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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 1899)
L EL. 12 t3be Conservative. The lost number RAILROAD LAND - , , . . , . , , GRANTS. of the "United Stiitea Investor" contains a letter from Mr. Stuyvesaut Fish , president of the Illinois Central Railroad Company , in reply to some criticisms in that pnper on the policy of railroad land grants. Mr. Fish embraces this opportunity to show what the Illi J nois Central has done for the state of i Illinois in return for the 2,594,115 acres which it received from the state , or from the general government through the state. Among the conditions at tached to the grant was one making the road "free from toll or other charge upon the transportation of any property or troops of the United States , " also one that the mails should be transported at such prices as congress might direct. "It is far within bounds , " says Mr. Fish , "to say that in the carriage of troops , munitions of war and the mails , and in other transportation for the federal government at reduced rates , the Illinois Central has long since allowed much greater sums to the United States than the value of all the lands granted to the state of Illinois to aid in its construction. Moreover , it continues under like obligations for all time. " He enumerate * the further re turns made by the railway as follows : "From a national , and particularly from a military point of view , the value of the Illinois Central during the civil war , in bringing to Cairo the armies of the West , and in keeping them supplied and equipped during four years , is past calculation. The all but exclusive use thus made by the federal government of the railroads during those years not only prevented the earning of legiti mate revenues , but thereafter subjected the company to reclamations by ship pers , for which hundreds of thousands of dollars were subsequently recovered against and paid by it. The lands granted by this same act of September 20,1850 , to the states of Mississippi and Alabama were by them turned over to the Mobile and Ohio railroad. Those lands are now , as stated in your article of September 2 , 1899 , "estimated to be worth 55 cents per acre , not including town lots , " although they lie near to a railroad which has been in operation for fifty years , and carries freight at the lowest average rate per ton per mile of any in the south. Indeed , the average rate per ton per mile charged by the Mobile and Ohio during the year ended June 80 , 1899 , was 5 83-100 mills or somewhat less than that charged by the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad , which was 5 9-10 mills. As the act of September 20 , 1850 , clearly shows , the recipients of the govern ment's bounty thereunder were the states of Illinois , Mississippi and Ala bama. Let us see how Illinois has fared since. On February 10 , 1851 , it incor porated the Illinois Central Railroad Company , the charter , in addition to re quiring that the governor of the state for the time being shall forever be one of the thirteen directors of the corpora tion , reserved to the state , in lieu of taxes , 7 per cent , of the gross receipts of the railroad to be built thereunder. The charter also said that , "In case the persons incorporated by this act shall fail or neglect to accept the provisions of the same and comply with its con ditions within the time and in the manner herein prescribed , then the same may be accepted by any other company which shall be approved by the gover nor , auditor and treasurer of this state. " Those conditions embraced , among other things , the deposit with the treasurer of the state of "three hundred thousand dollars of registered caual bonds , or funded internal improvement bonds of the state of Illinois , or 200,000 in specie , or $200,000 at 6 per cent. United States stock , " as security for the completion of at least fifty miles of said railroad and indemnification of the state of Illinois against all claims of the United States government for the proceeds of sales of lands. This is mentioned to show that the charter was in no sense a largesse or favor to the individuals therein named , but simply the creation of a corporation destined to carry out the long-cherished dream of the state the construction of a central railroad through its trackless prairies. In February , 1837 , an act had been passed by the legislature providing for the building of such a railroad by the state , and the sum of $3,500,000 was appropriated for that purpose. The money was to be procured by the sale of state bonds. Bonds to a large amount were actually issued and sold by the state. With the money thus borrowed the state entered upon the construction of an extensive system of internal im provements. The financial panic which swept over the country in 1837 and 1838 brought these enterprises to an abrupt close. The borrowed money was ex hausted , and the state was compelled to suspend the payment of interest on the public debt. The bonds of the state were discredited , and it was not until 1850 that the revenues were found to be sufficient to even meet the current de mands upon the treasury for ordinary state expenses , exclusive of the interest on the debt. That debt , to the amount of $10,000,000 , was then and had long been in default for non-payment of in terest. The gross sum received by the state out of the earnings of the Illinois Central Railroad Company down to April 80 , 1899 , was $17,652,930. In the six years ended April 80 , 1899 , these contributions to the revenues of the state amounted to $3,850,929.85 , or an average of $042,821.50 per year. Thus we see that the state of Illinois has also been well paid , and will be for all time. How is it with the people living on and near the railroad ? The railroad built under the charter granted February 10 , 1851 , traverses 29 of the 102 counties in Qlinois , among them Cook county , in which Chicago lies. In population the 28 counties , other than Cook , served by that railroad , show an increase , from 1850 to 1890 , of 870.65 per cent. , which is nearly double that of the 73 counties not served by that railroad (180.69 ( per cent. ) , and decidedly greater than that of the state at large , including Cook county (849 ( 88 per cent. ) . In assessed values those 28 counties show an increase of 678.79 per cent. , which is also about double that of the 73 counties (841.70 ( per cent. ) , and much greater than that of the state at large (574.81 ( percent. ) , oven though there is included therein Cook county , with 2857.93 per cent , of increase. The proportion of the popula tion and of the assessed values of the whole state , in those 28 counties , has increased perceptibly since 1850 , not withstanding the growth of Cook county , to which the railroad has con tributed as much as any one cause , while in the 78 counties it has fallen from being nearly three-quarters to less than one-half of the whole. It is un necessary to allude to the vast public service performed by the railroad in the carriage of passengers and freight , to the low rates charged therefor , to the value of that service , to the increased value thereby given to land , and other matters which are common to all rail road history. That all of the other grants made by congress in aid of rail roads were not as well safeguarded , eras as honestly administered , must be ad mitted. While this is to be regretted , a like comparison of conditions prevail ing in the locality at the time those grants were made with present condi tions will , in every case , bring out a good showing. With these facts before us as to the results of the first effective railroad land grant , should we not rather extol the memory of Stephen A. Douglas , who was chiefly instrumental in passing the act of September 20,1850 ; of Clay and Seward ; of Benton and Shields , and the others who aided him in bringing about , through the granting of lands , then valueless , the upbuilding of our Western civilization ? Eight generations of our fathers served to bring Christianity , civilization and com merce to the Mississippi river. Since liberal grants of lands began to be made in aid of railroads , we have seen those blessings carried to the Pacific in a life- time. On reflection you will , I feel sure , agree with mo in thinking that it / is not for us who enjoy the fruits of [ their labors to question the acts of those who did this work , even though we may somewhere see motes and specks in it. Very respectfully yours , STUYVESANT FISH.
