The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 1, 1896, Page 8

8 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SATURDAY., FEBRUARY 1, 1896. THE BIG PROTEST AGAINST FUNDING California’s Memorial to the Congress of the United States. FORECLOSURE DEMANDED. Full Text of .the Committee’s Petition on the Pacific Rail- roads Question. A PLAIN, STRONG DOCUMENT. Unanimously Indorsed and Signed by Every Member of the Orig- inal Committee. Following is the full text of California’s memorial to Congress protesting against the passage of any act to re-fund the debt of the Pacific railroads and demanding the foreclosure of the mortgages by the National Government. It is a powerful document, clearly-and tersely worded, yet covering the ground thoroughly and setting forth in unmis- takable language the feelings of the people of the entire Pacific Coast on the refund- ing measure, and at the same time giving the main facts upon which the people base their demand for simple justice as be- tween themselv kings of the Pac c system. The memorial is the joint production of | M. M. Estee, Henry E. Highton and John P. Doyle, who were chosen as a sub-com- mittee of the main committee selected by the State Anti-Funding Convention held in this City two weeks ago to-day. Yesterday morning at a final meeting of the memorial committee proper, held at the Mayor’s office in this City, the follow- ing document was unanimously adopted. Afterward it was signed by every member of the committee. Memorial annexed to preamble and resolutions adopted by the State Anti-Funding Convention, Satunday, January 18, 1896, held at Metropoli’ tan Temple. San Francisco, . prepared by committee appointed for that purpose by the convention, with full Dower to aci. The unaersigned, a committee appointed for that purpose, with fuil power to act, by the Anti-Fund- ing Convention, heid at Francisco, January 18, 1896, respecital ialize the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, against each and every measure for re-funding the secared indebtedness of the Cen- tral Pacific Raiirond COmpany. and foreclosure of the mortgages given to secure that indebtedness. etropolitan Temple, Expressed in a sentence the people of this State | consider thy welfare of the State itself 1o be in- volvedin the new schemes of Mr. Huntingion and his associates, and, with the earnestness and deter- mination of men’ defending their property and their lives, denounce any conceivable plan of re- funding and any failure or delay in foreclosure, as destructive to them and to their descendants, as | purely frandulent, and as designed to place them completely and indefinitely at the mercy of those who are and have been their greatest enemies. 1SSUES TO BE CONSIDERED. The issues to be considered in this memorial, while of the greatest pecuniary importance, and to Mr. Huntingion and his assoclates of no conse- quence in any other aspect, Devertheiess irans- eend all mer onetary coasiderations, for e reason that they touch the sacredness and the supremacy of the law, and in that way the honor of overnment itself. e greatest respec Wit but positively, we ob- ject to any action whatever by .Congress, or its committees, inthe matter of the debt of the Central Pacific Railroad Compsny as an un- warrantable interference, opposed 10 the spirit of oor institutious, with the due and orderly adminis- tration of the law. ripe for judicial action, Lbough the execative, and, according 1o ail precedent the distribution of povers in the coustitution, should be treated "exclusively through those branches of the Government. AS the chairman of the present Committee on Pacific Rallroads of the House of Representatives has aiready in eitect &nnounced, if Congress takes any action in this matter, it must act through the exercise of judicial powers, and this is opposed equally to the theory of our Governmental system and to all just practice in the history of the United States. THE TASK OF CONGRESS. To arrive at & finding of fact and conclusions ich any enactment could be intelligently ongress would be compelled to_investigate ous records and intricate facts which have are even now sub judice, afu if this doue under the rules and principles ness and completeness, the basis for any possibl Jegislation that would even wear the garb of j tice would be wanting. And this essential process of investigation would necessitate the decision of | numerous and complicated legal issues, for the de- termination of which the judicial department has been estubiished. The contracts between the Government and the ral Pacific Railroad Compeny are matters for judicial and not for Congressional interpretation. The factg which have transpired under and in rela- tion to these contracts are obviously within the range of judicial inquiry and debision. We submit, therefore, that this preliminary ob- « section to any proposed legislation ought to be con- | After foreclosure and such other action | trolling. 23 the courts may take, but not before then, it may be proper or even necessary for Congress to inter- fere. _ But. if you do not agree to this preliminary ob- jection, the merits of the controversy are now to be ered, FACTS OF THE CASB. 1t is not truw that the Central Pacific Railroad Company is an honest debtor, or that it _is entitled 1o favorable treatment at the hands of Con, The facts are that in 1861 the Central Pacific Railroad Company was incorporated under the 1aws of California. The constitution of California prescribed then as now that “Each_stockholder of & corporation or joint stock asociation shall be in- dividually and personally roportion of its debts and liabilities.’ , Article 1V, Constitution of 1849.) “The Supreme Court of the State of California in- terpreted this section of the cobstitution_ in the cage of French vs. Teschamacker, 24 Cal., 518, as low t i8 unconstitutional for the Legislature to re- lieve a stockholder of a corporation of his individ- ual hability.’ Aud as each stockholder of the Central Paclfic Raliroad Company, under the constitution of the Siate of California, is bound for his proportionate chare of all the debts and liabilities of the cOFPore: tion, 10 act of Congress can now be passed which will legaily relieve him from such responsibility. THE DIRECTORS LIARLE. The directors of this corporation are also person- ally liable for much ofits indebiedness. Directors of & corporation are trustees of an express trust. . They are held to a strict accountagility for all they 0 &5 such trustees. Their position is one of con- fidence, and when they violate their duty they are amenable to the law, and neither the great politi- cal or finencial power of the individual, nor of the corporation of which he is a stockholder and direc- tor, cau be justly or legally invoked 10 relieve any such director from the performance of these duties orirom the responsibility which a non-perform- ance of them imposes upon him. Says Moraweiz on corporations (section 243), “The directors of a corporation occupy a position of the bighest trust and confidence, and the utmost good faith is required in the exercise of the powers conferred upon them.” I The admitted facts show that, practically, four men iiving in Sacrumento, in the State of Califor- nis, namely, C. P. Huniington, Mark Hopkius, Charles Crocker and Leland Stanford, incorpor- ated the Central Pacific Raiirond Company and es- < to build its road. “None of these men wers capiialists. The assessed valuation of all thelr prop- erty did not reach $260,000. They were unable 1o build the yoad from iheir own resonrces. The Civil War was then golug on. The Kastern and West- ern States of the Union demanded a closer and miore iutimaie connection with each other. The time for the building of a National highway across thie continent was propitious, and 8o Congress wes spurred 10 an unusnal liberality. The people of California, aithongh few In num- ber, were generous to a fanit. And the most mun- nificent grants aud donatious ever made by & Gov- ernment or by & people to a private olilzen or a corporation were at that time made 1o the Central Pacific Ralirosd Company. The following is a statement of some of the principal grants and do- uations of land avd money made: A NATIONAL GRANT. Congress granted 10 Lhis corporation every other section of land for twenty miles on each side of its contemplated road for the whole length thereof, and also on the Uregon branch of that system, amounting in the aggregate to 10,000,000 acres, of the value of fully 812,500,000, It is reported that they have aiready obtamed about that amount in sa'és of those lands. The Government fixed the valae of Its own adjoining land at $2 50 an acre. AL the same time the National Government issucd to that cow.nym mortgage bonds in the sum of $27.000,000 (in round numbers), which and the robber railroad | in favor of | The entire question is now | in harmony with | y years, and which, in a | courts, and with judicial thorough- | now amount, principal and fnterest, to $58.000,000 In addition thereto, the State of California ana anteed the interest on 1,500,000 of the bonds of the ¢ompany, and also granted (o 1t thirty acres of land in the City of San Francisco, of great value. iich Is now mortgaged by the same company for 285,000, The several conntles of the State contributed to the company in money and property $1,600,030; the city of Sacramento deeded to it its river er front of the estimated value of $1,000,000. and the same corporation acquired or held without consideration and contrary to the plain principles of law more than ten miles of the water front of the bay of San Francisco, forming the entire harbor of ‘Oakland and parts of the harbors of Alameda, Berkeley and San Francisco, which is of the estimated vaiue of not less than $10,600,000. 1t also obtainod from Wells, Fargo & Co. $1,500, 000 of it stock in consideration of favorable trans- portation facilities accordgd Lo sald company. VALUE OF THE GEANTS. The foregoing grants reached the enormous ! amount in value of $57,000,000. which is much more than the entire cost of the road. Add to the foregoing the interest which Mr. Huntington and his associates obtained in every town through which the railroad passed, and also the acquisition of health resorts, donations of land for townsites, depot purposes, and, in fact, every known kind of property, and yon cannot but’appre- ciate the vast accessions of this corporation. Those donations of Jand and mon-y were not in- tended as a gift to Mr. Huntington and his associ- ates, but they were designed 10 secure the early construction of a continental line of raiiroad, to be thereafter operated in the interests of the General Government and of the people of the far West, and al s under proper surveiilance and control. ‘The IncOrporators of the Central Pacific Railroad Company were, 10 all intents and purposes, the agents of the Government and of the people. This | Nation confided to their keeping the largest amount of property ever 1o modern times granted by any Government to an individual or a corpora- tion, THE KIRST SUB-COMPANY. 1L _Soon safier the organization of the Central Pa- cific Railroad Company, C. P. Huntington and his three associates incorporated another company under the name of the ““Contract and Finance Company,” and the same men were the owners of and represented both the Central Pacific Rallroad Company and the “Contract and Finance Com- pany.” “The directors of the Central Pacific Rail- road Company contracted with themselves to com- plete the road of that company, under the name of the “Contract and Finance 'tompany.” They charged Lheir own prices for the work.and whei finished they heid most of its assets and some else owned most of its debts. Under these condi- | tions it 1s_apparent that the asserted cost of the road wes about three timed as much as its actual cost. Mr. Huntington has said he did not own 100 shares of stock. He did not dare to own stock in | the compuny he had wrecked, becauss under the | constitution o2 California a stockholder is liable for @ proportionate share of the indebtedness of a cor- poration, ana, as a direcior, be was then, and is still, liable for these palpable Irauds. These same individuals and their successors in Interest are now &sking the General Government | 10 relieve them from the lisbility which arose by | reason of their illegal and fraudulent acts In in- | curring this vast indebtedne ‘s by providing a legal | means for re-funding it, and to accomplish this | purpose they propose to make a new contract | under the forms of law whereby they will avold their personal responsibllity for the creation of the enormous liabilities now hanging overthe corpora- tion. In this connection it must be remembered that | the bonded indebtedness which the United States assumed and agreed to pay is but a small par of | the aciual nominal indebtedness of the corporatton, According to Poor's Manual for 1895, the total liabilities of the Central Pacific Rafiroad Company | reaches the vast sum of §202,491,584, while under the est/mates made by the United Stutes Raiiroad Commission in 1888 the total cost of building and equipping the Centraland Western Pacific railroads aid not exceed $40,000,000. HUNTINGTON'S THREE COBPORATIONS. IIL Mr. Huntingion and his associates at different times organized three corporations through which to carry on their raflread business in Cailforni. 1. “The Contract and Finance Company,” which we have referred (o, and under which oorporation the Central Pacific Railroad was built, and whose Dbooks have been destroyed. ‘The Westekn Development Company.” Ex- actly what this corporation was intended to ‘‘de- velop” can only be a matter of conjecture, but It continued in existence until its books became laden with facts. These books we belleve cannot now be found or its history traced. 8. “The Pacific Improvement Company.” This | corporation still exists, but is now in the painful process of liquidation. The whole scheme is & deception and a fraud. | The Pacific Improvement Company claims to own the great ferry and all ts appendages on the line of the Central Pacific Rallroad at Port Costa, and also the steamer Solano, which is the oniy ferry- boat in California that can carry a train of cars across the Straits of Carquinez at that point. P. 1 COMPANY'S CLATMS. The same company owns, or claims to own, the railroad’s interest in the bridge at Sacramento. It owns the ferry-boat Pledmont, that plies between Oakland and San Francisco, and which also forms | u part of the Central Pacific Railroad Company's | lie. It owns the river steamers Modoc and | Apache, the railroad office building at the foot of | Fourth "and Townsend streets in the Cicy of San Frencisco, the Del Monte Hotel at Monterey, the principal part of the Jands formerly belonging to the old company in and around North Berkeley and the depots at Sacramento and Los Angeles. | Tt claims to own the Santa Monica whart prop- erty, | stroyed belonged to this company. It also owned | the Central Pacific Railrosd wharf ar San_Pedro. 1t formerly owned, or assumed to own, the Oak- land water front and the Mission Bay property, but it is said that these properties have recentiy been transferred. It owns the coal mines in the | State of Washington and in Mexico, from whence the Central Pacific obtains its coal, and it ub- | licly declared that the Pacific Improvement Com- pany nets $2,000,000 a vear from the coal it sup- plies to the Southern and Central Pacific Railrond companies. Every dollar's worth of all of the above property forms a part of the Central Pacific Rallroad sya- tem and was bought on fis credit. The Southern Pacific was aiso largely built on the credic of the Uentral, and the latter has wantonly been made bankrapt to build up and maintain the Southern. TO DESTROY GOVERNMENT SECURITY. From the foregoing it can readily be seen how the Central Pacific Railroad people have used the money and the credit donated to it by the General Government and by the peopie of the State of Cali- fornia, for the purpose of destroying the security given to the Government for the very money fur- shed to build the road. ‘The same men, viz.: Huntington and his associ- stes, under the name of the »Pacific Improve; Company,” hold contro! over much of the private business and a large amount of the private prop- erty interests of California. To illustrate: They own all the street railroads in San Francisco ex- cept two. aud most of the stree: railroads in Oal land. They have gridironed the City of San Fran- cisco with lines uctusl and prospective. To do this they commenced by issuing 81,000,000 in bonds. They froze out all of the old street-railroad compa- | nies and now hoid an ex..usive monopoly of street rallroading in this grea: City, and they control not oply the passenger (raflic but the politics of the City. ‘They also own vast grants of land in other parts of Cailfornia, to wit, in _Amador, Yolo. Monterey | | and other counties. They own miost of the steam- | ers 1n the Bay of San_Francisco and on the rivers of this great State. They coutrol the only line of steamers via Panama to New York, and they also | own the steam lines to China and Japan. They thus combine, with the shipping interests by sea and land and fix the price of freight by both meth- ods of transportation. "They even run our hotels and public resorts, be- cause they control the means of reaching them by Teason of their ownership of all the lines of trans- portation in the interior of the State of California north of Tehachapl. *They sell excursion tickets 10 their own resorts at prices that destroy all com- petition of other towns or resoris which they do not favor. It is true the people vislting the State company, but in_the end the producers of California are the sufferers and have to pay all amounts so expended. SIDE CORPORATION HOLDINGS. These side corporations referred to have always heid a large part of the valuable sasets of Mr. Huntinglon and his assoclates. At one time the “Contractand Iinance Company” held for them $38,300,000 of their property. (See Huntington's letter of Janvary 10, 1887, and Mr. Miller's an- swer of January 27, 1887, found in a report made | in 188810 the President 'and the Congress of the TUnited States by the Railrond Commission ap- pointed for that purpose.) ‘To make uncertainty more uncertain, Mr. Hunt- ington not onty destroyed the books of the #Con- | tract and Finance Company,” but, according to the r?vrm made by those who investigated their aftairs, it is clalmed they also destroyed a part of the so-called ‘Record-book of Corporation Debts” | (which book they were required by law to_Veep): namely, that part from page 48 to page 111, in clusive. What thesn pages so destroved would have disclosed remains a matter of surmise. But, from a birdseye view of the whole effairs of the Central Pacific Ratlroad Company and its manipu- Iators, bo one ¢an be surprised that in a_few years thetr raiiroad hoidings increased from 1100 miles 10 8035 miles, or that they wrecked many railroad | corporations, large and “small, during the same | period, or thit they ate now seeking Lo set at de- fiance State and National laws and boldly destroy the security for National indebtedness. WEALTH AT “HE EXPENSE OF SHIPPERS. The shippers of freight and passenzers over the Central and Southern Pacific railroads must in the end pay il the indebteaness, principal and in- terest, of these roads, uniess it is collected from the security. For this renson the people of California are es- pectally tnierested in kecping the, amount of sach ndebtedness within its actual figures. In this connection it must be remembered that C. P. Huntiugton and his associates have become im. | mensely wealthy in handling & corporation which they now say is DANKrupt. 1imust be borne in mind that one fraud is the nt of others. The very destruction of these ks referred to is, in law, prima facie evidence of fraud, and in any court of justice wonld be tuken strongly against the parties who aestroyed them, and in uny department of the Government, if the smount iayolved was small, such an act would resuit in the immediate prosecution of the parties committing it; but the taking of a hundred millions of dollars paralyzes belief and mukes even honest men hesitate 10 altack such & bold and immense frand. In the report made to the President of the United States by the Commissioners appointed under the act of Congress approved March 3, 1887, entitled “An act authorizing an investigation of the books, accounts’ A methods ‘of Taifreads which pavs received aid from the United States, and for other purposes,” it appears that Mr. Huntington, and his associates, Hopkins, Stauford and Crocker, received = $142,000,000 in cash snd securi.ies throngh the “Contract and Finance Company.” the “Western Development Compaay,” the ©Pacific Improvement Corapany™ and the divideuds of the Central Pacific Railroad Com, ' ndit nowhere ars thai thoy ever paid §1 from. thelr Own nds toward the construction of said railroad. LARGE PRO¥ITS MADE. In sdditition to this sum of $142,000,000 they and the hotel at Lathrop before it was de- | are pleased by the apperent gonerosity of the rall- | | also made large compauies which were dire.tly or remotely sap- ping the revenues of the Central Pacific. Thesame company also expended $4,818,355 67.0f which the managers declined to give any explanation or to permit uny explanation (o be made by others. t fur ther appears from the same report that the Toss earnings of the Central Pacific_Rafiroad rom 1863 to December #1. 1886, were $274,138, 116,27, and that the operaling expenses were 110,100,102 40, leaving the ne earnings during the period above indicated $124,940.013. Ihis #monnt, at that time, would have more than paid the bonded indebtedness of the road. Ihe same commitice (page 22 of tholr report) stated that the Central Pacific. Rallroad Company Dbad paid 2,361,154 88 for services by lawyers to influence legisiation, These uncontridicted facts afford an insight {nto the methods adopted by Mr. Huniingion and his agsoclstes In handiing the property of the Central Pacitic Rallroad Company. It is settled law that a_mortgagor of property can- not by his own acts desiroy the value of the prop- erty S0 mertgaged and thus endanger the security, vet the Central Pacific Company has done this notoriously for years. THE KENPUCKY INCORPOKATION. VI In 1884 C. P. Huntington and his associates In the Central Pacific Raiiroad Company incorporated the Southern Pacific Company in the State of Kentucky under the especial provision prescribed in an act of the Legislature of that State, and which act prescribed that said company should never do business In the State of Kentncky. This provision has been eliminated by subsequent legis- Iation. All'in all this was the most extraordinary proceeding ever devised. From beginning to end it was an open, bald, glaring fraud. After the incorporation of the Soatbern Pacific of Kentucky (not & collar of whose property was in that State), these same parties, viz.: Mr. Hunt- ington and his associat s, leased from the Central Pacific Railroad Company all of its roads and equipments for a period of ninety-nine years. The terms of this lease are £0 iniquitous that any fair- minded man ust admit C. P. Huntington and his associates of the Southern Pacific Company suc- ceeded in misleading C. P. Huntington and his associates of the Central Pacific Company. 3 We will not dwell upen the terms of léase or its effect upon governmental or cther security fur- ther than to say it shows fraud on its face. It is an undeniable fact that Mr. Huutington of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company is still run- ning a sharp bargain against Mr. Huntington ot the Central Pacific Railroad Company, because most of the freight which was formerly trans- ported east and west over the Central Pacific is now diverted from its natural channel, and Is uransported over the Soutnern Pacific road, the evident object being to bankrupt the Central Pa- cific, and this object has been well nigh sttained. A shipper who does not demand thot his freight shall go by the Central, al hiough destined to Chi- cago or New York, will find it sent by the Souther Pucific via New Orleans. In n word, the Central Pacific Company, though & citizen of California and existing under (ts Jaws, is used a5 a mOSt Po- tential means of destroying the {ndustries of the wate. INDEBTED FOR TAXES. The people of Callfornia have other serions ob- jections to the manner in which Mr. Huntington and his associates control the railroad property on the Pacific Coas For fifieen years last past the Central Pacific Railroad Company and the Southern Pacific Com- pany have owed taxesto the State of California always amounting to from $500,000 to $1,500.000, and for four years of that time they owed $400,000 to the school fund of this State. Immediately after the incorporation of the Southern Pacific in 1884 1t leased the Central Pacific and became the arbiter and controller of all of iis business affairs, and by reason of the fact that the Southern Pacific is a foreign corporation it has the option in all litigation to either bring suit_or transter suits already brought in the State courts to the courts of the United States; for in- stance, at this term of the Snpreme Court of the United States there is_on the calendar for argu- me: e Involving $535,600, taxes dne from the Southern Pacific and Central Pacific Railroad companies to the State of California and for taxes levied and assessed for the year 1887, yet the liti- gation involving these taxes has but just reached the calendar of the Supreme Court of our country. The posizion thusassumed by the Southern Pacific Company of Kentucy is In most instances a d enial of justice. No man who commences a suit against thatcompany or the Central Pacific kailroad Com- pany, however just his claim, is certain when the action s brought that It will not be transierred to the United States courts. California being a vast State territorially the citizen in such a case who asks the courts of justice for vindication 15 often de- prived of any right in the premises, PRODUCERS' WELFARE IN THE BALANCE. VIIL The people of California are further interested in opposing the re-funding of the indebtedness of the Central Pacific Kailroad Company, because ths welfare of the producers of California depends upon cheap transportation. The courts have held that a corporation is en- titled 10 4 fair rate of interest on its actual invest- ment. The question thus presented is what are the actual investments of the Central Pacific Com- any? P5¥its 1abilitles are what 1t claims, viz.: $202,- 491,684, then the sbippers of California, it they undertake to pay the principal and Interest on this vast sum, are helplessly and forever bankrupt, though the interest be but 2 or 3 per cent per anpum. And sgain, no competing rallroad company maibtained by private parties can ever coustruct or maintain a continental line to the Pacific slope if the Central Pacific Railroad Company is allowed to refund its present indebiedness at 2 or 3 per cent per aunum, because private capital will not invest and compete with capital obtained at_that rate. There can be no remedy for the Dresent situation, which leaves the Central Pacific Railroad Company in its present management and in full control of this railroad property. 1t has been epigrammatically safd that California Is the last of the slave States. In_ relation to its Tailroad transportation and to the jnfluence of rail- road corporations this is substantially true. DEMANDS OF THE STATE. It is Insisted by the people of this State: 'hat there should be no re-funding act passed Dby Congress, and That such steps should be immediately taken by the Government ss will get back the money and property which have been fraudulently appro- priated by certain parties connected with the management of the Central Pacific Railroad Com pany, and (o that end evers ¢ partment of the National Government should be ealled into im mediate action. - The honor of the Amerlcan people is invelved in this question. The stock and bouds of the Central Pacific Railroad are scattered broadcast throughout the financial world. The American Government has_heretofore given this company character and credit at home and abroad, and t0-day il stands as sponsor for what this com: any does. And yet, by an act of Congress passed u 1887, a commiission was formed for the pur- Dposes in part of examining into the affairs of Lhls company and reporting the result to the President and Cougress. That report was made to and now forms a part of therecord of the executive and legislative departments of the Government. THE GOVERNMENT ROBRED. It - shows a mass of uncontradicted facts, indicially and_dispassionately arranged and con. sidered, which prove that the Government and the otber creditors of this company have been robbed of from $75,000.000 to $100,000,000, and these facts have never been succcsstully ques- tioned. And yet some of these same men, as the repre- sentatives of the Central Pacific Railroad Com- pany, now come before this Congress and demand a certificate of character. This demand .has no parallel, people are honest, the American Nation is honest, and we therefore ask that neither tme nor dis- tance shall chanee or modify the relations of the Government to this company 6z afford an excuse for the condonation of a frand. 12 the General Government shonld now stand be- hind C. P. Huntington and his associates in their efforts to re-fund the indebtedness of the Central Pacific Ralirond Company it wonld create a mon- opoly which would soon be more powerful than the Government jtself. It should not be forgotten in this connection that the very money which the Government of the United States and the people of California have contributed to this lale raliroad enterprise has been and is being used to corrupt and misdirect the legislation of the country, and thereby {mperils the safety of the State. The men who represent these corporations mow appear alike before the National and State Legislatures, and even stand unabashed at the door of the templo of justice. They bave uo political principles. Ihey belong to no party, are faithful t0 no trust and just to no man. TIME FOR A DECLARATION. The time has come when the people must make a deelaration of Independence against this corpora- tion, or they will become bankrupt in fortune and in character. If this is not done private property interests in California will be destroyed, fortunes will be dis- sipated, industries will be imperiled and the whole people will be polltically and financially crushed ¥ & corporation more powerful than the State. ARGUMENT ON THE EXISTING TAW. Representing the people of California, who will have to pay the debts wherewith theseroads are leit burdernied, we confident]y invoke the personal attention to the case of every public man to whom this memorial is sent. For several imporiant con- siderations affecting it we Tefer to @ memorial ad- dreased to Congreas o the Commitesot ifty ap- poinied by the monster meeting held at Metropoli- tan Temple, San_rrancisco, oo December 7, 1885, of which a copy 18 herewith presented. Additionai considerations now urged [efior ainly to the Cen. tral Pacific road, with which we are more familiar, but we believe that most of (hem will be found applicable to the case of thv Union Pacific, al- though upon facts diftering more or less in detail. The act of Congress of March 3, 1887 (Statutes at Large, vol. 24, page 488), provides that whenever, in the opinion'of the President, it shall bs deemed +‘necessary for the protection of the interests and the pregervation of the security of the United States in respect 1o its lien on the Pacific roads the Secretary of the Treasury. and the At(orney- General, under direction of the President, shall take the steps prescribed fu the fourth section of said act, and amovg others ‘sieps to foreciose any MUW or liens of the United Siates on any railroad vroperty.” As the Attorney-General iwould have authority nnder the general powers of his office to take pro- ceedings for the collection of moneys due the United States, this enactment must be nnderstood as a special direction to the President to determine personally the time to act in the case of these rail- rond debis as well as an expression of the fudg- ment of Congress that foreclosure of the liens s the proper course, whenever the executive shall decide that the time for action has come, As that Congress gave mych attention :o this whole sub- ject of the Pacific roads its judement expressed in legislation should cemmand corresponding respect. THE TIME FOR ACTION'COME. Nopublic interests demand any further legisla- tion now, nor has any been nrged by the execu- tive, except a law to simplify and expedite the necessary legal proceedings by conferring com- lete jurisdiction over the whole case on the nited States courts of the District of Columbig,. . The Lime for action has evidently come, for the debt is part due and the security is inadequate; and it does not admit of doubt that foreclosure is the only proper and business-like course to pursue, for, independently of all moral and political ob- jections 1o condoning such gross offenses as those bere involved, there is another mortgage on the fThe American. profits by the operation of other ‘ road, the holders of which claim priority over the Governmant lien, This priority bas been hitherto generally assumed without inquiry, but in fgno- rance of material facts recently brought to light. These facts are of record and incontestible; and their importance cannot be denied. . Y'he amount involved (about one-fourth of the Central Pacific debt) is 100 serious to be lightiy dealt with. This claim of priority must therefore be judicially determined: justice to the United States, and ‘especiully 1o the people of this coast, demands it, and this can only be done in a fore- closure suit. Buch a suit, too, is the only way of securing the whole road, with its necessary ap- purienances, toward satisfying the debt. s And all these appurtenances must be kept with and belong to the road, or the lauter itsel? be- comes useless. A railroad cannot be operated without terminal grounds, ferry-boats ~where needed, bridges, rolling stock and iike instrumen- talities. Many 'million dollars in value of such property will therefore be 10st to the publc if Con- £ress undertekes to deal with this question without previous indicial ~ascertainment of the extent and particulars of it, belonging to each of the companies and justly subject Lo the Government lien. MUST BE DEALT WITH COMPREHENSIVELY. Here are some notable examples of what we refer to: The Union Pacific road sses terminals in Omaba, Kansas Cily, Ogden and other cities on its route, of great value; those above named alone are estimated in the report of the Pacific Railway Commussion at $15,300,000. The company claims that they are not subject to the Government lien; 8 conirary opinion is expressed by others. The question is a judicial 0 e and can only be deter- mined by a suit wherein the lien is asserted and foreclosure sought. Similarly, the State of California donated thirty acres in the heart of San Francisco to the Western (now Central) Pacific road, expressly for terminal uses, and the area has since Peen eniarged more than fifty per ceut by the closing of intersecting sircets. Asihe Central Pacific road has 1o other terminals in San Francisco, this property is indis- pensabie to the future useand value of the road. Claimed in foreclosure proceedings, it would doubi- less be held to be an appurtenance to the road, in- capable of severance from it. Butif the case be disposed of by an act of Congress the contrary will almost 8 surely be the result; for the gentlemen who control and manage the Central Pacific have | PUt & morigage on these terminal grounds, under which they hud {ssued at their las. annual report {arch 81, 1805) bouds to the amount of $12,284,- #00, and while it 1s quite safe 10 say that these bonds have never got into funocent hands and that | the transaciion cannot stand for a moment if prop- | erly brought before a courl, yet if Congress extends | thé time for payment of the debt, it will go un- challenged until mere Iapse of time Will put it be- yond the reach of legal redress. BONDHOLDERS LOSE NOTHING. Meantime the bondholders, who are, of course, one or other of the numerous companies these people form, lose nothing: for they are getting interest on their bonds. For thisfraud foreclosure is the ony remedy; an act of Congress cannot reach it, f0r 0o act of Congress can determine the title 0f Jand in California or the rightful or fraudu- lent character of a conveyauce. Here, then, in these terminal grounds of the Lwo roads aione are at least $27,000,000 worth 0f Property to be either saved to the public by foreclosure or 108t by refund- ing. What conscientious man, charged with the responsibilities of legislation, can feel warranted in vouing for a law witch walves, without inquiry, public rights of such magnitude There are, without doubt, many other cases of accretions to the mortgaged premises which fore- closure would bring to light and secure which would be lost by refunding. We have, for exam- ple, public record of a Central Pacific mortgage. dated April 1, 1889, covering a number of station grounds and the like, commonly supposed to be appurtensnt 1o the road, but which. this document suggests, are claimed by the managers to be dis- tinct properties, and the instrument indicates that, in preparation for the worst, they have seasonably - morigaged them tothemseives. FERRY FACILITIES. What further instances of this kind the Union Pacific road may afford we are uninformed, but in connection with the Cent:al Pacific we again di- rect attention to such things as the ownership of the ferry between San Francisco and Uakland and thut st Benicla across the Straits of Carquinez. We observe thiat the former of these is for certain purposes accounted in the reports and public ucts ©of the company as a part of the road, yet we do,not find in such reports any account of the large reve- nuesof the ferry, aud {t would be an_amazing snd unprecedented thing if a property of such value swere not found 10 stand in the names of the man- agers or one of thelr convenient corporations. We believe that the company’s iitle (o it and much other valuable property and the validity of the Government lien would be established in fore- closure proceedings. Then there are the engines and roiling-stock be- longing o the road to be considered. It shonld all be identified, inventoried and earmarked in any settlement. A little paint has often heretofore changed the apparent ownership of an engine or cur and may easily do 8o again. Nothing 1s more frequent here than to see engines and cars marked P. R. R.” ruuniog over roads other than the Central Pacific. Has Congress or any of its com- ImitLees ANy INVEDLOTy Of this MOVAble property or | any statement of its whereabouts? | ONLY SAFE AND PRUDENT WAY. In view of all the considerations affecting the question, we respectfully submit that the only safe | and prudent way to deal with this problem is th which any business man would adopt in a similar | case, viz.: first ascertain all the facts of the case authentically, learn distinctly what are your rights and what can be secured by legal proceed. ings before entering Into any treaty of comprom: ise; make sure, too, that the facts of the case can- 1ot he changed while seitlement is under discus- sion. If you are taking property, look to the title and see that it 1 properly described and comes to you unincumbered. Al this is the more essential Where the conclusion reached is to take the form | of legislation which will remain effective, even thongh the considerations-on which it is based prove false or iail. Hore you &re taking the facts | on trust and llaumlug most unwarrantably that you know them all, You Go not! It i worthy of nute, 100, that none of these re- funding bills come before Congress with any official sanction. They are not asked by the executive, to whose hands Congress has committed the business nor are they even petitioned for by the companies | concerned; they are all promoied by private sug- gestions or by the solicitation of persons whose pri- Vate interests are affected. These are controllers of rival rallroad lines, and persons who, having wrongfully misappropriated the assets and means of Lhe subsidized roads, are interested in the con- dongtion of their frauds, which all extensions and refundiug schemes necessarily involve. Mr. Huntiogton, the most Conspicuous promoter of refunding, has publicly stated that he does not own more than 100 shares of Central Pacific stock; his interest In the question is, notoriously, as one of the original directors who divided between themselves the assets of the company, and as the head of the Routhern Pacific, which afterward 100k away its trade and reduced it to its present fallen and bankrupt eondition. SLIPPERY METHODS OF THE ROAD. Nor do_ these people even approach Congress | with any formal statement of what they propose | to do, oF pretend they are able to do, in_the way of | discharging their obligations. They commit them- | selves 0 nothing whatever, they write nothing, | sign nothing; tuelr communications are made | orally 10 committees, or individual members in | private conversations: so that when they shall | ave secured the aesired legislative condonation | for the past they may violate every promise to the public made or intimated, and members whose Voies they have won by such means will have | nothing to show on which to jusiify their action, Legislation so promoted is always dangerous and objectionable, and generally vicious. To such we are indebted for all the mistakes and errors bither- to committed in rallroad legislation, whether by Congress or by our State Legislatures. It is the constant resort of those who propose to profit by {he imprudence, credulity oF §00d nature of mem- bers of the legisiative bodies, whose confidence they abuse. Iiis time that such methods of dealing with great public interests and taking the words of in- terested railrond managers as & basis for legisia- tion should cease. And as the means at command of Congress fou ascertaining facts are quite imper- fect, and, what is equally important in cases like the present, as it is powerless 10 prevent a change of conditions pending investigation, judicial ascer- tainment of facts ana custody of the property in- velved are essential prerequisites to intelligent or safe legislation, This can only be doue by fore- closure, FOR CONGRESSIONAL SETTLEMENT, This proceeding is objected to by some. persons because it is associated in their minds with govern- ment ownership and operation of the roads. But there is 10 necessary_connection between the two idess. On the contrary, Congressional settlement of the case is the most likely course to lead right up to State ownership. For it is morally certain that the Central Pacific road can never earn ths amount proposed 10 be charged upon it, and the re- sult must be that when the condonation of past offenses has been secured, the managers will aban- don It to the Government. The great ovject of foreclosure is to mscertain with judicial certainty aud accuracy the details necessary t6 be known before Congress can act in- telligently to rescue what can be rescued from frandulont alfonation, and to seoure tne property against further incombrance or change while that Dbody is deliberating. The order and the priority of the liens, what specific property each of them covers, and what means of collection the law af- fords, outside of the mortgage—L. e.. who Is liable for the deficiency—musg all be ascertained by au- thority before anything else. This done, the terms of salé will be in order, and Congress may then | wisely interpose and define them. 1ts action will naturally be affected by the order of priority of the liens, and-the ascertained earning capacity of the road, when operated by sn impariial receiver. Bidding a: the sale should, be open to all th world—not as contempluted by these refunding schemes confined to its present managers. There need be no fear of want of bidders if peopie know what s included in the sale. FIRST MORTGAGE BONDS HOLDERS. If the holders of the so-called “first mortgage bonds' are declarcd entitled to preference over the lien of the United States, the Government will ¥ them off under the actof 1887 and be subro. ted to their rights, But if their llen proves subordinate (0 that of the Government, they will have to combine and buy the Toad for their own protection or lose their money; and there will be 0"1!! competitors. Jiach of these results is widely different from and vastly preferable to any refunding of the debt, which. if effective, snadies it on the people of this State and perpetuates the control of the propert; in the hands of the same people Who have had 1t from the beginning nnd who are responsible for all the d eful past. They first impoverished the company by the use of its credit, built a rival road to be its’ most formidable competitor in business and finally rented it to themselves under a flimsy corporate disguise for ninety years ahead on terms which render it the mere satellite snd hand. malden of that competitor. Such & history ought to disquality {hem trom bidding on the property of entit] them to an ive right to purchase it. e . THE C. P. DEAD. It1s probable that most members of | mequired substantially all its stock, were not worth | more than half a million. | Pacific Railroad Company, which will ceuse to ex- | and well-stabiished legal principles. Who are considering this question are unawaro of important facts which should be known, and which there are easy means of verifying. Is it, for example, known to them that the great Central a living Pacitic Railroad Company is no organization? that it h’- abdic doned 1is functions a a carrler aud never turms a wheel or carries a passenger or & ponnd o? freight? and that_the great bulk of its stock is held by peo- ple who fear to avow. their ownership lest they be Dield responsible for its debts? Such, however, is the fact. The original owners have, with one ex- ception, sold ot their holdings to persons residing abroad, who withhold their shares from transfer and decline to register their ownersh ip lest they be made responsibie {or the debts. The managers keep control of the organization by the use of proxies taken years ago from those in whose names the shares then stood. ‘The road is leased to the Southern Pacific for three cr four gencratlons and that concern pays $10,000 & year rent expressly to enable the great Central Pacific Company to Keep up its corporate orzanization, i. e., pay salaries, keep an office and maintaina sembiance of animation sufficient L0 avoid a forfeiture of its charter for non-user. In the present hands it is not only a bankrupt, but a fraudulent bankrupt, for it has alienated all its means to 1ts own directors in fraud of its cred- itors. This is the concern with which committees ©Of Congress condescend to treat and whose assur- ances they are expected to accept, through self- appointed agents, as though It were a living or- ganization and iis statements and promises of any Vvalue. The leass referred to went {nto effect Jan- uary 1, 1894, and is printed in the annual report of the Southern Pacific Company for the year 1893, at pages 103 and 104. THE CASE SUMMARIZED. The proposition to Congress of the Central Pa- cific Railroad Company, personified by Mr. Hunt- ington, may be condensed as follows ““When this corporation was formed, the four gentlemen, of whom I was one, who ultimately It was & period of civil war, and a_transcontinental railroad was needed for military and mail facilities. The patriotism of the people was inteuse. The four availed them- selves of the opportunity, and the raflrosd was constructed to Promontory. They form: d origin- ally a partnership, and aiterward a corporation, named the Contract and Finance Company, which was succeeded for other enterprises by the West- ern Development Company and the Pacific I provement Company. and_ all these corporatior irected by the same men, dealt with each other. The upshot of the business was that. largely out of the securities_which the Government and other boudholders. nominally held, while the manage- ment was vested in their debior, and by incumer- able transfers and conversions of the property and the income of the Central Pacific, the Southern Pacific Railroad, to which the business of the orig- inal corporation was converted as_rapldly as pos- sible, the California and Oregon Railroad and nu- merous other lgcal lines were constructed and acquired, and th® four gentlemen referred to and thelr heirs and devisees have accumulated prop- erty to the value of st least a hundred and’ fifty miilions. HUNTINGTON'S MONSTROUS PROPOSAL. “Now, through these proceedings, the chief as- sets of ‘the Central Pacific have passed to other companies and 1o private ownership. That cor- poration in its present condition is unable to pro- vide for or pay its debts. I, L. P. Huntington, the survivor of the four. and representing the Central ist in 1911, ask vou, the Congress of the United States, to refund its indebtedness for 100 years, to establish 2 per cent per annum as the rate of inter- est, Lo ratify and confirm all the transters and con- versions t0 which I have alluded, to forego every legal remedy the Gover.ment now’ possesses, and 10 give me th- power to collect S0 much of the re- funded debt as I ormy sy2cessors may choose to pay, primarily from the producers of the Pacific Const, and _secondarily, from the people of the United States.”” ‘This, in fairness and justice; is the substance ot the proposal Mr. Huntington makes 10 Congress, thus invoking the legislative arm of the Govern- ment to thwart and paralyze the executive and judiciary, and, speaking of him in his representa- tive as well as his personal capacity, to intrench him and his accnmulations with fortifications that would defy the constitution and the 1aws and every principie of justice and of right. The mere fact that such a monstrous demand can be boldly ard even defiantly made s such a commentary upon the times a8 no words could em- phasize. If the public response, though filte through conventions of solid and d-liberatfte character, is thick with indigoation, and_some- times couched in language unusually direct and severe, it is .no ground for surprise, and sczrcely for criticism. If an average citizen perjures him- self or commiits larceny or embezzlement he is tried and punished, and there is no application to a legislative body to condone his erime or to ob- literate the facts he has created. Under a consti- tutional government, resting upon law and order, depending upon equality of right among free siti- zens, ana supposed to be quickly and eftectively moved by ke enlightened opinions of un educaied constituency, it would be indeed surprising if the people should tamely and frigidly accept such false, boundless and oppressive assumptions and retenses as constitute this entire appeal of Mr. Huntington and the Central Pacific Railroad Company. THE AW SUFFICTENT AS IT IS. The whole issue about the railroad debts is now covered by the constitution, the Federal statutes The solution | of the question demands only the falthful applica- | tion of the law to indubitablé facts. It Is the duty | | of the Executive Department of the Government to set the Judicial Department in motion. The atiitude of our people is that the existing law should and can aetermine the controversy and preserve the rights and interests of the Govern- ment and its constituents. If the manipulators of | raliroads, in the act of managing the security, have wasted, diverted and converted to their own use the greater part of its value, then they and the estates of those deceased are trustees. Let the security be rebabilitated and the mortgage fore- closed within the broad and well-defined rules of | equity. THE ROAD AN ORDINARY DEBTOR. The railroads should be treated like qther | debiors. Probably your constituents, at least those | among them whose covetousness transcends their | patriotism, would like to have their debis re- | funded by a paternak Congress at 2 per cent per | annum, while the Government borrows money to | keep up its reserve fund at double that rate of in- | terest. Suppose that proposition was before you, | how promptly you would defeat it. Why should Mr. Huntington and the special interests he repre- sents be favored beyond the mass of American citizens? Why should you be asked to discrim- | inate for the benefit of acorporation against the entire country in general and the Pacific States in particular? it 10 the Southern Pacific Railroad | and private fortunes the security pledged to (he Government and the other bondholders, or its pro- ceeds to the amount of $200,000,000 or more have been traced, lev the deficiency be reached there, sad not made up by enforced contributions from our capital and our labor. | But it is said that it is wrong to express or con- | vey suspicions of Congress and its committees. No one on this const hac expressed or implied those suspicions. Like other attacks made upon indi- | Yidonls, they are & stiero sasumpuon of the rall- road’s and diversions intended to influence your action. We have referred only to the past and in many places with Mr. Huntington himself as our suthority. Is It nOL DOIOFIOUS thut great reputa- tions were tarnished with association with raflroad frauds? And when Mr. Huntington wrote confi- dentially to his friend and business associate, David D, Colon, d'd he not accuse the Congress- men of that day of corruption and express his opinion of them in language that would redden the cuceks of suy ordinary American? Why should hie be permitied now to maintain a lobby and work secretiy and selfishly at Washingion to carry on new schemes of plunder, in order to trunsfer his burthens to the people and retain the money and property to which the Government is entitled and which it can secure without an additional stroke of legislation? . PATTISON'S ABLE REPORT. Let any member of either branch of Congress read the report of Hon. Robert E. Pattison of Penn- sylvania as a member of the United States Pacific ailway Commission, in 1888, from which we have already extracted, and see how every phase of the present situation’is anticipated. That report is crammed with facts and figures, arrayed without heat or prejudice, and answering every possible element of the ment for refunding. and against foreclosure. If, September 18, 1871, the president of the Central Pacitic Railroad sware in the De- partment of the Interior that the paid-up stock of that corporation was $54;263,190, when in truth it was only $760,000, is that statement less false now than it was then? Tf, December 31, 1886, the net earnings of the Central Pacific had Dbeen $124,940,013 87, does that show any tendency toward bankruptey? If in pools, subsidies, re- bates, etc., the Central Pacific has paid out §9,582 799 61, Is not the Government entitled 10 the Dbenefit of that fact with all the additions since? 12 by fraudulent methods, by contracting with them- selves, which is the worst fraud that trustees can perpetrate, the manipulators of the Central Pacific niad issued to_themselves bonds and stock repre- senting $82,727,800, is this circumstance now to be ignored?' It'Stanford, Huntington, Hopkins and Crocker, through the Contract snd_Finance Company, the Western Development Company 4nd the Pacific Improvement Company, and “ivi: dends of the Centraf Paclfic, received in’ cash ands| securities more han $112,000,000, and also Tentals aggregating 829,912,373 49, is this to be condoned - because 'Mr. Huntington now | says the Central Pacific is unable (o pay its debts? If other frauds, including construction, the handling of Jand grants and numerous other items, had been exactly ascercained when Gov- ernor Patlison wrote his report and have been fearfully augmented since, do these facts appeal o0 Congress on behalf of the raflroads oron the side of the people? If books and vouchers were destroyed, false habilities created, and. five or six millions of.dollars disbursed for corrapt purposes, does it not follow, a8 Governor Pattison said in Telation to the Central Pacific, *that 110 part of its indebtedness can be recovered except through im- mediate compulsory legal process,” and that ex- tension of the lime for payment, therefore, means an increase of the amount of the debt and the making of its recovery more hopeless?”’ AN UNDESIRABLE CONTINGENCY. 1f the debt be refunded and the time of payment extended, moreover, what will be the condition when the corporate existence of the Central Pacific ceases at the end of fifly years of its organizacion? If the principal debtor expires what new compli- cations will surround the debt? These are matters which cannot be elaborated 1n the midst of the present controversy, but which are so well understood as (o be part of the authen- tic history of the times, and they all point to the unavoidsble conclusion that refanding and the defeat of foreclosure are only designed to obiiterate legal responsibiliy, to_condone such frauds as a almost without precedent, 10 preserie enormous private fortunes and the Sonthern Pacific Lom- pany from all possible attack, to shift the burthen ©f the indcbtedness from those who contracted it, 10 force the people, who actually built the Central Pacific, 1o pay for it two or three times over out of their own resources and without diminishing the fraudulent accumulations of those who aspire o be their masters. ALL PARTIES UNANIMOUS. Republicans, Democrats. Populists. the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, other organized bodies, cliizens of all shades ot political opinion who have made the Paciiic States what they are, and have stood by the Union and the Government, are virtually unanimous against refunding and for the foreclosure of the rehabllitaied security. As ractical statesmen, what do you, gentlemen of houses of Congress, say 10’ this demand? Is Mr. Huntington 'r than nine or ten of the sovereign States of this Union, stronger than the Union liself, stronger than the law, than justice, than common honesty? We do not believe. that - | book, and the ledger from Q to Z. | dent to keep in his office safe over night he he s, and we confidently appeal to you for protec- n. To the argument that we ought to protect our- selves against those whom we claim to have de- bauched our politics, and, to some extent, our law, and to have interfered with and controlled our business, paralyzed our enterprise and checked progress, while they have sbsorbed not only our profits but large parts of our capital, we answer ihat in those phases of the controversy which are purely local we are interposing and propose to in- terpose our strength as citizens and voters, but that in that portion of the fight which has been transferred to Washington we are forced to rely upon the most powerful legislative body in the world—the Congress of the United States—which its existence to the people, and which, in theory at least, and as we hope, in practice also, represents the people and their rights and their in- terests, and not railroad monopolists aud COrrups tionists. INEVITABLE CONCLUSIONS. The conclusions we desire to formulate are: First—That, even though the Central Pacific Rallroad Company be technically insolvent, still re-funding is not, and foreciosure, Is expedient. Second—But that corporation i$ not insolvent it its assets, as under the law they ought to exist, are suflicient to pay its indebtedness. Third—That its assets have been transferred and converted to an smount more than adequate to the complete rehabilitation of the security. Fourth—That, in u suit for_foreclosure, the with- drawn assets can be restored, wherever or in what- ever form they exist, the solvency of the cOrpora- tion established and’ the whole indebtedness col- lected. Fifth—That, in order to consider all these ques- tions, Congress has in effect to exercise both ex- ecutive and judicial powers, and, by the Inyestiga- tion of & committee, virtually to usurp thé func- tions of two co-ordinate departments of the Gov- er- ment. Sixth—That, without denying or even discussing the abstract proposition, that Congress, by a mere inguiry, may determine for itself the status, in fact and in law, of the relations between the Central Pacific Railroad Company and the Government, nevertheless, it {8 obvious that, under existing con: ditions, such'an inquiry is not only fnexpedient, but improper. ;. Seventh—That it s manifest, therefore, that the present situation of the secured indebtedness shouid be laft to the action and the determination of the executive and judicial departments. FORECLOSURE FIRST. Fighth—That, after foreclosure and the judicial determination of the facts and the law, and of :he precise condition of the secured indebtedness of the Central Pacific, {n other words, when the pro- portion of the actual, not the nominal, security to the debt has been ascertained. and the usual and ordinary means of rebabilitation and collec- tion exhausted, then, and not before then, legisla- tion by Congress may become proper and ex- edient. PeNIntb~Bat that, meanwhile the supremacy of the law, the inviolability of contracts, and the rights and interests of the Government should be sacredly maintained, and there should be no con- douation through legis'ative action intercepting judicial proceedings, of fraud and conversions, and no sacrifice of the people at the mere behest of Mr. Huntington and his associates, who are incom- petent to sit in judgment upon their own case. Dated San Francisco, January 31, 1896. JomN T. DoyLE, HENRY E. HIGHTON, DOLPH SUTRO, . L. DAVIE, E. M. GIBsox, M. M. ESTEE, MARTON CANNON, A, CAMINETTL DID NOT INDICT WILSON, Charge of Embezzlement Against the Ex-Insurance Com- missioner. The Grand Jury I'gnored the Accusa- tion — Notaries Public Heard. - The Grand Jury had some notable wit- nesses yesterday. Major W. W. Douglass, chief deputy in the office of the State Con- troller, was there; J. E. Farnham, man- ager of the Pacific Bank, was on time. His chief bookkeeper came along, and with them were books of the bank, includ- ing the individual ledger, the signature District Attorney Barnes had a communication frcm Attorney-General Fitzgerald to sub- mit to the Grand Jury. Inquiry disclosed the fact that proceed- ings haa been instituted, presumably at the instance of the Attorney-General, to indict ex-Insurance Commissioner J. N. E. ‘Wilson for embezzlement. ‘When Mr. Wilson was in the heyday of his political prosperity the Pacific Bank was enjoying widespread confidence in financial circles. When Commissioner Wil- son collected more money from the insur- ance companies than he thought it pru- deposited it in the Pacific Bank. Thersin he made a mistake, for the money should have been sent to Sacramento. As it hap- pened, all of the money except $2000 got to the proper depository at Sacramento. Wil- son put the$2000in the bank and shared the fate of other depositors when that institu- tion collapsed. His accounts as Insurance Commissioner, therefore, do not balance. The State sued him and got judgment for $4000. This judgment is on appeal. The first witness heard yrslerdai was Chief Deputy Douglass and the next Mana- ger Farnham. The books were not in- spected. Even the ledger from QtoZ, which embraees W, was not opened. The jury after hearing all the testimony in the case, and considering that the State had obtained judgment against Wilson, came to the conclusion that an indictment for embezzlement should not be found. Notaries Public George Knox, Daniel Hanlon and H. Lask were witnesses con- cerning acknowledgments at the County glerk‘s office. The testimony of eachjwas rief. Expert Atkinson of the Grand Jury has been investigating the records in _the offices of the County Clerk and Auditor since last Monday. The secretary of the jury said that mo report had yet been made. The expert has been directed to make a thorough examination. ELECTION OF OFFICERS. Investors’ Ruilding and Loan Associa- tion Organized. Stockholders in the Investors’ Home Mutnal Building and Loan Association met at the office of Attorney John R. Aitken Thursday evening and elected the following officers for the ensuing year: George W. Turner, president; J. R. Simp- son, vice-president; Theo F. George, secretary; John R. Aitken, attorney, George . Turner, A. C. Lutgen, Henr: Hilp, Dr. 8. F. Lang, J. R. S§impson, E, Py. Fish and H. C. Langrohr were elected directors. The association is incorporated for $1,000,000, and 21,000 shares of stock at $1 have nlready been subscribed. ! For the present the directors will meet | every Tuesday in the office of Attorney Aitken at 402 Montgomery street, and when | the Parrott building on Market street is completed, offices will be opened there, NEW TO-DAY. Emile Zola | - the Eminent Writer * saysof THE IDEAL TONIC: « It is the Elixir of Life which combats human debility and gives Vigor, Health and Energy” Mailed Free.] R Avold Substitutions. Ask for¢VinMarianis" At Druggists and Fancy Grocers. MARIANI & CO., 41 Bd. Haussmann, e @ [vf_x Lowpow Streeh, i, ForTet, BILLIONS OF TONS FELL California Generally Greatly Benefited by the Late Pre- cipitation. SACRAMENTO VALLEY SUFFERS. A Portion of That Region Gets Too Much Water and Some Crops Are Destroyed. Between 60,000,000,000 and 70,000,000,000 tons of water came pattering down on the surface of this State during the recent rainy season, which commenced January 12. The heat generated by the con_dens_n- tion of vapor which produced this rain was sufficient to raise the temperature of the entire atmosphere which surrounds the globe. So says Weather Seer Ham- mond, and he has a formidable array of statistics and reports to prove his asser- tions. o e “Up to the evening of the 12th,” said Mr. Hammond, “the rainfall tpmugho_ut the entire State had been very llghf: No- where, except in the Sacramento Valley, had there been sufficient rain to allow the ground to be properly plowed. In the San Joaquin the ground had been summer- fallowed, and the loosened soil was noth- ing but dry dust. In the Sacramento Val- ley the crops were growing; but they were much in need of rain. - g “Up to this period the rainfall in the lower San Joaquin Valley had been about 3inches; in the central portion of the val- ley there had been precipitated about 2}¢ inches, and about 1inch had fallen at the lower end. This was about one-fourth of the precipitation for the same period last year. In the Sacramento Valley the rain- fall varied from 414 to 6 inches, as again 14 to 17 inches for the same period of the year previous. In the southern part of the State the rainfall along tne coast was about 2 inches. Last year at that timeit was about 9 inches. “At present the dryest portion of the State which is devoted to agriculture is the upper portion of the San Joaquin Valley, in the vicinity of Bakersfield. Here they bave had from 3 to 3} inches, At Fresno they have had 4 inches, and Stockton has had nearly 19. “Sacramento bas had about fourteen, and Red Bluff, which usually exceeds Sacra- mento, 1s reported by cur correspondent as having had about the same, though the Southern Pacific gauge shows 15.80 inches, a difference probably due to different ex- posures. Six inches of rain fell at San Luis Obispo during the late storm, and Los Angeles got about four inches. “The rain_was sufficient in all parts ot the State, with the excegtion, perhaps, of the region near Lake Tulare. All other sections could get along all right without another rain for a month e=zcept from Modesto south. Much of this region, ho ever, is by reason of irrigation independ of the rainfall. “The Sacramento Valley was the only lace where the rain did any injury. Jonsiderable ground there was ‘drowned out’ and large sections are under water. The river reached a very critical stage, and at present is up to 26 feet at Sacramento, a fall of a little over half a foot from its highest mark during the storm. One or two small islands are flooded, and the crops on these are destroyed. Large por- tions of the tule land along the shores, which in dry years are capable of culti tion, are under water and will remain so until too late for planting this year. In this way considerable harm was,done in that region, but generally the fmin was very beneficial to the State.’ NEW 70-DAY. Gladness Comes Witk a better understanding of the transient nature of the many phys- ical ills which vanish before proper ef- forts—gentle efforts—pleasant efforts— rightly directed. There is comfort in the knowledge that so many forms of sickness are not due to any actual dis- ease, but simply to a constipated condi- gxon.;)! lthe S} Etelél, whic}t Eg e pleasant ‘amily laxative, Syrup of Figs, prompt- ly removes. That is why i;gi: the only remedy with millions of families, and is everywhere esteemed so highly by all ‘who value health. Its beneficial effects are due to the fact, that it is the ore remedy which promotes internal cleanliness, without debilitating the organs on whichitacts. Itis therefore all important, in order to get its bene- ficial effects, to note when you chase, that you have the genuine article, which is manufactured by the California Fig Syrup Co. only, and sold by all rep- utable druggists. Ifin the enjoyment of good health, and the system is regular, then laxa- tives or other remedies are not needed. If afflicted with any actual disease, one may be commended to the most skillful physicians, but if in need of a laxative, then one should have the best, and with tl!e ‘well-informed everywhere, p of Figs stands highest and is most largely used and gives most general satisfaction. STHEVERY BEST ONE TO EXAMINE YOUR eyes and fic thom to Spectaciesor Eyeglasse w! instruments of his own invantion, whoss superiority bas not been equaled. My success hag due {0 the merits of my work. Office Hours—13 t0 4 ». 3. RIGGS HOUSE, YWrashington, D. C. The Hotel ‘ Par Excell, . Ofthe National Capital. First =x:u?:°u'x ments. . DEWITT, ?I.:l. American plan sl plan, $3 per day and