CHAPTER II.. The Pacific Railroad Iniquity.

THE PACIFIC RAILROAD INIQUITY.

On the first day of July, A. D. 1862, the charter of the Union Pacific railroad was passed. It contains, among others, the following provisions, to-wit:--

"SECTION 2. That the right of way through the public lands be, and the same is hereby, granted to said company for the construction of said railroad and telegraph line, and the right, power, and authority, are hereby given to said company to take from the public lands adjacent to the line of said road, earth, stone, timber, and other materials, for the construction thereof. Said right of way is granted to said railroad to the extent of two hundred feet in width on each side of said railroad, where it may pass over the public lands, including, all necessary grounds for stations, buildings, workshops, and depots, machine shops, switches, side tracks, turn-tables, and water stations."

The right of way was reduced to one hundred feet for each side of the railroad, by act of congress of July 2, 1864, and the right to take material for the construction of the road was limited to ten miles on each side thereof, by the same act. By this section the company is allowed to take from the public lands all the material needed in the construction of the road; to strip the lands, and leave them naked for the people. The real value of the lands is given to the company; the refuse left for the American people.

A part of the third section reads as follows:--

"That there be, and is hereby, granted to the said company, for the purpose of aiding in the construction of said railroad and telegraph line, and to secure the safe and speedy transportation of the mails, troops, munitions of war, and public stores thereon, every alternate section of land, designated by odd numbers, to the amount of five alternate sections per mile, on each side of said road, on the line thereof, and within the limits of ten miles on each side of said road, not sold, reserved, or otherwise disposed of, by the United States, and to which a pre-emption or homestead claim may not have attached at the time the line of said road is definitely fixed. Provided, that all mineral lands shall be exempted from the operation of this act; but when it shall contain timber, the timber is hereby granted to said company."

By the act of congress of July 2, 1864, this act was so amended as to grant ten alternate sections on each side of the road, and to grant to the company the iron and coal found within ten miles of the road. The reader will notice the reasons given for this grant. 1st. To aid in the construction of the road; a legitimate reason. 2d. To secure the safe and speedy transportation of the mail, troops, munitions of war, &c. Twenty sections of land per mile are given to the company for the purpose of securing the safe and speedy transportation of troops, and above enumerated articles. It has been said that a poor reason is better than no reason. Of all poor reasons given for an act, this appears to be one of the weakest. The reader will not be able to discover its force. As we progress, we will find that from its inception this Pacific railroad charter, and amendments, were "conceived in sin, and brought forth in iniquity;" that, in its provisions and grants, it presents a state of facts which stamps the whole scheme as a base fraud upon the public, planned by men who were seeking to enrich themselves at the expense of their country; and that congress, either from inattention to the interests of the people, or because the spoils were to be divided, granted the company the precise charter that was to enable it to plunder the public without hindrance.

That we may not be regarded as treating the subject captiously, let us concede that the reason given was a good one, and that the grant of lands would give security to the transportation of the mails; still the thought presents itself that a grant of lands to the value of $15,500 per mile would be ample aid for the people to give to this company, in the construction of its road. It is not a government work, owned by the public, operated and controlled by the government. It is a private enterprise, and while all persons see the necessity of a railroad connection between the Atlantic and Pacific states, but few will indorse the policy of the government giving to this private company more aid in lands and money than the entire cost of the road, or more than it would have cost if built by private capital. And when it is found that this large grant is made without any equivalent, that not even the mails, troops, or munitions of war, can be transported over the road without the payment of just such rates as this private corporation chooses to charge, the conclusion is inevitable that the good, not of the public, but of the corporation, was the controlling motive in affording it aid; that the untold millions of subsidy bonds, and vast tracts of land wrongfully taken from the public, and given to this company, was but placing the interests of the whole people, in their social and business intercourse across the continent, at the mercy of a soulless corporation.

The donations we have already noticed are the "right of way;" the right to take all building material within ten miles of the road, and the grant of twenty sections of land per mile. But this is not all. Section five of the act provides: "That for the purposes herein mentioned, the secretary of the treasury shall, upon the certificate, in writing, of said commissioners, of the completion and equipment of forty consecutive miles of said railroad and telegraph line, in accordance with the provisions of this act, issue to said company bonds of the United States of one thousand dollars each, payable in thirty years after date, bearing six per centum per annum interest (said interest payable semi-annually) which interest may be paid in United States treasury notes, or in any other money or currency which the United States have, or shall, declare lawful money, and legal tender, to the amount of sixteen of said bonds per mile; and to secure the repayment to the United States, as hereinafter provided, of the amount of said bonds so issued and delivered to said company, together with all interest thereon which shall have been paid by the United States, the issue of said bonds and delivery to the company shall ipse facto constitute a first mortgage on the whole line of the railroad and telegraph, together with the rolling stock, fixtures, and property of every kind and description, and in consideration of which said bonds may have been issued." As we shall hereafter see, this section was amended by act of July 2d, 1864, so as to allow the company to issue its own bonds to the same amount per mile issued by the government, and to subrogate the government bonds to those issued by the company, thus making the bonds issued by the company the first mortgage bonds.