THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. THE RELATIONS EXISTING BETWEEN IT AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. BY HENRY V. POOR. NEW-YORK: S. W. GREEN, PRINTER, 16 AND 18 JACOB STREET. 1871. THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. THE RELATIONS EXISTING BETWEEN IT AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. It is impossible to discuss, intelligibly, the question of the relations between the government of the United States and the Pacific Railroad Companies, and of their respective legal obligations and rights, under and by virtue of the act incorporating said companies, without a full and careful consideration of the condition of the country at the time of the passage of the bill and the amendments thereto, as nearly all the arguments urged in favor of or against the proposed measure were drawn from such condition, which was one of civil war threatening the very existence of the nation. All the mind and strength of the people of the North were put forth for self-preservation and the maintenance of their territorial unity. One of the means to this end was a railroad across the continent to unite its two great slopes. It was inaugurated, on the part of government, almost wholly as a military measure. The appropriations made to it were regarded as fully justified on such ground. Its construction was committed to a private company, or companies, for the reason of their greater competency to construct and manage works that were to be commercial as well as military in their character. As the value of the road, for whatever purposes, would be shared equally by the nation, it was but just that its cost should, as far as necessary, be assessed equally upon the nation. |