t0 be ^\ by the government. rp(iir "lc^+ns w this score tuen ^"S without substance, the question .^7^^^^^ lsthti besfc time for the United States to ;iid these two
re^ti^^^^^^ Certtiinly tlic best time to Ix^in tbo posia^^sen-.p1^ ^P^^res of the government, the cost of its half of +lp«,?al•.m governments in the western
the besttiinp ?? lne1 l^the p^(ls l"t time lllu1 ^t ^'v l11^0- ^t'1-111"1^ aiidtheinZ^ t0 a^uire tllt* ^minerce, the population, the wealth,
now and^S^611^'111^tlle t\vu .Kiditional ruiuls will give us is
it is manifest tl i+ tii.' lt the ro;ltLS tlrt' t0 b^ pfolitabh- to the country, Plish the ^yd^^^^ If they will iLCvom-
poueinent of theiTi. t1' obyt^u('t"l•^' 'idmit tiley will accomplish, post-a gigantic scale ^^Wiun certainly is national loss and damage on
PACIFIC RAILROADS. 33 ENGLAND AND FRANCE GFARANTEED COSTLIER RAILWAY VNDERTAK
iNGry, TIIOUOII LESS AHI^ TO DO so THAN THE UNITED STATES^
Greatliritain Ims guaranteed the interest on §60,000,000 loaned to construct railways m .iiiiad,!,, and on .^40,000,000 advanced to build the
cotum railways 111 India. Her ability to meet a liability of six per cent interest upon $500,000,000 is not as great as that of the UnUcirStat^' The debt of Great Mtaiii in 1863, the time she began to aid with* her credit the developments of her colonial railway systems, was $3,915,000 000 resting upon a, population of less than 30,000,000, with a'distributivo
I 1 - • J f* .*l 4 J \ J L J Jt I / I I *-•-> *T •* * '-/II. I*. » \_fbunlen per capita of $l;i0 40 to every ni^n, woman, and child. She then h;id ;T stiuidmg' smnyof li)S^18 officers and men, tind L»7,331 horses The expenses other government that year were $409,000,000.
France within the last 11 years has loaned her credit to private compa
nies to stimulate railroad construction to the extent of ^0^0,000,000. the
government guaranteeing- four and five per cent. interest and 0.65 nor
J ^ _ • 1 • /I 1 J J^h J^ , ," • - ^/^/*-
cent. for a sinking fund to pay off the debenture debt in 50 years. Her public debt in 1S02, the year in which she most boldly adventnred on this wise career of improvement, was $2,200,000,000; her population was 37,000,000; the distributive share of ea -h person's load of the debt being $59 65. TIie standing army of France in 1863 was, "peace establishment," 40-1,195 men and 83,368 horses; "war establishment," 757,725 men and 1-1:3,238 horses. The expenses of her government that year were 8515,900,000.
The public debt of the United States on the 1st of January, 1869, -waa $2,540,707,201 25. Onr population then was about 41,000,000; the burden of the debt was ®Gl 97 per capita. The regular army of the United States does not contain over 40,000 men. The expenses of the government for the current fiscal year are officially estimated at $336,000,000, including the payment of interest on the public obligations.
Which of the three countries is in the best condition to embark in a career of developing wealth and acquiring power through an increase of commerce and industry? Beyond all question the United States. Presently she is in the bestcondition; prospectively she is in a better condition than either France or England ever can be. See our growth in population, and " that tells the story." Since the first national census in 1790 the increase of population in the United States has been so uniform that its future can be predicted with certainty. The following shows
the percentage of growth for each 10 years:
Per cent, PCT ccllt-
1790 to 1800..........-...---...-. 35.03 3830 to 1840.-—............... 32.67
1SOO to 1&10.----...-.-..,--.-.—. 36.45 1840 to 1850—....----.....-.-. 35.87
1810 to 18-20........---...-—..... 3:i.01 1850 to 1860.....----.-...--—.. 35.46
1820 to 1830............. --...----. 33.49 Average for seventy years....---.. 34.57
At this rate of increase the population of the.United States in11870 will be 42,322,710; in 1880 will be 57,966,368; in 1890 will be ;0,6;6,73i; in
1900 will be 103,205,880. ^ . , . , ... _ , , -_, If our present public debt shall be maintained, like that of Great
Britain, the principal of which no Englishman dreams wiU eve_r be paid, this great increase of our population would reduce it by distributing its burden per capita, so that it would scarcely be felt, but it will be paid. We have already commenced to pay it at a rate of speed which would strain the resources and business of any other country on the globe. When the war ended, less than four years ago, our debt, liquidated and
unliquidated, amounted to over ^3,300,000,000. On the 1st oi Septembereel, amounteu 10 ovei piJ,Dw,"v"»
*lu each teu yeard.
PACIFIC RAILROADS.
• iwnul nntnbers only ^OO^OO^OO—a reduction by actual last it was in round "Tlmuers n^^iiaif of $800,000,000. The debt of
^h SJn o'l tS^^^^^^^^ in 1 S1 5 was ^,200,000,000, was ui ?8^TSTu^^ ^ took her 47 ^ t0 red^
^^te^ase of population in the United States win be accompanied
bvs^^oreZ^^^^ i~se of wealth. We have.the authority K^tl e most eminent statisticians in Ensland for the statement
+hftf ^nrmo- the neriod of 25 years, from 1833 to 18^8, the increase of ^TiS Ci was 66 per cent. In the 20 years from 1840
to 1860 the increase in the United States was over 330 per cent. ^or ia this an isolated fact in the comparative progress of the two countries. From 1800 to 1858, (58 years,) Great Britain's increase in wealth was 233 per cent.; from 1800 to 1860, (60 years,) onr increase was 1,400 per cent. During- the 40 years from 1793. to 1833 the growth of wealtli in Great Britain was 151 per cent.; during- substantially the same period the increase of the United States in wealth was 253 per cent. From 1833 to 1858 Great Britain's increase was (i9 per cent., from 1830 to 1860 the increase in tlie United States was 508 per cent.
These facts and figures authorize the declaration that there is no nation on the earth so capable of undertaking and carrying through great enterprises, to develop a country's resources and increase its trade and commerce, as is the American republic. If England—with a debt much larger than ours, increasing- in population, wealth, and annual production in a. far less ratio than we do, with a costly standing army live times greater than ours, with a wasteful navy four times greater than ours—if she, without hesitation, guarantees $500,000,000 of bonds to aid tlie construction of railroads in two of her colonies, can we not find tlie courage to help build two additional trunk lines to the Pacinc by guaranteeing the interest on thirty year bonds to one-third of that amount? It France— with a public debt almost as large as our own, with a population that in 60 years has increased only one-twentieth as fast as ours— with a standing army ranging from 400,000 to 750,000 men to support-if she welcomes railway extension on its first coining from England, and promptly grants her credit to the amount of $01*0,000,000 simpiv to develop her domestic and foreign trade, sliall we witli cowardly stu-pidrty sit down till our national notes and bonds are all paid, and refuse to lend the government's endorsement of tlie interest alone on $150,000,000
ot pertectly responsible and safe paper, to accomplish tlie building of railways which will be channels for tlie world'.s commerce, and will populate and develop .,00,000 square miles of tlie richest mineral and agricultural territory on tlie globe, nearly every acre of which is public property t
TO^^IlvvlD^ AND FORTY ^LUONS OF BONDS GFARANTEED BY rwSr^ SIMPLY T0 DESTROY THE UNITED STATES7 MONOPOLY Or'
^Ui, 1UJ\.
oiJ'l'^8,^?*;11^"1"1001"'"80 with wlli(-11 t]10 "ritisli ffoveniiiK-nt campd
^^^ni."i^l""'1*'1;" t" 'i11'""1"' •• s"^>lll.v ot' «>^" *•">"- I"1"^ tllilt tiou an^t, 'm""111I'e"(u•llt "f11"' (T"itl•ll ^"tr.-, "r-rit siiwiill iiirli-Bn?£ ^ i1, VB t() ^"'"'i^ "s 1" siniu' thrill of rivdirv.
It to a^Mi^^''1''"1"'11'^1'^0""11'81111^ itinl 1,,-iUO miles liroild.
mi^y ^te^""11 f"l""st ""I'^il.lr jn.iK'lcs, lii.K.' li'r.'^;
witli i^exfi-^ ^ '"""ntiiins, ;iinl rxtriisiv,. pl.iiiis, ;i]l f.iinliilifl
anrit^°n^tdw ^ '"x"";""'.' "f Vt'srtiitiiiii, wliii.li iili.striu-t.s iirii.yrrss ana ainioht indents passa^. by ni;in w ln,,,,t.' 'rii,. must liiviir ilil • rut-
PACIFIC RAILROADS. ^
ton district's wore inaccessible for want of fteilif-inc nf /™ • .. To get the staph> to market it was "eGe^^o^^^S^of
men and animals, throu-h regions of wooded wildeniess0 acros^^ .or.es and ravines, over mountains, and to ferry it across rivers. The T)re%
ing out of onr civil war was.seized on as the favorable inorne t for inaugurating avast system of railways, which should euable tlieEnff lish to get this cotton (. maply to tide-water, and consequent teS
late its contniuous production throughout India, to the extent of a, new and independent supply. It was determined to Imild 4,600 miles of rail. road. Ihe estimates of their cost presented the formidable sum total of $440,000,000! Without hesitation the imperial government granted ite credit m aid of the works. It offered to guarantee 5 per cent, interest on all capital that should be invested in Indian railroads. What has been the result? The East Indian railroad company have now under its management 1,310 miles of railway which cost §100,000,000. The Great Indian Peninsular road was in operation last year for 1,233 miles of its unfinished line. From Calcutta to Bombay, a distance of 1,45^ miles, there is unbroken railroad communication. Tlie branch lines connected witli the main stems are of vast extent, and will cost as much money as the stems have cost. India has now 4,200 miles of railway in operation, almost wholly the fruit of government aid. It is only 15 years ago that she Iiad her first mile of railroad. What have these wisely conceived and bravely undertaken improvements accomplished for Great Britain's present monopoly of the manufacture and trade in cotton goods? More than one-half of the cotton spun and wove in England is derived from India. The United States have lost their monopoly of supplying Europe wifch this prime staple of necessity. The Indian railroads have removed the chief obstacles to the production, by the English, of an
almost unlimited supply of cotton. The guaranteeing- of interest to the investors in the Indian railroads
was a splendid act of statesmanship on the part of the British ministry. Financially it has proven as safe as in policy ifc was wise. Foi_ the roads were so remunerative as commercial roads alone, that in 1867 the earnings of several of them exceeded the 5 per cent. guaranteed interest. During the half year ending in December, 1867, the East Indian and Great Peninsular companies declared surplus dividends. -Halt the amount of surplus income was devoted to the repayment of the government's advances for interest, and the other half was divided among the shareholders. And, as might have been foreseen, the amount of guaranteed interest which the government paysL dinnmsh^^n17 i^Tw?
1865 the amount was £1,450,000; in 1866 lt was£800^ was only £000,000. The great earnings and pronte of the roads make
t»e government guarantee yearly less aud lessllecessary., .._ „ ,,,^n
Surely, what & British government ^aP1'0?^^ article of British industry aud commerce, the United statesca^
to do for two additional trunk railroads to the P^;^^^^^^ de^ almost one half of our country and give us ,ove^a^^
with Europe, besides causing a direct saving to the,&o\elD^ portation, and in maintaining and protecting our westem Tenitoneb.
SO PROFITABLE ARE RAILROADS THAT THE GOVERK^T(WLD HAVE AFFORDED TO BUILD ALL IN THE UNITED S1ATES.
So impressed arc the majority of ^^^^^^^
of these projected highways to the Pacific ulatt•!y^^ say that if the existing railroads throughout the United Statcb coma u
PACIFIC RAILROADS.
hppn Mmstructed iu no other manner, it would have been the soundest S^tb^^ to have a^umed tlieir construction, even with-
1 ^L pvn^^tioii of deriving a dollar of income from them. The actual cost of ^ese^ would have been about $1,200 000,000. The interest ou this sum is $73,000,000. The roads have created a commerce worth ^0 000,000,000 annually. That commerce li^s enabled the people to pay yearly $400 000,000 into the public treasury with iar g-reater ease than they could have paid $100,000,000 without them. Without these roads it would not have been possible for the people to maintain the war against the rebellion or sustain the financial burdens it imposed With the roads they bore them with comparative ease. No railroad line of ordinary importance was ever constructed that did not irom the wealth it created speedily repay its cost, although it may not have returned a dollar to its shareholders or bondholders. If this be true of local and unimportant works, how much more so must it be true of great national lines like the .Northern Pacific and the Southern Pacific, which will open the central continental domain now unoccupied, but abounding iu every element of wealth, and will save the necessity of lingering voyages around Cape
Horn and the cape of Good Hope.
THE GUARDED PROVISIONS OF THE BILL ATTACKED BY THE MINORITY OF THE COMMITTEE.
In regard to the bill which has been unwarrantably criticized by the minority of the committee tlie majority would say that though it designated by name six roads to be aided, there were in reality but three: the Northern Pacific, from Lake Superior to Puget's Sound; the Southern Pacific railroad, on tlie 35th parallel, with connections, to give the Southern States some outlet to the western ocean; and a branch to Oregon up tlie Humboldt valley, connecting the northwest with the central line from San Francisco to Omaha. Unavoidably mentioned and treated in detail simply because they were separate interests or independent organizations, four of the roads named in the bill served to weight it down arithmetically, though they were but a part of a single and connected system, as the delta outlets of the Mississippi are but the distributing channels of its current. The Atlantic and Pacific railroad, and Little Kock and Fort Smith railroad, forming together a continuous line trom Little Eock in Arkansas to Anton Chico, or Albuquerque, in New Mexico, and the extension of tlie Kansas Pacific railway south westward from its present stoppage in the middle of tlie plains to a junction with the Atlantic and Pacific at or east of Albuquerque, in connection with the trunk-line westward along the 35th parallel to the Colorado river, to be constructedJointlybythe Kansas Company and the Atlantic and Pacific
•p;l^I+ly'allconstltnted? wUn tlie Southern Pacific railroad of California, in reality, but one line-the United States Southern Pacific railroad.
tTuTi16^ roa^ nal,^ed i11 tlle w Ilre an P^ts of a general system of
^vs n^^^11 ^rallway' i^"'11 ha(1 its ori^n "i ^ ^ railroad sur-sDeed^ST8 Tl0 by the S0^'^^ with a view to attaining
w-^^S ^i bet\ve^1 the Atl{nltic in^ ^ Paeific-a system ^^^y tlie equal riglits of tlie southern, central, and iiorth-
^ \^^^^^^^^^
nnne,^^?1^ ^das t^ po'l('•v )f the .^wi-inn^t, siiu-7 repeatedly con-
w^ K^ ^ Theeentra1 ^ ^i" Oiiiaha to San Fraii(.iMCoh;is
r^^^ A a^i I1 ^i111^ l)tlc11 ^^"'d sind endowed witl^iindy. The
tt-t^^^ un ^l, !lly b(^L>'l (•h;ll•t^T(l(l •^ -nd"w(-d with lauds. Some 01 tliL liiKb conytitutnig ity astern drita have b^.n iiu-orponited and
27
PACIFIC RAILROADS.
endowed. y > policy of the government has been more define n. ^ ^,ied tli.ui the construction by public aid of t1 ree^m± ^l n? te?'
^y from t1"' Atlantic to the Pacific States, one^f S S^. r^ twoot them crossing the Rocky mountains sinking and
The endeavor, by two of the minority of the committee, to cast a sti-ma npou the lull by cat ing it an " omnibus," into which have been th 5wS it distinct measures having no relation to each other for the too apna1 rant purpose ot combining strength for the whole that mio-ht not be olit;uiied for the sei>ariite parts," is unjust. The measures are kindred f;ir more so than are tlie separate appropriations for improvin"- harbors in a general river and harbor appropriation bill, or the appropriations for fortifications, for tlie increase of the cavalry force, and the support of the West Point Academy, iu a general military appropriation bill. These railroads, with the Union Pacific, belong- to and constitute a single system. There cannot be a just objection to the combination of them in a single act. Tlie provisions in favor of each of the roads in the bill were as accessible to criticism, amendment, and even motions to strike out, as if they had singly come before the Senate in separate bills. Special care was taken in framing- the bill to so draw it that elemina-tions of portions should not affect the residue, and that the hill could be easily modified in respect to any one of the roads without involving- the rest, or introducing' confusion. To embrace them all in one act certainly had tlie merit of simplifying action on them in the two branches of Congress, and of economizing time and labor. If strength was got by this union, it was only'the legitimate strength of the several parts. The measures separately were entitled to the favorable action of Congress. Put together, they certainly did not lose their merits and their claims.
But the most remarkable "view" of the minority of the committee is their declarations Alat " if Congress is to continue the policy of granting the credit of the government for the construction of railways it would be far better to adhere to the plan of granting directly the bonds of the government." This is so utterly m conflict with the determuiation to which the Pacific railroad committee unanimously came not tc'repeat the costly errors in the endowment of the Union Pacific road, that the "'ajority of tlie committee can not forbear the expression of their as tou-
ishment that a preference, for the bond-subsidy plan shouIdbeP^^ avowed by two of the minority, after it had been l•ePlK^^ committee, as it had been previously stigmatized by officeJ,o.ftS^^^
nient and repudiated by the people. One of the lQmon%ofS from his official connection with the Union Pacific ^J^^^^^
a position to know that for the government it w^^_.bett^^ to the plan of granting bonds directly" in aid of new roa^^^^^ ^ b^
iu effect, charged by government officials ^thorlzedt^
^oad has bee°n bui^-withtbe PiJe.^0^^^^^ Put w>nds and lands granted in aid ot it by tlie S0^,, , throagh-into tlie pockets of its constructors. Thiss accept^ ^•1^1^^
out tlie country, and it has not only createdab^^^^^ g-ov-tlie federal legislation, but has produced au.w^ P^ ^ » fe ^
^nmental ^ of any kind to P^110^^^^^^^^^^ of the many projects of the greatest merit and retains uie w> v p
tw\l,lt^y• -1 +ho rMwtition of the error which Tlie committee, anxious to avoid tterep,^ railway
^rred the initial legislation of,.c?^^^^^^ a^, nnanimou.slv agree to substitute tlie ^(>ufe
1" lieu of tlie plan o'f issuing bouds-and of fixni a urni ^ ^ ^ Per mile of the entire leiigtb of their lines, to ti nicn lilt;
PACIFIC RAILROADS.
should issue their bonds, instead of subsidizing them with cumulating ^d of $16,000, $32,000, and $48,000 per mile to meet imaginary difficulties of work and hypothetical cost of construction. More, tlie committee was determined that abuse of the government aid should not be possible in any bill tliev reported to tlie Senate, and that the aid they recommended should go wholly to tlie construction of tlie lines, and none of it to the unearned benefit of the parties contracting- to build them. The bill they framed, tlicrefore, so jealously guarded tlie interests of tlie people that it is perhaps open to the complaint tliat it is oppresive if not destructive to the roads. It took from tlie roads all of their l^nds—all the money derived from transportation done for tlie United States—took ten per cent. of all their gross receipts—required them to pay the interest on their bonds before it fell due—applied the principles of the homestead law to all of their lands—and in case of default to perform any of tlie conditions imposed upon them, declared the roads bankrupt and handed them over to the government. If better security for the United States could be got, it is difficult to be imagined how it could be devised. The more important question is, if tlie roads could possibly be built under such severe restrictions, and if the country under this form of governmental a.id would not lose the benefits aimed at in tlie construction of
these national highways?
THE PROVISIONS OF THIS BILL INTENDED TO BE A FINALITY OF THE PACIFIC RAILROAD SYSTEM.
Tlie applications for aid to railroads which have from time to time been referred by the Senate to this committee were very numerous. The majority deemed it wise to select from them the lines that would most advantageously place the several geographical sections of the country in connection with the Pacific—which would penetrate those portions of the public domain in the central and western parts of tlie continent that were best adapted to agriculture and the rapid production of mineral wealth—in which the government has tlie largest direct interest by reason of its lines of military posts, and in wliicli costly transportation and maintenance of troops lias for many years existed, and will continue to exist, until tlie country is settled by'railroads and becomes self-protecting-. The bill, instead of being "dangerous," as charged, by opening the door indefinitely for future railroad grants, was evpressly designed to be Ike finality of Pacific railroad leffislation. Under its provisions no section of the country' can, with a shadow of justice, complain that it lias not been provided with its best line of communication to the great harbors of the. Pacific ocean. On the contrary, had the measures thus combined in tlie bill been taken up separately, the result would be that the country would drift into an inferior system, and
long and expensive lines would be required where short branches have been made to answer in this bill.
THE BILL WOULD EFFECT AN ANNUAL SAVING TO THE GOVERNMENT
GREATER THAN TUE ENTIRE AMOUNT GUARANTEED BY TUE GOVERNMENT.
Tlie majority of the committee have careiullv investigated tlie cost of maintaining troops in tlio public domain, of the government and support of the. Indian tribes, tlie transportation of tlie mails, and tlie maintenance of civil government in seven Territories, and an- satisfied tliat
29
PACIFIC RAILROADS.
ti^t cost will be annually reduced by the construction of this system of railroads to a much greater amount than the entire sum to be gi^ranTeed by the. L nited ht.i cs under the provisions of this bill. More tiSis
these road^ ^ .»«^^c^, would effect an immediate and continuous ew^.
owy w the outlay the .^rcrnwc^, even if every dollar of the guaranteed sum. had to be paid by the i nifed States. ~
The amount of guarantee asked for by the bill is $9,000,000 per annum During the next hve years, in which the roads will be in course of con^ striiction, tlie government^ obligation will nominally average $4 500 000 per anmun— about the equivalent of the sum which for the last five years
lias been yearly expended in making unavailing Indian treaties and maintaining Indian agencies.
Our conviction of the economy of the guarantee is founded on these facts:
I. The Secretary of War, in compliance with a resolution of the Senate of February 0, LSOS, reported the cost of maintaining troops in New Mexico and Arizona for the years 1805, 1866, and 1867. The amount was $16,627,922 47—more than $5,500,000 yearly. This amount does not include tlie cost of Indian agencies and supplies, of transporting- the mails, or of supporting the territorial governments of New Mexico and Arizona. It includes tlie sheer military outlay in cwo Territories only of the vast region traversed by tlie southern line named in the bill, leaving out southwestern Kansas, southern Colorado, the Indian territory, northern Texas, and southern California. The length of the Kansas Pacific and Atlantic and Paciiic roads traversing these two Territories would be 950 miles, on which tlie interest guaranteed by the United States under this hill would amount to $1,710,000 annually at and after the expiration oC five years. This is less than. one-third of the military outlay now made in tiwse two Territories, while the cost of government transportation would "e reduced at once twu-thirds by substituting rail for wagons, and the number of troops required to be'kept. in those Territories could, as General Sherman has testified before this committee, "be. reduced one halt, owing to the greater mobility of the remainder and the growth ot selt-
protecting settlements along the line of the road." In tlie Territories penetrated by the north Pacific road equal results
^ould take place, as tlie statements of General Grant and Deputy yuar-
tennaster General lugalls prove. _ , , ..„ ,p ^•n _ H. The Military Committee of the House, in the first session of tins
Congress, reported tliat tlie actual saving to ?e.^.ove^"m?tlnT^ the use of the finished portion of the eastern division, o^,Kausa,s^^^^^^^
"»e, an average distance of 210 miles, was $867 382 Atlcsstha^ ^If of tins rate for 2,500 miles, (the total length ^V0^^^^
to he aided by tins bill,) and for 2,500 miles of uorthOTlluesto^^^^ ^ aided, making 5,000 roles in all, the saving annually wond ^^^ §1,000,000 the entire amount of expenditure to be guaranteed by
Suited States. , ..^ ^a to meet
„ In reply to the objection that the ^vernl1le"t,w^1^^^^^ of ^ liabilities assumed by its guarantees under thih blU t e ma^o ^
committee fortunately have the actual cxpenenwot0^^^^^ embraced within its provisions-the eastern divisioi,oi Kansas -r
rsulway-wliicli haa now in operation 405 m lies o» ioaa ^ ^
n ^e amount of government transpol-^10^,!^ Janu-^in the time it comment;(id doing business, octobLr1,^ averaged less
y 1, 1.SC!), during whu-h tlie governinen^ use o-te^\^ of ^au ^20 nnlcs, lias bceu ex;mtly ^1^3,509 1)4. Ihe wlio
30 PACIFIC RAILROADS.
interest incurred and paid by the government,on the bonds issued to this road to January 1,1869, inclusive, lias been,.8.639,305 56. Had this road been aided under the plan of this bill, the whole sum guaranteed would. have amounted to exactly $1,198,697 93—very: nearly the amount of its transportation for government alone (all of which would liave been retained under this bill) during the same period. The result above stated was attained, let it be borne in mind, while the road was in course of
construction. The gross earnings of the eastern division, or Kansas Pacific railway
during its construction from October, 1866, to January, 1869, have been $3,906,285 99. This amount was earned without a pound of i4 through
freight" and with the line in an unfinished condition.
Ten per cent. of those gross earnings, to be retained by the United States under the provisions of this bill, would be $390,628 60.
The entire sales of lands belonging to this company during the same • period amounted to ^337,606 33, all of which the government would
have retained under this bill. Summing up the. above items—
Government transportation -..--...-.......- ......... 81, 033, 569 94
Ten per cent. of gross earnings.... .... ...... ........ 390, 628 60
Proceeds of land sales --.-........ ...... ............. 337, 606 33
We have a total of...................... ............ l, 761, 804 S74 t V A-,
/h /
as security for a guarantee amounting in that period of time to exactly $1,198,697 93, over half a million more than sufficient.
The majority of the committee have had satisfactory evidence presented to them that, by reason of the greater cost of maintaining troops in the more distant territories of New Mexico and Arizona, and the large amount of commercial business that would be thrown upon tlie
line if it were extended to the Pacific ocean, results greater than the
above would have been attained throughout.
A WAR^I^G INCIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE WAR.
The second year of the war presented a memorable case, which covered the questions at issue between the minority and majority of your committee, which we beg to recall to the attention of the Senate. Tlie War Department was disabled by act of Congress from building a railroad from Kentucky to Knoxville, in Tennessee, the construction of which had been ordered as a military necessity. It was feared that somebody would make money out of the work. ' Of course it was stigmatized as a " railroad job." Its cost was estimated at $10,000,000. It has been repeatedly stated by the most eminent commanders in the western army that had that road been built it would have saved to the government in the three subsequent years of tlie war twenty times its cost, that it would have shortened tlie war in the west one year, and
have saved the lives of 20,000 soldiers. .But Congress was persuaded to believe that it was " a railroad job."
The majority of tlie Pacific Railroad Committee, in conclusion, beg leave to say that they believe that the people of tlie United State-; demand tlie roads provided for in tills bill; tliat tlie'people clearly understand the advantages of them, and do not participate in tlie recently raised outcry against government railroad aid. They also believe tliat the credit of the nation and the market-value of its securities will be
PACIFIC RAILKOADS. 31
nhancpd nnd llot 1i^»im^1l(la ^y 011r P11^1"^?; immediately upon the petition of our iivoweA polu'y of triiiis-coiitim'iitsil railwaya, and steadily
^mna-itt^tlio en l. The minority o^ tlie o0in;nittee esiruestly recommend the passage of
tlle bin' -SV. ^1. STEWAET. CHAS. P. MAKE. JOHN CO'NNESS.
ALEXANDER KAMSEY. J. C. ABBOTT. B. F. EICE.