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.