But let us follow still further the course of this Pacific railroad company. It would occupy too much space, and weary the reader were we to state in detail all the acts of congress passed in aid of this gigantic combination. In speaking of the Pacific railroad we are apt to look upon it as simply a line of road extending from the Missouri river to the Pacific ocean; to consider its great length; the character of the country through which it passes; the sparse settlements; the necessity for direct and speedy communication between the Atlantic and Pacific states, and we yield a ready assent to the action of congress in voting lands and subsidy bonds for its construction. But when we find that the charters of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific companies, and their various amendments, together with the several acts of congress making many other companies branches of the Pacific road, virtually consolidates all the railroads between the cities of St. Louis and St. Paul on the Mississippi river, and all the railroads running west from Chicago, into one vast corporation, uniting all in one track from Fort Kearney to the Pacific ocean, the people will begin to realize that while they thought congress was appropriating lands and moneys solely for the purpose of opening a highway across the territories, it was in fact aiding a combination of men and corporations in their attempt to control the commerce of the great west; and when we further learn that this great railroad interest is already virtually consolidated, and that the whole people are placed at the mercy of this great monopoly, we see at a glance the extent of the power vested in it by act of congress.
Among the railroad companies that are included in this combination are the following: Chicago & Northwestern; Iowa Falls & Sioux City; Cedar Rapids & Missouri River; Leavenworth, Atchinson, & Northwestern; Kansas Pacific; Union Pacific; Burlington & Missouri River; Sioux City & Pacific; Missouri River; Chicago, Iowa, & Nebraska; Hannibal & St. Joseph; and the St. Paul and Sioux City. Most of the above roads received grants of lands; some of them received subsidy bonds, ostensibly for the public benefit, but in reality for the purpose of combining in one the interests of all these combinations. Whatever may have been the intention of congress in granting exclusive privileges to these companies and permitting them to unite, the effect has been to fasten upon the great west a monopoly, that for all time to come will be an instrument of oppression. With its vast power and wealth it can but control the fortune of the laboring and producing classes inhabiting the richest portion of our common country. The further fact that this great corporate power is the particular pet of congressmen, and that among its directors and stockholders are members and ex-members of congress, render the hope of any change in favor of the people remote, if at all attainable. If the reader is desirous of learning who are the directors and managers of the Pacific railroad and branches, he has only to consult Poor's Railroad Manual for 1872-3. He will find among the present directors the men who, in congress, voted the lands and subsidies to the companies in which they are now directors, and also, that some of these directors are now holding the office of congressmen and of United State's senators.
By the acts of congress granting and amending the charters of the Pacific railroad companies and branches, it is made the duty of the president of the United States to appoint five directors, "who shall be denominated directors on the part of the government," and these acts forbid such directors being stockholders in said Pacific railroad companies. It is made the duty of these government directors to exercise a general supervision of the Pacific road and branches, and to report its condition from time to time to the secretary of the interior. In contemplation of law they are to have no pecuniary interest in the companies or in the roads. The present government directors are B. F. Wade, of Ohio; Hiram Price, and J. F. Wilson, of Iowa; J. C. S. Harrison, of Indiana; and D. S. Ruddock, of Connecticut. By act of congress of June 2d, 1864, the Cedar Rapids & Missouri River railroad was authorized to connect with the Iowa branch of the Union Pacific road, and sections fifteen and sixteen of the acts of July 2d, 1864, place all roads connecting with the Union Pacific on an equality as to charges for freights and passengers, and permits them to consolidate if they elect so to do. The Cedar Rapids & Missouri River company has leased its road to the Chicago & Northwestern company, and it is operated in connection with the Union Pacific, uniting with it at Council Bluffs, and it virtually becomes a branch of the Union Pacific road. The reader can look over the list of directors, as shown in the Railroad Manual before referred to, and learn if any of the government directors of the Union Pacific are directors in the Cedar Rapids & Missouri River company. The reports made of the cost, condition, and other matters connected with Pacific railroad enterprises, disclose such utter disregard of the rights and interests of the people, and such a gross betrayal of the public good for the benefit of a ring (in part a congressional ring) as to leave it without precedent.
The fact that the men who formed this ring have become a powerful moneyed aristocracy, able by their votes and influence in congress to convert the public lands and money to their own use, and are now boldly taxing the people with the interest on the money appropriated to build up these oppressive monopolies, should arouse the country to a sense of its imminent peril.
CHAPTER IV.
HOW CONGRESS BETRAYED THE PEOPLE.
In order to fully realize the great power of what is known as the Pacific railroad companies, it will be necessary to look at the Central Pacific company, and its control of the transportation of freights and passengers from the Pacific country. This company, organized under the laws of California, was, by acts of congress of July 1st, 1862, admitted into the grand combination known as the Pacific roads, and granted equal privileges with the Union Pacific and branches. The Central Pacific extends from the Pacific ocean to Ogden, a distance of eight hundred and eighty-one miles. The acts of congress of April 4th, 1864, and July 2d, 1864, granted to this company additional privileges and powers, including the right of consolidating with all the companies on the Pacific coast. In 1870 the following companies, to-wit: The Western Pacific railroad company; the San Francisco, Oakland, & Alameda railroad company; the San Joaquin railroad company; the California & Oregon railroad companies were consolidated.
The state of California at that date had but one thousand and thirteen miles of road within its borders. Of this number of miles, about one-half became a part of the Central Pacific, by the consolidation as above stated. All the roads pointing towards the east were combined in this one great corporation, forming a solid body, with one common and general object and interest, viz: a monopoly of the travel and traffic with the eastern states. And congress, by appropriating lands and subsidy bonds, and granting exclusive rights and privileges to this monster monopoly, has given it the key not only to the overland commerce of the country, but also to the commerce of our country with other nations upon the Pacific ocean. This giant monopoly, by the aid of congress, has obtained the absolute control of the best interests of the whole people for all time to come—a control that is now being used, and will continue to be used, to enrich its own members and stockholders by oppressive levies for transportation over its roads.