Page:U.S. Department of the Interior Annual Report 1877.djvu/33

Rh attention which the magnitude of the interests involved deserves, I deem it unnecessary to go into an elaborate discussion of any of the plans proposed. That the law contemplates, and the public interest demands, the full reimbursement to the United States of the whole amount, principal and interest, advanced for the railroad companies, is unquestionable, and I beg leave to offer the following presentation of the ability of the Pacific Railroad Companies to discharge their indebtedness to the government.

In addition to the one-half of transportation accounts for services rendered, the amount of which has been withheld and applied upon the indebtedness of the companies, the act approved July 1, 1862, section six, requires “that, after said road is completed, until said bonds and interest are paid, at least five per centum of the net earnings of said road shall also be annually applied to the payment thereof.”

The following approximation is made of the amount due from the companies on this account, exclusive of interest accrued by reason of nonpayment annually, to October 31, 1877, viz:

Interest at the rate of 6 per cent. per annum being added to this sum of $4,950,000, from the time when the annual applications thereof should have been made, will increase it to more than $6,000,000, which is the amount immediately involved in the pending “Five-per-cent.” suits.

The ability of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroad Companies to pay the above sums is fully demonstrated by the following facts, figures, and comparisons:

Omitting the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroad Companies from the enumeration, there were at the close of the year 1876, eight hundred and nine (809) railroad companies in operation in the United States, owning 76,258 miles of road. Of these, 181 only paid dividends;