Excerpt from The Pacific Railroad: The Relations Existing Between It and the Government of the United States All these considerations entered into and gave the peculiar form of language to the bill that was finally passed. Strange to say, these considerations are now almost wholly forgotten, and by none more so than by the government which inaugurated and supplied the means for the construction of the roads, and which is supposed to be always connusant of its acts in the past. But this very government now seeks to construe the law, not by reasons and conditions existing when it was enacted, but by those now existing, and which are wholly different. But the companies need not shun a legal contest. They can be compelled to do only what they agreed to do. Government was competent to make an outright gift of its bonds, if it chose - or to give credit for the interest, as well as principal, for the whole time the latter had to run. There is no privity between the holders of the bonds of the government and the railroad companies. The attorney-general unfortunately knows nothing of all this. He was not in a position to know any thing of the feeling or action of the North when the railroad bill became a law. He has, consequently, assumed both his law and his facts to support his conclusions. The railroad companies are perfectly willing to join issue with him on all the questions he has raised. But a rigid construction of the law, while it would fully maintain their legal positions, would now satisfy no one - not the government, as it would still be paying, yearly, a large sum by way of interest, without receiving what would appear to be an adequate equivalent in return. It would not now satisfy the companies, although it would fully vindicate their rights, as it would still leave them subject to a repetition of attacks similar to that now made on them, and create constant distrust as to the value of their securities, which have passed almost wholly into the hands of innocent parties, and are scattered over the world. The reasonableness and equity of their position, consequently, must be restated and established, as they can be, beyond controversy or cavil. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.